The Town Meeting Catechism

There was collected at the Denny hall, corner of Kentucky and Harrison streets, last evening, a most representative gathering of taxpaying citizens of all political parties, who had come together upon invitation of the Eighth Ward Republican Club to hear members of the school board explain the issues at stake in the bond election that takes place today. At previous meetings considerable dissatisfaction had been expressed at the condition of school affairs, and last night’s meeting promised to be one of more than ordinary interest. Directors A. P. Burwell, J. B. MacDougall and D. A. Spencer and Clerk H. F. Whitney were present. D. T. Denny, the chairman, and the directors made statements explaining the desirability of carrying the election. Then began a regular old-fashioned town-meeting kind of catechism. Many of the taxpayers plied the directors with pertinent and pointed questions about the cost of buildings, cost of school sites, amount of wages paid to janitors, teachers and other employes. It was shown that a large portion of the debt was caused by the purchase of lands and erection thereon of school buildings as specially directed by a three-fifths vote of the people. One very pointed question was why the school teachers’ salaries had not been reduced to correspond with other hard times pay in other lines of business. It was explained that the contracts with teachers were made for a full year and reductions could not be made until the beginning of the next school year. The directors showed that money had been saved in many directions, and in the future this saving would be much greater. Salaries of new teachers had already been cut from $70 to $55 a month. All the questions of the taxpayers seemed to be satisfactorily answered, and a vote of thanks was unanimously tendered to the members of the school board.