Evening star., 1937-09-26
By John Clageft Proctor.

forgets is his school days
his dear old golden rule days
~ when he learned his reading,
'riting and 'rithmetic, the three RS
Indeed the Older a person gets the
more clearly he seems to recall his
childhood school days, and the more
he loves to reminisce over them and
to speak kindly of his dear old teach
ers and of the school house, regardless
of how small or how large it was, for
one was just as dear to him as was the
other.
We. today, are blessed with a fine
educational system and fine buildings
In which to have our children edu-
Gated for the years to come, when
they, like we, must play their part in
the affairs of the Nation-be that part
small and simple or large and poten-
tial. To the older folk now living their
systems of early instruction were just
as good as those employed today, but
this. we must admit, is subject to argu-
ment. But as to the present housing
conditions, the equipment, the facili-
ties and the care Of the student, there
can surely be no comparison.
Prior to the Civil War the schools
of Washington were not a distinct
credit to the District, though they
probably did compare favorably with
those of other cities. But even if they
did not, it must be borne in mind that
the villages, the towns and the cities
of the States are called upon to edu-
cate only the children of their respec-
tive places, while the residents of the
District, from the very beginning of
the city, have had to give public in
struction to the sons and daughters Of
Federal employees of all classes, includ-
ing the children of many of the Presi-
dents, and this for q great number
of years without any cash contribu-
ton on the part of Congress toward
the payment of teachers or the erec-
tion of schools.
nURING the school year 1872-1873
it was shown that nearly one
third of the pupils of the public schools
were children of employees of the Fed
eral Government, and it is safe to say
that this ratio has been maintained
ever since and this does not include
the children of residents of Maryland
and Virginia employed in the District
of Columbia. who today would I'M
doubtedly fill one school building alone.
In the past the liberality of Con-
gress toward the District schools has
usually been in the donation of city
lots of small value and of the privi-
lege of using buildings which have
become old and of no further use
to the Government, and, even in some
of these cases, it got something in
return for its generosity"
In 1921 Uncle Sam" gave the Dis
trict lot for the Western School
House, which it had obtained from
one of the original proprietors for
nothing and received in return Sl00,
which it applied to the building of
an iron fence to inclose the park
around the Capitol. 1t was about
this time also that permission was
obtained for the use of the White
House stable, then at the southeast
corner of G and Fourteenth streets
northwest, generally referred to as
the Jefferson Stable School, though
it was built in 1900 under the ad-
ministration If John Adams, the first
President to occupy the White House.
A couple of old engine houses, some
barracks left over from the Civil
uorl h1npE
typical contributions of Congress to
the Washington police schools.
In 1874, when the city was unable
to pay its school teachers, it old
lend the District 97,74050, but in do
ing SO provided that $40 the gov
ernment of the District of Columbia is
hereby authorized and directed to levy
and collect a tax to an amount equal
to the amount appropriated in this
act upon personal preporty, including
banks and other corporations in the
said District, and pay the same into
the Treasury of the United States.
The money hereby appropriated shall
be disbursed under the supervision
of the commissioner of education"
In other words, Congress, to show it
was good hearted in lending the
money to the District, directed how
its repayment should be made by
the citizens of Washington; saw to
it that it was properly spent. and
turned back into the Federal Treas
ury. But it did not give the city any
thing.
S EARLY as 1885 the local resi-
dents are recorded as memorial
izing Congress for aid. In 1882 more
than 5000 signed petition and pre-
sented it to Congress asking aid for
the establishment of a school sys-
tenn. In 1854 another appropriation
was made by the trustees with the
strong recommendation of the Secre-
tary of the Interior, but without le-
suits. In 1858 still another memoir
tal. In 1864 Congress weakened"
and this is what it did: 1t said in
substance that the people of the
District might have all of its own
money derived from fines, penalties
and forfeitures imposed for violations
of the laws of the United States with
in the District for the support of the
public schools, and in two years this
amounted to, say, $7,396.63, and no
more.
But the children of the District got
along somehow or other, and many
are living today to tell of the little
frame school house, and some brick
ones as well, that were not much bet
ter than the frame ones, and tolerate
their experiences when corporal pun
ishment was permitted and when
everybody huddled around the big coal
stove as the wind whistled through
the crevices of the poorly constructed
school building.
The first modern school building in
Washington was the Wallach, erected
in 1864, on Pennsylvania avenue be-
tween Seventh and Eighth streets
southeast. 1t is of brick and when
constructed was 95 by 76 feet, with
basement and three stories, and is still