New Ulm review., 1920-09-15
BURIED LETTER
Is RESURRECTED
DOCUMENT BRANDS AS FALSE
LEGAL" OPPOSITION TO
GERMAN STUDY.

No EXISTING LAW FORBIDS
INSTRUCTION IN FOREIGN
LANGUAGE HERE.
If you had insisted that zohite was
black, and had been so persistent in
this claim that you had convinced
others that your contention was cor
rect, and finally, when it came to the
supreme test, the high state authori-
ties that you had relied upon to assist
you in your attempt to convince more
people of the truth of your contention
that white was black-had openly
confessed with regret of course, hat
your claim was fallacious well, how
would you feel about it?
We Can't Explain 1t.
We have never been in such a
predicament and so it is impossi BILE
for us to describe the feelings of a
person who is situated in an unpleasant
dilemma of this kind Still there are
few people in New Ulm who would
be able to give very vivid description
OF how. it feels to be made the tools
OF others for the express purpose of
pulling the chestnuts out of the fire
for them. We have special reference
to those who SO ardently, but none the
less enormously, put forth the claim
that compulsory instruction in a
foreign language including Germany
was contrary to state law and would
bring dire consequences upon the heads
Of the members of the local board of
education were they to pass a resoluv
ton of such purport.
A Resurrected Letter.
In last weeks issue Of the Review,
we referred to a letter, written by P. c..
Tonning, deputy commissioner of edu-
cation of Minnesota, to former Super
intendent H. C. Hess, which Superin-
tendent Arnold Gloor, the present
head of the local public schools, in
advertently read at a special meeting
of the board Of education, Saturday
evening, September 4. 1t has been
our good fortune to secure a copy of
this document for publication. This
letter has never been made public, and
but for its accidental resurrection from
the archives at the high school building
and the insistent demands made by a
representative of the Review that the
public, here and elsewhere, be given
an opportunity to learn its contents
and pass judgment accordingly, no
one, not even members of the board of
education, might ever have enjoyed
reading it. The Review representa-
tive was not satisfied merely to have
heard the letter read, but insisted that
.inasmuch as it is public document,
every taxpayer in the local school
district is entitled to know its contents.
Our arguments were successful and so
we are able to give our readers a YER
ba tim copy of the letter. Here it is:
Contents of Letter.
STATE OF MINNESOTA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
James M. Mcconnell, Commissioner.
p. C. Tonning, Deputy
Saint Paul, April IL, 1920.
Supt H. C. Hess,
New Ulm, Minnesota.
Dear Mr.. Hess:
l have yours of the 9Th, setting forth
the action taken by your board in re
storing compulsory instruction in Ger
man in grades six, seven and eight.
There is nothing in the state laws
Tor in the rules of the State Board for
bidding instruction in foreign lang
uage in the elementary grades. Refer
ence to foreign language instruction.
in public schools is found in twoplace
in the school laws; Section 165 ant
Section 260in the 1919 edition of th,
school laws.
You will notice that both of these
permit instruction in foreign
language. In Section 260 you viii
note the expression: A foreigl
Language may be taught when sucl
language is an elective or prescribe
subject of the curriculum, but not
exceed one hour in each day."
This would indicate. that the schoc
, board may make foreign language
; prescribed subject, which ordinaril
would be interpreted to mean subjee
that every child in the grade specific
could be required to take.
r An effort was made in the last legi.
i lative session to prohibit the teachin
lof foreign language in the grades b