Evening star., 1920-04-06

/ Inc eOOu anu Ddu pOtutS VI
| ton. l expressed at once my disap-
( proval of the preparation Of this pa
| per. I think he said he was going
to send it to the judges of the Dis
| trict Supreme Court. i told him he
was unfair to Mr.. Thurston and that
an opportunity to develop: that he
| had done good work in the schools.
Mr.. Galliher expressed his opinion
| even more strongly than I.
| II was surprised a little to see this
memorandum printed in the news
papers. DR.. Van Schaick told me that
he did not give it out. In regard to
sending the paper to the judges, /
| think he said that he did not wish to
| hurt Mr.. Thurston. but that he want
| ed to act for the best interests of the
schools.
Never Doubted sincerity.
| do you think that DIR. Van Schaick
had any other motives than that?"
asked Senator Capper
| Il never had any reason to doubt
| DR.. Van Schaick's sincerity" was the
reply,
! ly to him about things upon which l
| did not agree with him, but it has
never been IN a personal way.
81 felt very badly about Mr.. Blair
being dropped from the school board. /
began to wonder why. I knew he had
| taken a strong stand in opposition to
having the appointment of the board of
education transferred to the District
Commissioners. l knew, too. that DR..
Van Schaick was an intimate friend of
Justice Sddons. then member Of the
board. and of Mr.. Brownlow. | coupled
, these things together, and they gave me
a feeling didn't like. And yet ! knew
nothing definite. / recall that at the
same time the Commissioners were seek
ing to have the authority to appoint the
board of education transferred to them.
! They were also seeking to have the
school system placed entirely under the
Commissioners.
Mr.. Larner said that he was as much
surprised as Mr. Galliher when Mr..
Galliher failed of reappointment.
For DixciplininG Miss Wood.
Discussing the case of Miss Alice
! Wood "a Washington high school teach
er who was suspended by the board
after she had been charged with indis-
Greet teaching. Mr. I.arner said:
| Il believed that Miss Wood should
| be disciplined and that the matter
Ahould be acted on by the board. l
| brought the matter before the board,
| so important did l consider it. l be-
| lieved that the board should take the
| responsibility and I believe now that
| the action of the board in the Wood
| case was right"
Senator Capper asked If Mr.. Thurs
ton had attempted to evade response
l Ulllty III the W OOu cast
| Not at ALL" was the reply.
\ Mr.. Larner said that fierce at
| tacks' were made against the board
| of education because of its decision
! in the Wood case. He said he had
! been much surprised to see a state
| ment of President Hamilton Of the
! board described in the newspapers
/ by Miss Alice Deal. president of the
/ High School Teachers Union. as hot
air" He said that the board had
1 a<,f Cd mt hfYf hot lot
; Rhodes had changed her mind and
| would not even sign the answer to
the mandamus presented to the board
| in the legal proceedings. He said
| go into the court. for he wished the
court to decide the exact powers of
| the board of education.
1 Mr.. Larner said that the case had
been before the courts for three or
| four months; that in the meantime
DR.. Van Schaick had returned from
Europe. He said that he had read in
l the papers that DR.. Van Schaick had
| spoken before the teachers union.
1 Broke With DR.. Van Schaick.
when the court handed down its
decision in the Wood case I fell out
with DR.. Van Schaick over the courts
| decision because it did not settle
\ definitely the powers of the board.
DR.. Van Schaick was quoted in the
papers as saying there would be no
appeal in the case This was before
any meeting. of the board had been
and I told him Thought he had acted
improperly. Suggestion was made
| when the board met that the cor
poration counsel ls aSksd II h he
DIR. Van Schaick said that he didn't
care what the opinion of the corpora .
1 ton counsel might be- he swas OPP
posed to taking an appeal The case
was referred to the corporation coun-
| sci and in the meantime DR.. Van
| Schaick made another statement TO
| the press.
| DIR Van Schaick read a paper which
he had prepared before the board. in
which he said that the board had been
| all wrong in it's action in the Wood
case His concluding sentence was
| Isomething like this: We want in the
}school system all classes of people. con-
servatives. liberals and radicals I
was q little indignant. We were in
| the midst Of the coal strike. The peo-
Pile were talking about radicals. and 1
| felt that this statement would be mis-
| interpreted. There was no reason for
him to make any such expressions.
i We want the best people we can get
l in the schools"
You wanted all conservativeS?'
asked Senator Capper.
I'VE wanted the best people we
could get"
II told DR.. Van Schaick 1 thought
1t came with bad grace from him to
criticise the board for what it had
done when he was absent" continued
Mr.. Larner.
Quit Attending Board Meetings.
4 And what was the result Of your
Interview with him?" asked Senator
Dillingham;.
| T never attended another meeting
! of the board of education" said the
witness. 4 felt my usefulness was at
an end. 46hother result was that DR..
Van Schaick agreed to take out the
paragraph criticising the board, and
also one which contained some cri-
ticism Of Mr.. Thurston."
| Describing the attack of the Teach
ers' Union on the board OF education
| at the time of the suspension Of Miss
Wood, Mr. Larner said the board
members began to wonder If the
let the whole controversy be adjusted
l. in the courts. All of the members
were willing to follow that course. he
said, except Mrs. Susie Root Rhodes.
members of the board discussed the
matter with the chief justice Of the
ness. and were advised by that official
to remain in office.
Not Opposed to Unions.
"What have you to say Of the place
of the unions in the schools?" asked
Senator Dillingham;.
I II have no objections to unions in
general" said Mr.. Larner, but / do
mot believe in that method of attack.
III think teachers are in the same class
as lawyers and doctors. and have not
SO much in common with labor unions
lgenerally."
Asked about the so-called Bruce case
land the investigation Of the assistant