The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-04
Liberal Viewpoint
BY DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

TIME installation of the reform government OF
I Nayor La Cuarda in New York City should
do much to stimulate the teaching OF honeS'
and realistic civics in the schools of the meCro-
polls Of the nation.
The main reason why we do not nave gooo
government is that we do not have gooo clVl-
zens We do not have good citizens because we
fail to teach them the facts of government.
It is an everyday occurrence for mothers to
teach their children not to snort change tneIl
when sent to the corner grocery on an errand.
Rut we fear lest we might diSilluSlon our chill
dren and make juvenile cynfeS OF them II we
ever let them know that public officials contlnu-
aIlv short change their country, state, city.
Therefore. there is a lanentable tendency 10
limit the teaching of civil government to nag
salutes catechisms on the Constitution, Incl-
eating its superiority to all other documents OF
it's kind details as useless as they are harmless
on the qualifications terms Of Office, and salaries
of leading federal and state officials; and the
dangerous character of reformerS and radicals
The national self-governnent committee OF
New York City protests the continuance OF this
waste OF a great educational opportunity ano
presents a prospectus of "CivicS AS 1t Should Be
Taught
TT puts the case for realistic c1vicS in the tol-
L lowing pungent paragraphs:
What use all this flag salutlng and teacnng
government as it is supposed to work but never
telling Just how it does work, and how to preaK
the bosses Stranglehold?
when city pays four times the assessed
value for every school site acquired in the last
ten years, should civics teaching sidestep SUCH
factP
"When the commissioner of weights and
measures puts his O. K. on 1884 false scales and
nothing is done about it, should not cvicS classes
sit up and take notice?
when sheriff of New York county on a
salary of about $4,000 deposits S36OOOO IN SIX
years and can not tell how he got it, storm sig
nails should be hosted in every civics class.
when magistrate is shown to have had too
close contact with shady characters, when i've
other magistrates quit under fire, Stop, Look and
Listen should be on the blackboard OF every
civics class.
'These are just few instances brought out
in the Seabury investigation Of New York CITY.
YMAN BEACHER STOWE, a popular lee
IL turer, was invited to address one OF our high
schools and chose for his subject the Seabury in
vestigation He later Informed that this
subject could not be discussed.
This excellent pamphlet makes many specific
recommendations as to how civcs teaching might
help the cause of better government.
1t emphasizes the value of the merit system
honestly applied Under such conditions we
never would have man in charge OF all the pub
Tic RECORDS OF HlIlgS County dl d VI 9',00O
year and yet be unable either to read or to
write The merit system, fairly applied in New
York City, would save at least S25,O00,O00 year.
Proportional representation would make for
democracy ad representative government IN
municipal affairs. In the last board OF alder
men there were sixty-four Democrats and one
Republican If proportional representation had
been in operation the distribution would have
been: forty-two Democrats, seventeen Republi-
cans and six Socialists
Proportional representation not only would
make for greater fairness 1t would also help to
create a stable opposition to the dominating
party, thus encouraging alert exposure OF graft
and inefhcency.
The pamphlet closes with commendable en-
phasis upon the Importance OF teaching current
events, practical politics, and the intelligent
reading of the newspapers, if we wish to train
youngsters to become alert and informed citi-
zens. Teachers and reformers in other cities will
find this pamphlet as useful elsewhere as it
might be in New York City ITSELF