THE ROLL CALL
The Roll Call ON MEN AND MEASURES "A Vicious Practice in Legislation" Extract from Senator LaFollette's speech in the United States Sen -ate on January 20, assailing the evils of the present...
...S. The normal school board has recently authorized forty normal school teachers during each half year to visit the public schools for the purpose of studying actual conditions and in order to discover the strength and weakness of normal school graduates...
...It is known that two regents and two normal school presidents strongly advocated this law...
...MR...
...Why Wisconsin Needs a New State Superintendent For ten years C. P. Cary has held the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction...
...The records clearly show that other regents introduced the resolutions providing for the increase of the summer schools from three in 1907 to ten in 1912...
...Each school employs a physical director for the girls and one for the boys...
...I venture to hope, Mr...
...In May, 1908, I stood on this floor for nineteen hours protesting against the passage of a bill...
...That service has not been rendered...
...Twenty minutes before I took the floor to make my argument against the railroad-bond provision in the emergency currency bill Senator Aldrich, the leader on the Republican side, withdrew the proposition making railroad bonds one of the securities upon which emergency currency could issue...
...This practical effort was begun without aid or suggestion from the State Superintendent...
...4. The State Superintendent was for a number of years a teacher in a normal school...
...Nor can it be shown that he has in any essential manner or by any means been a force with the normal regents for any constructive work...
...You have to swallow the whole conference report or you have to defeat all the good things in the conference report in order to get some one bad thing taken oat...
...He has simply voted with the majority and has taken the initiative in nothing...
...3. Five of the normal schools have courses for the direct training of rural school teachers...
...Do you understand, Senators...
...It is not the way to legislate, Senators...
...The records show that this has been due to other members of the normal board, especially to Regents Youmans, Hamilton and KRON-SHAGE...
...A conference report has to be accepted or rejected in toto...
...Since 1903 there had been pending an appeal to Congress from the Interstate Commerce Commission to value the physical properties of railroads of the country in order to determine how much the railroad securities represent actual investment and how much they represent water—a fraud upon the American public...
...The State Superintendent through his five school inspectors has been in a position to get reports of a large number of vacancies in the high schools and grades in all parts of the state...
...The answer to that question will be given in these columns in a series of brief articles, of which the following is the fifth...
...Not a single resolution adopted by the Board for ten years shows that the State Superintendent has had any connection with this work...
...These courses were in successful operation in the normal schools of Michigan prior to 1908...
...I believed that that bill was a bad bill, but the methods employed to pass that bill I believed to be vicious, and I was willing to go to the very limit of risk in order to emphasize to the country the iniquity of that proceeding...
...Without any determination on the part of the Government pursuant to the recommendations of the Interstate Commerce Commission as to the real, true value, the real investment in the railroads in this country in the Aldrich-Vreeland bill, it was proposed through this side door to work into the foundations, as it were, of the financial system of this country, as a basis for circulation, railroad bonds, regardless of the value that was back of them...
...It had been proposed in the Senate...
...So twenty minutes before I was to begin an argument he rose and withdrew that provision...
...They have done what other Senators have done...
...I did not do that as an exhibition of my physical endurance...
...but it is well known that the organization and growth of the summer school system is due primarily to others connected with the normal schools, notahly Mr...
...I think the Senator from Massachusetts is absolutely right...
...The railroad-bond provision was back in the bill, not in the original form, for under the bill as it came from the Committee on Finance there were some restrictions as to the bonds which might be accepted as a basis for emergency currency circulation...
...PRESIDENT, I want to turn aside for a moment to comment on the whole latitude given to conferees, of which this is one of the most striking examples, in the way of engrafting onto legislation new matter which neither House of Congress has ever considered...
...I started with my opening word upon this subject to say something in criticism of that practice by conference committees...
...It might well be supposed that he would have, some opinions on the courses of study and the general educational policy of the eight normal schools...
...I predicted that that proposition withdrawn would be found in the conference report before that legislation was over...
...Shortly thereafter we were told that the conferees could not agree, and that no legislation upon that subject would be enacted...
...2. The important summer school system in the normal schools has been developed entirely outside the efforts and without any apparent interest on the part of the State Superintendent...
...How many members of the legislature or school men recognized his leadership on this or any other question of educational policy...
...The duty of the normal schools to serve the interests of the rural schools does not seem to have appealed to the State Superintendent...
...A careful inspection of the proceedings of the normal board shows that the State Superintendent has had no educational program whatever for the normal schools during all of his ten years in office...
...Now, take this conference report...
...The rules and the practice sanction it...
...I do not mean to reflect on the Senators who were on the conference...
...He is within the precedents and within the decisions of the House of Representatives, and I am not assailing the conferees...
...President, and gave notice that I should attack it...
...I was opposed to that, Mr...
...Finally, just at the close of the session, when it was impossible to secure serious consideration for any measure, Congress and the country were suddenly informed that the conferees had agreed and the Aldrich-Veeeland bill, in the form of a conference report^ was thrust upon the House and the Senate...
...There is no affirmative record to prove that he has been a factor in the training of teachers in the normal schools, This has a special significance in view of the State Superintendent's criticism of the kind of teaching in the University...
...President, just as I had predicted, the railroad-bond provision had a secure place...
...V. The State Normal Schools SUPERINTENDENT CARY has been a member of the Board of Normal Regents from January 1, 1903, to January 1, 1913...
...The Roll Call ON MEN AND MEASURES "A Vicious Practice in Legislation" Extract from Senator LaFollette's speech in the United States Sen -ate on January 20, assailing the evils of the present Conference system and demanding that the immigration bill be sent back to the conference committee to eliminate a bad "joker...
...7. The River Falls Normal School has recently established a department of agriculture...
...And in that conference report, Mr...
...The bill passed the Senate...
...He has attended the meetings and his activity has extended only to the introduction of the most formal resolutions and reports...
...What record has he made daring these ten years...
...When writing to advertisers, please mention "La Follette's...
...It was finally thrown into conference...
...In February, 1905, Regent Cary voted against appropriating money for summer sessions at the normal schools...
...In this respect, Regents Crown hart, Morris, Kronsi-iage, Harrington, LoRd, Nelson, McGregor, HamiltoN and others have led...
...President, that the day is near at hand when both branches of Congress will be made more democratic and more responsive to the public will...
...The presidents of the normal schools agreed upon a course of study and President Salisbury in particular took an active part in urging upon the legislature of 1909 the passage of a law to establish such a course...
...Then what happened...
...It had been put upon its passage in the Senate...
...When it was proposed in the Senate it contained a provision that railroad bonds should be made the basis of the issuance of emergency currency...
...In that year, the present Secretary of the Wisconsin Board of Normal Regents, Mr...
...It is an exemplification of the abuse...
...This bureau charges no commission on the teacher's salary and the small registration fee of one dollar per year hardly pays for postage and printing...
...He is again seeking reelection to this important position at the head of the public school system...
...A woman physician goes from school to school giving expert advice and helping to cany out plans...
...This was done on the initiative of President J. W. CRABTREE and Regent Thompson...
...Mn President, that is a bad method, a vicious method of legislating, and we slwuld make an end of it at once and for all time...
...By reporting such vacancies to the free public registration bureau, the State Superintendent and his live inspectors could be of great service to teachers and to school boards...
...But I am assailing the system...
...Sir, the rules and the precedents of this body and the body at the other end of the Capitol have been so framed as to put legislation in the hands of a very few men...
...There is a decided difference of opinion as to the policy of such work in the normal schools...
...President, that is a vicious prac- tice in legislation, and to the Senators who are to have some power in molding the rules under which laws shall be framed in future, let me appeal to you to give your attention to reforming this abuse...
...Now, what happened...
...It does not reflect the will of the people in legislation, and that is what onr kind of a government ought to mean...
...But who knows where the State Superintendent stood on the question...
...Crownhart...
...But the record shows almost nothing on this subject...
...Because he well knew that he could stand for a moment the attack that would be made, based upon the historic and economic development of the railroads of the country and the known facts as to fictitious capitalization...
...Kittle, inspected the system in Michigan and reported favorably upon it...
...We have seen it many times...
...I tell you, Mr...
...I took the floor...
...The private teacher's agency usually charges 5 per cent...
...The State Superintendent has had no essential part in the extension of this or any other special department at any normal school...
...The following record is based on the published proceedings of the Board: 1. In the purchase of land and in the general up-keep of the eight normal school plants, Superintendent Cary has shown no interest and has had no part...
...5. The legislature of 1911 provided by law that the normal schools may offer the first two years of college work...
...But as the provision appeared in the conference report any sort of railroad bonds could be accepted as security...
...It was an emergency currency bill—the so-called Vreeland-Aldrich currency bill...
...commission on the first year's salary...
...Let me recall something to your minds...
...I made my argument notwithstanding the withdrawal...
...Two educational journals which are run in connection with private teachers agencies are now supporting the present State Superintendent...
...9. In February, 1909, the Board of Normal Regents opened in the office of the board a registration bureau for the purpose of bringing good teachers who were graduates of normal schools, into direct communication with school boards needing teachers...
...Two of the private teacher's agencies in Wisconsin are run in connection with educational journals which go out to teachers and school boards...
...6. The normal .schools have recently taken advanced ground on the physical training of their students and to prepare their graduates to extend such work to the public schools of the state...
...In February, 1907, Regent Cary voted to establish summer schools at three normal schools...
Vol. 5 • February 1913 • No. 6
