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Show I I Our Public Schools. Editor Olobo: We have sent you a fow articles for your paper from different places where wo havo been when tho fuvur to wrlto hap pened to strlko,,and In knocking about, and from observation and Inquiry havo learned tho fow facts that wo have tried to mention In such a mnuner aa to bo I easily understood. Tlieso suggestion I have chiefly bocn along IIuiiucIhI Hues. There are other question of equal Importance to any community aud for ' , that rcHsop should not be overlooked nor 1 1 passed by with any degree of Indifference. 1 The pcoplo of tho United States' are j J proud of their children and Justly so, I Particularly Is this the case with those I who are engaged in bidding up the state j- of Utah. 1Vbou pcuplo are seeking a ; place In which to make their homes, and j after tlmllng where there nro lands and water mid other conditions existing 'for ! making a llvelyhood, 0110 of tho 11 rsl questions, if the country Is settled, to be asked Is, what kind of schools havo you? Tho fact that among thu forty.tlvo states in the union, and from au educational ' vew point, Utah holds third place, that 1 at the Ht. Louis Exposition tho schools of I Utah woro awarded a gold aud silver I modal aud at the Portland Fair wcrp given two gold medals, speakts well for ' tho educational attainments of tho state. Young ladles and young jjentlcuicu come from surrounding states to aliend our Institutions of learning. Wo have iu tho schools of this state professors that have graduated from and have taught in the best schools of tho nation. All this goes to show tho awakening Interest taken In tha schools by tho people generally and by those In charge particularly.. The. main question comes nearer home: Are the schools of Uoxctdcr County keeping paco with those of the state! Although we know we have good schools we would hardly be wllljug to give an afllrmatlvo answer to tbo question, though wo do bcllove generally speaking they can bo placed in the fronl ranks. Parents have much' morn responsibility for thu maintaining of good schools rest Ing upon them, than they themselves are willing to admit. feorao years ago'a gcutlomsn of considerable consid-erable scholarly attainment lived In .Drlgliam City. He delighted In theatres, concerts, lectures, musical cntcrtlauincnts and anything which tuudnded to elevate thp IntctlcctiinllltU-a nf the people. He was deeply interested In schools and being trustee for sovcral years his efforts were put forth for the betterment of tho minds and morals of tliat town; aud the Impress of his labors aro yet to bo seen and refuse to bo obliterated aa tho prints In thu rocks by the sea shore aro left after the ebb and (low of the ocean's tide. The efforts of others can bo biadc as lasting. Uut all does not go smoothly In a county coun-ty like Iioxcldcr, It ts but a short time since many of the districts received no tax from corporations. Even now nomo got comparitlvcly little aud ono gets none Some districts by levying a one mill tax can hire high-priced teachers and can run tbeirschools tho whole year, while others are burdened with school tnx, have to put up with medium-educators and their schools continue only part of the year. In a frco country like ours it Is not fair t bat-ouo man's child should havo so much the advantage over that of his neighbor. Then thero are droves of sheep and cattle on which no school taxes aro collected for tho reason that no one knowa In which dlstrlc they aro nor where thoy belong. Much of this unpleasantness would be obviated If all the districts wcro made Into one. I know that I am now treading tread-ing ou some pcoplo'a corns, but wo all have a write to our opinions and to express ex-press our convltlons. There are now seventy-two trustees who havo the management man-agement of the schools of tbo county. It would be much easier to select thrcoor Avo compltont persons for that purpose than to find so many. Tho smaller number num-ber could be paid at a Jess expense, but sufficient to warrant their spending most of their timo In tho school work as necessity nec-essity might require, the somo as other ofnicors. The school taxes would then be uniform and each child would get his share. Much of tbo good work andtsucccsa of county schools depend on the superintendent. superinten-dent. During the ten working mouths he will need bo busy visiting his schools, talking to and with the parents, holding teachers meeting and Institutes,, aiding tho trustees, always having a suggestion, a word of advice aud eucouragemont or a little pepper, If necessary, to give to tho teachers. Thero Is nothing quite so di&couraglug to a youug teacher as to be engaged in a country school where the school clement ts not tho most appreciative, apprecia-tive, and where tho matter- of decipline Is a puzzling question , and go week after week' to teach and at thesamo tiuiu hold In check those 'restless, and Impulsive Americans' lu embryo. How, she feels the need of a word of advlco and of encouragement. en-couragement. She feels to fly to the school superintendent for aid as she would go to. a parent for advlco in other, troubles. The farmer that takes ho moro intesest In'hls, farm; stock and machinery than some parents tako lu the school lug of their children or know no more about the needs of his farms and stock than soma superintendents aud trustees dn of tho requirements of school work, would soon Hud bo uocd mortgage bis farm to provide necessities for his family; I would not for a moment disparage those parents, teachers and officers, who nro. so ernest and energetic, and there aro legions of them; but there aro evils existing that should bo overcome by those who have the care of futuro citizens of our great sin to. jACNTJCn, Kelton, Jan. 25th, 1807. |