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Show BSLOf I Of EDUCATION Iff They Dominate ike City Schools. Lays Go After the High I Offices and Big Sal- aries First. Le of the Peculiar "Merits and 1 Qualifications" Which. Hecom-I Hecom-I nend Candidates to Board. 1 CHAPTER I. Lrmon domination of the public gls la a tender subject with he Kierteed Republicans, to Judge L the impassioned manner In which Lr subsidized mouthpiece rushes to &. defense of what has never heen at-iJked at-iJked and answers accusations which Sve never been made. That thero Is R3M for their tenderness there can u no question. lite Mormon church has never made Jn open attempt to drive the Gentiles frn the schools. That Is not the ec-tk'lastkal ec-tk'lastkal method. Priestcraft works like the mole, underground. Its ways . as secret as they are dark, but none It las effective "Moke hasto slowly" b th Mormon motto. Some Mormon Maxims, fh'othwlthstandlng the priestly cun-nlaf cun-nlaf and persistence of the church, however, Its work cannot be entirely Wealed. It Is by observing Its cautious cau-tious advances that one gains an ln-'right ln-'right into the traditional policy of the bjtltuUon. I "B;cln at the top," Is another Mor-. Mor-. ,raon "maxim. It Is the substance, not tM chacow 01 power iuul ujjijcau . af'Sen move along the line of their material Interests," Ib a Socialistic formula for-mula ivell understood by the church and jlfs right hand will always be found grasping toward the treasure box. k The best ofllces and the highest salaries sal-aries for the Saints Is the church policy In school affairs as In all other affairs, ?lt holds good in county, city and State fpollllcs. They always begin a cam-t'palsn cam-t'palsn by going after the strategical po-JtilJons. po-JtilJons. When these are gained; when SBSilDtcraft Is firmly entrenchpd at all 5 the points of vantage the mask is 'at iftrorra aside and the "enemies" of the Jthnrch are crushed without pity or Jlauple. Church Rule at Brigham. What the church authorities have 41 :'fon In Brigham to ruin all who at- 6 ,'tfmpt to earn an honest living without .the, "counsel" of ecclesiastical tyrants A iouW be done as quickly and rcmorse-'', rcmorse-'', kssly In Salt Lake if the church held 3j !'tbe same advantage here that It does In " (Box Elder county. JjJ i Conelderlng the great preponderance U iof Gentile votes in Salt Lake the church alas made astonishing progress. The only wonder is that Its detrimental in- Merference did not long ago arouse the fj awn-Iormon patrons of the public Jj, Jichools to, united action. Such action r m the only thing that the hierarchy jjfears. $. "Me"t and qualifications alone count" j jlj the claim made by the conspirators' 0Qthplece, "Religion cuts no figure In E? eraplormcnt of teachers or prlnci-MilR3 prlnci-MilR3 or anv one connected with the Al t Merit Is Disregarded. ft- 'f'.-An examination of the facts shows M Sj" neither claim Is true. That is Just -i i i ,.1troubIe- Religious preferences 3 JraigM, perhaps, be. tolerated If merit i f'.'flcatlons were always consld- l aered. it i8 the flagrant dlregard of C j merit and ability by the Mormons that i t?16 riBhtcous indignation of all W Z, have at ncart tljo welfare of the i riilng generation. yi i Ru4 the list of instructors who havo 1 1. 01lnQCa from this Held by the an- of the Mormon combine and i!S ntm flnd that 11 includes tho best V i It, 10 be had- They were teachers t 5 vny olher 'clty Jn the country louid have striven to retain. And in '5 irl"7,00 moh teachers have been re-2 re-2 "7l$fa.by Parsons of mediocre ability. 3 i quallflcatSons" indeed! 5 in.ni .?.Ber.cent of teachers arc 5 9 T? ilMl exclaims the mouthpiece. m i r cent oC tho ectlon men on ?n,Jf 0 Gr.andi system were friends of 'J in??man.,t ralBht be salu that Harrl- 6 lrnti ?atrol,cd th0 road- although H, gJ9 a ma3orlty of the board of U!ih tht Mormons In control of the i ? i Education, of the Committee - -WJw1'? and Sch001 vor,J. of the i ;K.nt?,rident s omce. lt looks to an unprejudiced observer as If they were gns pretty well for a minority re T- S W&ncGenU1? tcachs with in- I ?iraP wSSion"2n boys and elrls at 1 ouMhHn.thliS' lhey very wel1 ow. i ? of ihl , down unon thern the wrath ! GVntiu 01 ,tbeir PRm A majority of 1 lE d5S Sn1?11 lhue,r real themes. J f for iaJorltuy has Deen kcPt In i J How dJlh I?Uch a m,nent tfs this, v i G'ntllp "Vy convenient lo have a j w control the J sdhoola! "0l in ,ntr J After Higher Game. 1 Wddenjy or tth?. teachers either f 'IhegaiSL?. th,s tlme- At Present J4?i le"S?hlrUffl,i4thp,arCM of sreat- : f duateB bTtiL3?0013 are turning out tfr-o ahnv e sc10re' forming the re- fltv ffiTf;hrc,J tlie church may To ludc tJ? . In tho open. i S UT lta Dnst history the cell ce-ll 5?aeSfmqVie ?vlU continue its II ting IU nrlnn?.1 he top towmvard. got-m got-m KSlg llLrst. and not dls- l ''nnuatM .10 Vhat 11 cm for its m 2 um Rwor in Janitors' salaries! X tttr be tS2 h: Dubllc treasury will ,f too empty to give forth Us golden stream for those who remember I that one-tenth of their salaries belongs to "the Lord." Founding of the Schools. When the public school system was founded in Salt Lake In 1890 the city was fortunnte In having the services of a man eminently Qualified for the task. Superintendent Mlllspaugh was known all over the United States as an educational edu-cational expert. Other cities envied Salt Lake its good fortune in securing such an able teacher and director. Our schools sprang into prominence at once Desirable residents were attracted from all parts of the country by the educational educa-tional advantages for their children. Superintendent Mlllspaugh made It a point to gather the best teachers obtainable ob-tainable from other cities and States, at ( the same time giving every encourage- E ment to the young folks of Utah to fit H themselves for the responsible duty of H teaching the children. There was never I at any time under. Gentile control a dls- I position to exclude Mormons from th3 I schools, but thero were few teachers In Utah In those days who could meet the strict requirements of the Salt Lake schools. It was this high standard of efficiency which made the schools what they were. Such a thing as replacing a superior with an inferior Instructor was never thought of. There was a constant effort to raise the standard higher and higher. Fought Under Cover. Tho Mormons, at that time, were in the minority on the school board. It would have been useless for them to offer any open opposition to Prof. Mlllspaugh, Mllls-paugh, for his ability was fuhy appre ciated by the board, the patrons of thi schools and the pupils. The minority, therefore, confined Its opposition to petty pet-ty obstructions and annoyances which tended to make Superintendent Mllls-paugh'a Mllls-paugh'a work unpleasant. After eight years of such covert opposition he wearied of the struggle and reluctantly gave up the work which had been the pride of his heart. The moment he signified sig-nified his intention of leaving Salt Lake he was much sought after in the largo Institutions of learning and finally accepted ac-cepted a flattering offer from the State Normal school of Minnesota. He Is now superintendent of the California State normal school at Los Angeles. Was a Grievous Loss. The loss of Superintendent Mlllspaugh Mllls-paugh was regarded by all true friends of the Salt Lake schools as a grievous one. The board had no hope of getting a better man. but tho majority hoped at least to get one of similar ability. The Committee on Teachers and School Work, which at that time Included among its members 13. B. Critchlow. W. A. Nelden. Judge H. P Henderson, William Wil-liam F. Colton and E. W. Wilson, determined deter-mined to secure the (best man In the United States for the position. Thero was no question of religion or politics raised at that time. The common desire de-sire was to find a superintendent who would make the city schools the envy and admiration of all our sister cities. There were no kitchen conferences or closet meetings. Word was sent abroad that applications from oven' port of the United States would be fairly and earnestly considered. A special committee, with Judge Henderson Hen-derson as chairman, was appointed to Investigate the claims and merits of the applicants. Hundreds of applications were received: weeks were devoted to the work of investigation. Finally the special committee selected Frank B. Cooper, then superintendent of tho Des Moines schools, as the man best qualified quali-fied to coptlnue the fine system Instituted Insti-tuted by Prof Mlllspaugh. Opposition to Cooper. Immediately, notwithstanding the grent care used in the selection of Mr. Cooper, and his splendid record, Moyle, Newman, Glauque and other Mormon members of the school board manifested manifest-ed opposition. Cooper was elected In spite of their protests. There was then a resumption of the old tactics. Ability, enthusiasm, a national reputation, repu-tation, enviable success, carried no weight with the minority of the board. Mr. Cooper lacked one qualification which was all Important In the eyes of the plotters. He did not pay his tithing ond take his orders from the Bee Hive. It took but three years of this contemptible con-temptible bushwhacking to convince Prof. Cooper that faithful and efficient service was not appreciated in Salt Lake. He was ambitious and desired to cast hl3 lot where he might look forward for-ward to something. The, large and enterprising city of Seattle was glad to get him at a largely Increased salary and he went, resigning his thankless office in Salt Lake. No Gentiles Need Apply. In the meantlmo the Mormon directors direc-tors had succeeded In gaining control of the board and deemed the time rlpo for the realization of their dearest dream. There was no attempt this time to get the best man In the United States or even the best man In Utah. Thrc was no general Invitation to applicants. ap-plicants. There was no Investigation of those who did apply. Tho impression impres-sion was allowed to go forth that only good churchmen would be considered. Instead of a hundred aspirants for the position, as previously, there were less than a dozen. It Is said that one of these, Frank H. Smith, superintendent of the Lawrence. Kan., schools, applied personally to Chairman Moyle of the committee and was frankly told that the new superintendent superin-tendent had to be "a Utah man; a Mor mon, and not a half-way Mormon, either." eith-er." Whether this story Is true or apocryphal, there Is no doubt that It represented the policy of Mr. Moyle and his committee. For the first time In tho history of the Salt Lake schools the question of religion .had risen above that of "merit and qualifications." And it has been there ever since. Had tho Qualifications. They got a man with the necessary qualifications. He was a Utah man. He was a Mormon. He had faithfully served the church on a German mission Furthermore he had had a wide and varied experience In teaching tho youth of the little town of Payson. In the southern part of Utah county. His for-elnn for-elnn travels were held to make up the sllrht deficiency of a college course. Not that D. H. Chrlstenscn was a poor teacher He was a Btudent, talented and ambitious. He would have been a decided acquisition as a principal In ono of the smaller grade schools. But after af-ter such men as Mlllspaugh and Cooper he showed to poor advantage. -Mormons Wero Delifrhted. However, the Mormon members of the board were delighted at tho success of their efforts to lower the standard of Salt Lake's educational Institutions, and they showed their appreciation of Mr. ChrlBtonscn's peculiar ' qualifications" qualifica-tions" by Increasing his salary. Superintendent Super-intendent Mlllspaugh had left a salary of $2500 per year: Prof. Cooper had been K6ttlng $3000 annually. Chrlstenscn was engaged to fill out Cooper's unexpired unex-pired term ut S2S00. At the beginning of the next term his pay was Increased to S3300 and he Is now drawing the, maximum max-imum 53C0O, with a discount of 10 per cent. . , . , " The capture of the auperlntendency was the first fruit of a cunning and patient pa-tient ecclesiastical policy. But lt was not the last. Other and more startling chapters remain to be told. (To bo continued.) |