Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-03-31

| S. 166. An Act to amend Section
| @, Chapter 16 of the Revised Statutes
| to provide for the improvement OF
| conveyance of pupils to common
schools.
| S. 16S. An Act to create the Han
| cock-Sullivan Bridge District p
| Senate 1877. An Act to amend Sec
ton 81 of Chapter 33 OF the Revised
! Statutes. as amended by Chapter 219
of the Public Laws of 1917, and fur
! Their amended by Chapter 81 of the
| Public Laws of 1919, relating to the
protection of wild birds.
| From the Senate! Bill, An Act to
provide for Temperance Day in the
Public Schools of the State of Maine
This was indefinitely postponed in
the House March %.
Comes from the Senate passed to
be engrossed in on-concurrence.
Mr.. MAXWELL of East Liver
| more: Mr.. Speaker, 1 move that we
recede and concur with the Senate
Mr.. BRAGDON of Perham: Mr..
Speaker, this is a small matter and
[ will only take a few moments of
your time in discussing it. 1t is a
matter that perhaps does not affect
the schools so muci- in the large
places where a teacher has but one
grade to handle, but speaking from
the standpoint of one who has taught
in the rural schools, where the teach
er has nine grades, / wish to say a
word against the passage of this
measure. 1t is House Document No.
1903, an act to provide Temperance
Day in the Public Schools in the
State of Maine, and it provides that
not less than forty-fve minutes of
the school session. will begin back
carlier-"The first Friday in March of
each year or the school day in each
year nearest that date shall be desig-
mated as Temperance Day, and in ev-
cry Public School in the State of
Maine not less than forty five min
uteS of thu school session shall be set
apart and used for instruction and
appropriate exercises relative to the
history and benefits of prohibition
and prohi5itory laws, said schools
tO-continue their work so far as prac-
day" 1t has been said that this is
but a small matter by some of those
who have been favoring this outside
of the membership of the House, but
it is one of those Straws that are be-
ing continually added to our educa-
tional camel until the breaking point
will sometime be reached. 1 under
stand that incidentally this is the
birthday of a certain Maine states
man. | think the Legislature of this
state should go carefully in regard to
adding to our list of holidays and spe-
cial assignments. ! am not finding
any fault with any of those hat we
already have, but if we add to the list
very much, think the time will soon
come when the school department
will be called upon to provide a school
calendar for our teachers so that
they know what particular politician,
or what particular ISM" should be
brought to the foreground on that
particular day. Our schools We're in
stituted for a very different purpose
than to celebrate the birthdays of
political :. We Lave no objection to
y
ton Day or anything like tl-at; but
when it comes down to the State of
Maine we have had a great many
astute politicians here in the past
and have some at present Some of
these are dead and others will fol-
low in their course. You understand
that I. statesman has been defined as
a dead politician" and, if we start
in to celebrate these dead politician
days, we are going to have trouble
finally. A gentleman who has held
the office of attorney general in this
state tells me that it is practically
impossible TO get girl to go into
his office who knows enough arith-
.metic for ordinary business compu-
tations. The telephone people tell me
that when they put a girl in their Of
flee, the first thing they have to DO is
to teach her to spell. Now | will not
go much farther with this. but l want
to call your attention to where we
are landing: and, it seems to me, that
if we follow up this course of holi-
days and special assignments in our
schools. we will soon get to the point
troduce bill into this Legislature so
that a certain time of each school
year will be set apart when the chill
dren will be required to lay aside
their Sears and Roebuck catalogue,
their shears and colored pencils and
other equipment of modern, ele-
mentory, educational institution, and
devote q short time of the session
necessarily but a few moments-to
the study of the multiplication table,
the spelling book and some of those
other old fashioned and almost for
gotten things for which our public
school system was originally provid-
ed
I hope gentlemen, that the House
will not recede from its former action.
Mr. WE'LL of East Livermore:
Mr. Speaker, l do not know to what
politicians the gentleman from Per-
ham (Mr. Bragdon) refers; but this
simply asks that forty-five minutes
once year shall be set aside for the
teaching of temperance.
Now in regard to holidays, we have
Lincoln's birthday; no one objects to
that. No one objects to Washing
tons birthday No one objects to
Memorial Day and no one objects to
Thanksgiving Day. and those are
about all the holidays we have, for
when it comes to Christmas the
schools have adjourned for vacation.
Now all that the temperance people