The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-05-27
Stuck in the Mud.


models those in use when St. Paul
first visited that section of the globe.
The natives resent introduction of steel
ploughs, although their work would be easier and
their profits greater. But, they say, what was good
enough for their who received the divine
word direct from the lips of Mohammed is good
enough for them.
Aristocratc old ladies in Boston are driven
about the city by their coachmen in cumbersome
carriages. They resent visits from automobile
salesman. They admit they can afford car They
do not deny that would make their lives more
pleasant. But they say, what good enough
for our forefathers who came from England on
the Mayfower is good enough for
There is a pioneer dentist in a certain New
England town who once was blacksmith He
changed professions when he came back from the
civil war. He still runs his tooth drill by pedal
ing with his feet 1t makes his work harder His
patients few. although he is a good dentist in
many ways. But when statesmen for electrical
drills to his Office be insults them. What
good enough for the teeth OF the sturdy old
folks of the seventies, he says. is good enough for
the effeminate "cry-babies' of today
Citizens of the District OF Columbia still have
schools under the direction of dependent Board
of Education.
Years ago, when the system first was adopted
it was good. 1t has been out OF date for the past
ten years. Other cities have forged ahead in edu-
cational matters. Washington has Jagged behind
She has been in the position the farmer in
Turkey, the old lady in Boston, and the pedaling
dentist.
= Now Senator Arthur Capper has presented a
report to the joint Congressional committee on
public schools outlining system which would, in
few years, place the Capital Of the United States
in the lead in the field of public education. The
bill based on this report would throw the present
. system into the junk heap. 1t would enable the
District to start from tee with clean drive
the fairway.
Every District citizen who has studied the
school question and who has the interests OF the
schools at heart favors the system. Washing
tonians ashamed OF their classification with
the aforementioned Turkish farmers and New Eng
land bue-stockings. The foremost educational
authorities in the world, like J. w. Crabtree,
secretary of the National Education Association,
and Commissioner of Education Tigert endorse
Senator Capper's report.
Despite all this there are rumors of opposition.
sition.
But there is question which side rests
the great body of public sentiment. There is no
question as to which system 90 per cent of the
people favor. Congress can take the word of its
own members as to the needs of District schools.
Few in that body will be found to oppose Senator
Capper's proposals.
Mohammed and the Pilgrim fathers dead.
Painless dentistry is in fashion these days De-
pendent school systems dead Independent
boards of education hold sway everywhere. There
is question but that better days ahead for
the schools of the District OF Columbia.
When the Capper bill is made law they can
move ahead with the twentieth century Just now
they are like an old automobile stuck in the mud,
which moves few feet and then but never
reaches hard road