Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-05-17
BREWSTER'S VIEWS
OF SCHOOL LAW
WHAT WOULD DO

Hon. Ralph o. Brewster Of Port
land, candidate for the Republican
for Governor of Maine,
delivered two addresses in this city
yesterday. In the afternoon he spoke
at the First Unitarian church to an
audience composed almost entirely
of women and in the evening he ad-
Winslow Grange hall Mr.. Brewster's
addresses were similar in nature and
he passed the greater part of the
time discussing the Brewster amend
ment to the Constitution proposed at
the last Legislature to discontinue
the appropriation of State funds for
parochial and sectarian schools. He
also spoke concerning some state
ments made a short time ago by Hon.
Frank G. harrington concerning Mr..
Brewster's attitude, on the question
of State aid for parochial and sec
tartan schools.
In his afternoon address Sen.
Brewster said:
My opponent for the Republican
nomination for Governor recently
made the following statement:
Under the Brewster amendment
the non-sectarian academies of the
State would be prevented from en-
tering into contracts with NUM-
cipalities and would have no time
to make other arrangements for
their financing.
THE Barwise amendment took
away State aid from these schools
gradually but it also included hos
pitfalls and institutions. Mr.. Brewster
voted ~ h,,f he
was too broad and ought not to have
passed. I voted against it as I did
against the Brewster amendment"
The Barwise amendment to which
my opponent evidently refers cut off
appropriations to all private insti-
buttons of every name and nature
and would have barred the nom
sectarian academies of the State and
also all of the hospitals of the State
from receipt of public funds. I OPP
posed this measure consistently from
the time it was first suggested as
Representative Barwise of Bangor.
the proponent of the measure, will
assure anyone who is interested.
Three members of the Judiciary
Committee considering this matter,
Charles ]. Nichols, ESQ, Of Portland,
George c. Wing, Jr., ESQ.,, of Auburn,
and Hubert E. Saunders, ESQ.,, of
Lubec, submitted a proposed amend
ment which would cut off State aid
to all sectarian institutions, whether
schools or hospitals, but would not
affect non-sectarian institutions of
any kind.
voted for this amendment in the
Senate on March II, 1923 and 1 made
the reason for my support entirely
clear, as appears in the Legislative
Record on Page 451, where I stat
ed:
There may we'll be a difference
of opinion as to whether the lines
are wisely drawn between sectarian
schools and sectarian institutions of
other kinds. I personally was en-
tirely able to see a distinction in the
States policy in respect to these two
matters. I feel that the distinction
as to the latter class is so small,
there are so few of them involved,
that the issue here, as it was in the
discussion of this matter in the
House may confine itself chiefly, if
not entirely, to the school issue. and
it is to that which / wish to address
myself"
My opponent is entirely in error
in stating that I ever voted for any
amendment designed to affect any
of the non-sectarian institutions of
the State.
In my opinion the constitutional
amendment which I have proposed
does not affect in any way the
thirty-five non-sectarian academies
of the State. My opponents con-
tention is based on the words of the
amendment which state that "all
monies raised for the support of pub
lie schools shall only be expended
in schools under public control.
The conclusive answer to this con-
tention is the fact that an appropria-
ton for the tuition Of pupils attend
ing non-sectarian academy need
not be an appropriation for the
support of public schools"
The fact that some towns have
appropriated money for the support
of a high school and then paid the
money to an academy does not alter
the fact that they may legally and
properly appropriate the money dir
ectly for the academy under the au-
thority of the Revised Statutes of of
Maine, Chapter 16. Section 81. The
town of Monmouth. for instance.
may appropriate sum of money for
Monmouth Academy for the tuition
of local pupils of high school age
attending Monmouth Academy. to be
paid as the local school committee
may direct and such an appropria-
ton would not be affected in any way
by the proposed amendment.
That this is the correct construc-
ton Is further shown by the next
clause of the proposed amendment
which specifically prohibits appro-
priations to "anY school-Whether