Evening star., 1920-03-12
VAN SCHAICk URGED
MRS. RHODES LEAVE
EDUCATION BOARD
CONTINUED from First Page J

more. said DR. Van Schaick. laugh
r ing He added that he never had any
1 innuence to get judge appointed
You may have had more inf1u-
Harrison. You had these leading
men of the town meeting with you
II frequently"
II would not say leading men. re-
piled DR.. Van Schaick. though l
would say the best fellows
II They were influential however,
insisted Senator Harrison.
Senator Harrison asked if Oliver 4.
| Newman and Justice Siddons were
4 members of the Monday Evening club
about 1912 and 1913. The witness re,
pied that they were. and added: !
i would like to put into the RECORD
i everything you desire. senator. II
could" DR.. Van Schaick admitted that
| ber of the Monday Evening Club IN
the enactment of the anti-ioan shark
i law. -,
4 You put it through, didn't YOU:
| asked Senator Harrison.
II Not Certain as to influence.
VI Il rather think that the men of Con
n gress did that answered Dr. van
VI Schaick.
But you had influence with mem
N bers of Congress-" suggested Senator
II Harrison.
Il think we will have to wait and
see if I have influence with members s
of Congress until they act replied
II Dr. Van Schaick. referring to the fact
II that his nomination as District Com
i missioner is now pending in the Sen
n ate.
III Were YOU ever desirous of bring
Il ing yourself into such prominence in
i civic affairs as would bring about
4 your appointment as a MEMBER or the
| board of charities or the board of edu-
cation or the board of District Com
Il ,iSS a ok cd Senator Harrison,
| Very emphatically no. was the an
Il swer
There are some people who have an
ambition to hold public Office said
| II have pever thought about it, but
was perfectly satisfied with my
| church., said Or. Van Schaick. Il
have not changed my mind" He said
. that he had given up his pastorate
/ during the war.
| Senator Harrison asked if Dr. Van
| Schaick's work on the board of edu-
cation and the board Of charities had
i interfered with his work as min
i lister.
Dr. Van Schaick replied that it
Il necessarily had taken much of his
II time.
II believe however, that what We
i talk about Sunday we should attempt
to apply on Monday" he continued
"and that / should go out and mix
i with men: that in this way ] would
4 be better able to teach the truth.
"Why didn't you continue in charge
of your church," asked Senator Har-
rison.
i II was in Europe doing war work.
and l thought that for their own
sake the members of. the church
i should have a pastor who could give
them all his time
DO you believe you can do more
good as District Commissioner than
\ as a minister?' asked Senator Har-
i rison.
/ DR.. Van Schaick "I have no regret.
however. as to my decision to under
\ take public service"
A! In reply to question. DR.. Van
Schaick said that there had been no
vi friction in his church caused by his
il service on the board of education or
HI the board of charities.
NJ At this point Senator Harrison
N asked if DR.. Van Schaick had ever
II endeavored to influence the action of
II Mrs. Rhodes. a member of the board.
Il by writing to judges Of the District
Il Supreme Court or to the District
Commissioners.
|. II have no recollection of doing So"
said DIR. Van Schaick.
n Reads From Letter.
Senator Harrison then read extracts
from a letter written August %. 1919.
by Dr. Van Schaick to Dr. Learned.
the Bruce investigation. in which he
| said. II have heard the testimopy
in the Bruce hearing. 1t confirms me
in my judgment that he should he re-
tanned. OF those against him. Chest
nut used to come to see me and / re-
Earded him as a joke. Montgomery
has sat on the minor board with me
| for several years. and l have liked
him personally. but regarded him as
old and past usefulness. He never
contributes an idea"
! The Mr.. Chestnut referred to is
James Lee. Chestnut, teacher of
English in the Dunbar High School
while the Mr.. Montgomery is Wilder
! | F.. Montgomery. also teacher OF
English in the Dunbar High School
! In answer to questions. DR.. Van
Schaick said that he did not really
consider Mr. Chestnut a joke. He said
that letter very frequently is merely
a thing Of the hour. depending upon
the mood of the writer. He said. too
that his statement that Mr.. Mont
gomery never expresses an idea was
hyperbole. He admitted that he was
writing too much" when he wrote
this letter
That is the time when ] should
have thrown my handy little letter
writer out Of the window" he said.
! In another part Of the letter DR.
! Van Schaick said, referring to the
| Parents League. "In the makeup Of a
lot Of them there is about one-third
child. one-third savage and one third
shell-eame men" Questioned about
this. he said that the statement was
approximately correct regarding some
of the members of the league.
II wish to state emphaticalIy that II
was not my view Of the colored race
! have worked with colored people,
believe In them and l admire the prog.
ress they have made. Some of the
members Of the Parents League are
among the best people. / have nc
prejudice against the race at ALL"
\ Letter ms to Mrs. Rhodes.
Senator Harrison produced a let
ter written to Commissi 0ner Oliver p
Newman on March 80, 1917. in which
Dr. Van Schaick suggested that Mrs.
Rhodes should be retired as a member
sof the board of education. DR.. Van
Schaick. after hooking at the letter,
said that he had written it.
! The letter follows:
"Referring again to our converse =
ton of this morning. ] beg to say
that | saw our friend, S., after
left you
He has no doubt about the wisdom
of the action and we agreed to put
in upon these grounds;
Il. The retirement of the individual
concerned would strengthen the Com
missoners in their relations with the
board of education. At one time it
was very desirable that they should
on the board. This person was the
most practicable one. AS it is now,
any action which the board takes in
close cooperation with the Commits
sioncrs is discarded by her presence.
"cc Her lack Of proportion and bal