Show if 3 t t fairfi m r OUR SCHOOL commissioner parley L williams commissioner missioner Co of schools for utah territory appointed to that position under the ed munds tucker law passed march 3 has made his first annual report of the schools of utah territory the report which is too lengthy for insertion does not deal so anch with the subject that should be the theme of such a document as with the action of the mormon church in establishing stake academies throughout the territory which seems to have quite an effect on brother parley and which causes him to devote to this subject nearly two thirds of his report on the other hand nothing but insinuations about mormon influence mormon coercion and other assaults on that church fill the document as though the secretary ot the interior cared to know anything about such balderdash here is ft portion of his report until very recently most of schools although partially supported by taxation were to a great extent essentially mormon denominational schools and it will take time to free them from this influence and especially ally from the reputation they have thus acquired when we come to consider the fact that the mormon people are largely in the majority that ahe influence of the leaders of that church is to aad does shape aud control the legislation of the territory it is a fair and reasonable conclusion that the attitude taken at the recent session of abo legislature te provide no further means for tha support of unless it could be shared proportionately by private schools was but another manifestation fe of the purposes set forth in the letter fromar woodruff As long as this purpose is entertained and advocated by the mormon leaders and people and the legislative power remains in their hands there can be no reasonable expectation of any material improvement of the legislation of the territory upon the subject of a public school system or any further provision made for their support by general taxation the small percentage of the children of school age in actual attendance upon the district schools is but one of the consequences of the inadequate legislation upon the general subjects of schools the lack of uniform public interest in their prosperity and progress the conditions in the past that leave brought about the establishment of the number of private denominational schools shown to desist in the territory and the more accent influence that is exerted by the mormon portion of the community in the establishment lish ment and support of schools under the direction control and patronage of their sect these conditions have operated to prevent the erection of schoolhouses adequate to the proper accommodation mo dation of that portion of the school population which la actually in attendance at the schoola echo ola the fact being that the school rooms are already overcrowded it is absolutely certain that with an increased number and more commodious school buildings there would be a largely increased attendance notwithstanding the other unfavorable conditions existing with reference to the public schools |