Show DISTRICT TEACHERS In speaking of the Mormon teachers of the district schools a Mormon exchange says that in ability Gentile teachers art not equal to these Mormon teachers The truth of this assertion of our Mormon exchange depends largely on the kind 01 ability referred to If the ability mentioned men-tioned is the ability to subscribe to all of the slavish and suj erjtitious observances observ-ances of a polygamous Church If the ability mentioned is comprised in mental as well as physical prostitution If the ability abil-ity mentioned is tho ability of ignorance to pose as efficiency If the ability mentioned means the application of Church fraud to the solving of the educational problem then our Mormon exchange is right Ion I-on the other hand the ability mentioned means a devotion to the interests of education edu-cation pure and simple if it means in the tirrft place the ability to teach and in the second place the experience necessary neces-sary to successfully teach then our Mormon Mor-mon exchange is wrong And stubborn facts prove that our Mormon exchange is wrong Ihe ward schools of Sajl Lake City aro district schools If efficiency was to be displayed by the Mormon teachers of tho district schools it would assert itself in the schools comprised within the limits of the metropolis of the Territory And yet the district schools of Salt Lake are miserably and notoriously inefficent This is a fact appreciated by Mormons as well as by Gentiles and it is likewise a fact solely due to the incompetency of the Mormon teachers As we had occasion occa-sion to point out the other day sixty per cent of the attendance on the well conducted and well taught Christain mission schools is from children of Mormon Mor-mon parentage These Mormon children chil-dren attend the mission schools simply and solely because their parents realize that even a preparatory course at the hands of the Mormon teachers of the city district schools is hopeless To this disgraceful record of the district schools of the city there is one bright exception and wo will right here do it justice The Seventh Ward school is doing good work And what is the reason of this anomaly in district school annals The answer is easily made and is eminently explanatory Tho Seventh Ward district dis-trict school of Salt Lake City has a Gentile Gen-tile school board I And with Gentile school boards all of the district schools of Salt Lake City would do good work And so it would be throughout the Territory Terri-tory Why I at a recent meeting of the district school teachers of Salt Lake a Mormon teacher made an elaborate argument against the system of examin tion of applicants for teachers certificates In his opinion no such examination was necessary A teacher ought to be taken on faith Mormon faith What can be hoped for what can be expected from a 83 stem of which the teacher referred to was an applauded exponent |