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 SENATE. 
 
 J Document 
 
 I No. 86. 
 
 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTKICT OF COLU^IBIA. 
 
 Mr. Nelson presented the following 
 
 ARTICLE BY W. C. DODGE, A FORMER TRUSTEE, ENTITLED "THE 
 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL; 
 ^ATHAT THEY ARE AND HOW OBTAINED." 
 
 June 8, 1909. — Ordered to be printed. 
 
 It is a common occurrence to see in the papers and magazines 
 articles complaining of the schools and schoolhoiises of the national 
 capital, the latest being an article by Cora Reese in the April number 
 of Good Housekeeping, in which she severely criticises the school- 
 houses. 
 
 These articles are usually written by nonresidents, who form their 
 opinions from a very cursory examination and with little or no 
 knowledge of facts, and not infrequently contain gross errors. For 
 instance, in the article referred to, on page 441, is a cut showing one 
 side of the basement story of a building, with a door opening there- 
 from into an area at the side of th? building ; and underneath the cut 
 is the following: 
 
 The basement area, narrow and frequently loathsome, is a standard feature of 
 Washington schools. In some cases, these areas are the regular entrances and 
 exits. 
 
 This conve3"s the idea that the schoolrooms above are entered 
 through the door leading from the area into the basement, while as a 
 matter of fact every schoolhouse in the District is provided with doors 
 in the story above the basement, through which the pupils enter and 
 depart. The only building in which five stories are occupied is the 
 Franklin, in which the pupils occupy but four, and a room in the base- 
 ment, on grade, used as an office by the director of music, where she 
 gives instruction to the teachers. 
 
 While no doubt there is ground for criticism in several respects, yet 
 if her statements are intended to apply to the buildings at the present 
 time they are in several respects erroneous, as many of the bad condi- 
 tions she mentions have been remedied and no longer exist. Why 
 they ever existed and why all have not been remedied will be fully 
 explained later on. 
 
I SCHOOLS IN" THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 
 
 THE SCHOOLS, AND HOW ESTABLISHED. 
 
 In order to give a clear idea of the conditions existing at the national 
 capital, it is first necessar}' to give a brief history of the schools "Yind 
 their origin, which was unhke that in the Northern and Western 
 States. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the District of Columbia was formed 
 from parts of two slave States, where, as in the South generally, 
 common schools for the free education of the masses did not exist. 
 
 The first charter granted by Congress in 1802, provided for a city 
 council and mayor, the latter appointed by the President. This 
 charter gave no authority to estabhsh schools, but in 1804 a new 
 charter was granted, which provided for a school for children whose 
 parents were unable to pay for their tuition— the school to be sup- 
 ported by a tax on slaves, dogs, hcenses for carriages and hacks, for 
 ordmaries and taverns, for retailing wines and liquors, bilhard tables, 
 theatricals and other pubhc amusements, hawkers and peddlers; 
 provided, that if the proceeds exceeded $1,500 per annum, the surplus 
 should be retained to be disposed of by the council for other purposes. 
 The trustees were authorized to solicit contributions and employ 
 others to do the same. The board was organized in 1805, and Thomas 
 Jefl"erson was its president for three years" 
 
 In 1808 the cauncil reduced the' amount for schools to $800 per 
 annum. For several years eflorts were made to obtain a school fund 
 by means of a lottery authorized by Congress, but that proved a 
 failure. 
 
 Tlfis was the first school in Washington, and subsequently another 
 was established m Georgetown. They were styled ''charity" 
 schools, but later were known as '^pauper" schools, the appropriation 
 act of 1821 expressly providing that ''it shall not be lawful to sufl"er 
 any children to be taught for pay; but that the schools shall consist 
 entirely of children whose parents are unable to pay for their tuition." 
 For twenty-five years there was a lancasterian school, in which 
 pupils were taught for pay, some of whom paid by furnisliing fuel for 
 the school ; but as the teacher could not exist on the salary he received 
 he finally abandoned it. j , 
 
 In 1826 $4,000 were raised by lotteries authorized, as previously 
 by Congress, and this afterwards increased to nearly double tlie 
 amount which was invested, and increased until it ultimately became 
 the fund used tor the erection of the first high school buildino- in 188"? 
 now known as the "Central High School." &; -j 
 
 Various private pay schools were established from time to time 
 but they did not amount to much, as the population was small and 
 there were tew persons of means. 
 
 Such was the condition of the schools down to 1840 when W W 
 Seaton was elected mayor, which otfice he retained for ten years' 
 
 /i oTi i"" r -^ 'f^f ®^^ '> ^^^^ "'^"^^ "f schools, and in his message 
 ? onn A'^ showed that of the 5,200 white children of school aj^e bSt 
 1,200 attended either private or pubhc schools, thus showing that 
 more than three-fourths of the whole number were crrowinc. ud in 
 ignorance. & t^ •^•F 
 
 He recommended the adoption of what he termed "the admirable 
 system of public schools in the New Erjgland States, by which the 
 benefits of education are placed withi-n.-the reach of every child in 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 3 
 
 the ^community." This was so contrary to the practice and ideas 
 ' that , had thus far prevailed, not only here, but generally throughout 
 J the South, that it met with strong opposition, and all he could 
 induce the council to do was to establish, in 1843, another school 
 building, and permit others than the children of the poor to attend, 
 on payment of 50 cents monthly. 
 
 In accordance with his recommendation two additional school 
 buildings were subsequently erected, making four in all, which accom- 
 modated 700 pupils. There were 4 teachers and 5 assistants. 
 
 The first year the tuition fees amounted to $1,000, but they 
 decreased yearly, until the assistant teachers had to be dismissed. 
 
 This system continued only three years, but in the meantime the 
 subject of free schools had attracted the attention of the public, and 
 such men as John Quincy Adams, Justice Woodbury, Hon. Caleb 
 Gushing, Rev. E. E. Hale, and others. 
 
 In 1848 Congress granted Washington a new charter, which author- 
 ized a school tax, also a capitation tax of $1 annually on each voter, 
 the proceeds to be used as a school fund ; and then, for the first time, 
 Mayor Seaton's idea of free public schools was adopted at the National 
 Capital, for the white children alone. So great was the improvement 
 that at the close of 1849 they had a public c^elebration, the 2,000 
 children marching in a body to the Capitol, where addresses were 
 made by prominent officials. 
 
 From that time the opposition to the New England system of free 
 schools rapidly decreased, though when I sent my children to the 
 public schools in 1861 some of the old residents condemned it as 
 '''disgraceful." 
 
 The great influx of citizens from the North and West during the 
 war also helped wonderfully to bring about the change in public senti- 
 ment, and since then our only difficulty has been to get sufficient 
 means to build schoolhouses and to pay "the teachers. 
 
 THE COLORED SCHOOLS, 
 
 As the District was slave territory, of course the authorities took 
 no steps to provide schools for the colored children, but on the con- 
 trary, forbade, under a penalty, anyone to teach a slave to read or 
 write. The free colored people who came into the District were 
 required to give a bond of S500, with good security, and to notify the 
 authorities whenever they changed their places of residence. Both 
 free and slaves were prohibited from being out after 10 p. m. without 
 a permit, nor could they assemble anywhere or for any purpose with- 
 out first obtaining a permit from the authorities. 
 
 The first schoolhouse for free colored children was built in 1807 by 
 three freedmen, former slaves in Maryland and Virginia. At that 
 time the population of Washington consisted of 4,148 whites and 1,498 
 colored, of whom 1,004 were slaves and 494 free. 
 
 Some twenty-five or tliirty other private colored schools were 
 esta Wished down to 1862, several of them by pliilanthropic parties 
 from the north, among the most prominent of whom was Miss 
 Myrtilla Miner, of Brookfield, N. Y. She interested several benev- 
 olent persons in the enterprise, and opened her school in a private 
 house in 1851; but so strong was the opposition to colored schools 
 that she was obfiged to change her location three times, until finally, 
 
4 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 by the assistance of benevolent persons here and elsewhere, an entirt 
 square, containing about three acres, was purchased for $4,000 in 
 1853. On this was subsequently erected a large building in which, 
 with the assistance of others, she continued her school until she died, 
 in 1862. So strong was the prejudice against it that in 1857 the 
 mayor, Walter Lenox, denounced it over liis own signature in the 
 National Intelhgencer; and at one time the original building was set 
 on fire while she was sleeping in the upper story. So, too, at the 
 time of the Nat Turner insurrection in Virginia, in 1831, the colored 
 children were all turned out of the Sunday schools of the District, 
 into wliich they had been admitted by the wliites, and in 1835, at the 
 time of the Snow riot in Washington, the colored schools were nearly 
 all broken up, the schoolhouses partialh' demolished, some totally 
 destroyed, and the furniture also. John F. Cook, a colored man in 
 charge of a school established by himself, was carried from the city 
 by the Commissioner of the United States Land Office, wliile the mob 
 partially destroyed his schoolhouse and all the books and furniture, 
 and was only prevented from destrojnng the dwelling of the owner, 
 in wliich liis wife lay sick, b}" the strenuous eft'orts of Alderman 
 Dwyer. It was only by the determined action of President Jackson 
 that order was finally restored. Such was the fear of the colored 
 people, that for a year or two the more timid did not dare to send 
 their children to school, and the mass of them dwelt in fear day and 
 night. 
 
 To give a complete historv of the difficulties under Vvdiich our 
 present schools were established would require a good-sized volume. 
 
 In 1862 slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, and in 
 1864 there were from thirty to forty thousand colored people, w^ho 
 had come here from the slave States, nearl}^ all of whom had never 
 had any schooling. They had no means of support, and the Govern- 
 ment established the Freedmen's Bureau and issued rations upon 
 which they lived. 
 
 Various religious and benevolent societies at the North established 
 numerous schools in the District. They souo;ht the assistance of the 
 General Government in vain. In 1864 Congress provided that the 
 same amount per capita should be expended for the colored as for 
 the wdiites in the schools, which provision has continued ever since. 
 
 Through the influence of General Howard and others, the Howard 
 University was estabHshed for the higher education of the colored, 
 and for this Congress makes an annual appropriation. 
 
 The inability of the District to maintain a more liberal system of 
 public schools was shown in the first report of the Commissioner of 
 Education, published in 1871. Referring to the recent census report, 
 it is shown that there were in the District in 1860: 
 
 Owners of real estate : 
 
 Whites 6, 485 
 
 Colored 1, 339 
 
 Total 7, 824 
 
 Renters of houses: 
 
 Whites 8, 895 
 
 Colored 4^ 595 
 
 Total 13, 490 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 Number of families: 
 
 Whites 16, 254 
 
 Colored 7, 241 
 
 Total 23, 495 
 
 Number of houses for families 20, 023 
 
 Number of voters in the District of Columbia: 
 
 Whites 13, 294 
 
 Colored 6,648 
 
 Total 1 9, 942 
 
 Niimber unable to read: 
 
 Whites 1, 812 
 
 Colored 11,025 
 
 Total 12, 837 
 
 Number unable to write: 
 
 Whites 2, 150 
 
 Colored 12,615 
 
 Total 14, 765 
 
 As another official connected with the bureau says: 
 
 For many years after the establishment of the Federal Government at Washington 
 there was but a handful of people, and that handful was constantly changing with the 
 change of administrations. 
 
 The growth in popuhition down to 1860 was very slow indeed; and 
 when, as above stated, the war brought here between thirty and forty 
 thousand ignorant and helpless runaway slaves, one can form some 
 idea of the difficulties under which the citizens labored in their efforts 
 to provide suitable schools and buildings. 
 
 CHANGES OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND THE EFFECT. 
 
 From 1802 down to 1871 the two cities of Washington and George- 
 town each had a local government, consisting of a mayor and city 
 council, elected by the taxpaying citizens; and the District, outside 
 of the cities, also had a popular local government. In 1871 Congress 
 abolished these, and established a so-called territorial government 
 for the entire District, in which all the officials, except the members of 
 the lower house, were appointed by the President and confirmed by 
 the Senate. In addition. Congress provided for a board of public 
 works, to consist of four persons, to be appointed by the President 
 and confirmed by the Senate. This board had entire control of the 
 proposed city improvements, which we were told would cost 
 $4,000,000. But as soon as they commenced operations they said 
 the city needed a '/more comprehensive system," and they employed 
 an engineer, at a salary of $8,000, and began changing the grades 
 generally throughout the city. The law prohibited any increase of 
 the debt beyond 5 per cent of the assessed value of the property of the 
 District unless the law should be approved by the voters at a general 
 election, notwithstanding which a loan of $4,000,000 was provided 
 for without submitting it to a vote until compelled by the court. 
 
 In the meantime the tax, which the law limited to $1.70, was 
 doubled and quadrupled by increasing the assessments, under the 
 pretense that the improvements had immensely increased values. 
 
6 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 Having used up the $4,000,000 and the amounts derived from the 
 increased taxes, the board then issued certificates to the contractors 
 to an unknown amount. Two-thirds of the cost was to be paid from 
 the general revenues and the other third by tlie owners of the property 
 abutting on the streets — one-sixth on each side. 
 
 The improvements consisted of grading, paving, and sewering. 
 Fifty-five miles of wooden pavement were laid, nearly all of which 
 consisted of wooden blocks laid on the ground, without any other 
 foundation whatever, and without being coated with coal tar. They 
 also laid many miles of gravel and coal tar mixed, and miles of 
 irregularly broken stone, so rough that it was difficult to travel or 
 haul a load over them. For these pavements they paid from $3 to 
 .$.3.50 per square j^ard, while now, when both labor and material are 
 much higher, we get the best asphalt pavements — then unknown in 
 the United States — for $1.80. In a few years nearly every foot of 
 the pavements, except a little of the broken stone, went to pieces, 
 and they, with nearly all the sewers, have been rebuilt and paid 
 for anew. 
 
 Not content with this, the board devised a special sewer tax of 
 $3,000,000 by charging a fixed amount per front foot, regardless of 
 the depth or value of the lots, which in some portions of the District 
 was more than the ground w^as worth; and to show that this was not 
 a violation of the act of Congress, they secured a legal opinion signed 
 by Jere Black, Caleb Cushing, and a Senator, but which it was said 
 was prepared b}' the then district attorne3^ for which they })aid the 
 three signers $10,000 out of the public funds. 
 
 So extravagant and outrageous was the conduct of the board, of 
 which ''Boss Shepherd" was the head and controlling spirit, that the 
 outcry of the citizens finally induced Congress to have an investiga- 
 tion made, the result of which was that in January, 1874, the so-called 
 territorial government was abolished, and Congress forbade the 
 making of any more contracts. 
 
 Congress then provided for the appointment of three commis- 
 sioners, as was said, to close up the bankrupt concern and- ascertain 
 the amount of the debt. As subsequently shown, they had increased 
 the debt from $4,350,190 to $22,106,650 in a httle over three years. 
 
 To use the words of Senate Report No. 572, of 1877, when the 
 present form of government adopted in 1878 was under considera- 
 tion: 
 
 At the end of six years only of a government irresponsible to the people, the public 
 debt amounts to $25,000,000, more than one-fourth of the assessed valuation of the 
 property of the District. Meanwhile $13,000,000 have been assessed as special taxes, 
 $10,000,000 as general taxes, and Congress has appropriated $6,000,000. Deducting 
 the original indebtedness we find the enormous sum of $.50,000,000 as the net expendi- 
 tures of six years' government by officers "appointed by the President and confirmed 
 by the Senate." Of this vast sum not less than $40,000,000 is chargeable to "improve- 
 ments," a sum sufficient to have graded, paved, and sewered every mile of streets in 
 the District; to have adorned the streets, parks, and public places; to have built 
 schoolhouses sufficient for the accommodation of all the educable children of the Dis- 
 trict; to establish high schools, founded public libraries, and erected other institu- 
 tions and works of public utility and advantage. Instead of this we find as the chief 
 visible result of $40,000,000, the necessity of expending at least half as much more to 
 repair, resurface, and repave the streets ujjon which the original outlay was chiefly 
 made. 
 
 The apportionment of the revenue of the District for the current year shows that 
 out of every dollar and fifty cents of taxes, one dollar eleven cents and six mills is appro- 
 priated for interest upon the funded debt. No city in America, no government in the 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 7 
 
 civilized world, presents such a maladministration as this. Xo people can survive a 
 system of g-overnment which produces such a result. And yet, this is the system now 
 proposed under another name. 
 
 In this connection it is proper to add that the $6,000,000 appro- 
 priated by Congress was simply its share of the improvements in 
 front of its ovv'n property, and the $13,000,000 of special taxes was 
 one-tliird of the cost which was assessed to and paid by the owners 
 of tlie property abutting on the streets improved — one-sixth on 
 each side. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the United States Government pays no 
 taxes on its proi)erty. It owns about $15,000,000 worth, more than 
 one-lialf of all the property in the District, and is constantly con- 
 demning and taking more for its own use, some 23 squares in the heart 
 of the city having been thus taken since 1871, and bills are now pend- 
 ing for taking some 25 more. This, of course, reduces the taxable list 
 enormous!}^. As shown in a Senate report of 1904, there was then 
 $70,656,430 more of nontaxahle than of taxahle property, and since tlien 
 Congress has proA^ided for taking 5 more squares on Pennsylvania 
 avenue, near the Treasury. 
 
 Another important fact in this connection is that, including the 
 owners of every negro shanty, of which there are manj'^, there are but 
 38,C50 real-estate taxpayers out of nearly 350,000 inhabitants in the 
 District, 97,142, or nearly one-third, of whom are colored, the mass of 
 whom pay no taxes. 
 
 In January, 1878, the present form of government was adopted b}^ 
 Congress. It consists of three persons — two civilians appointed by the 
 President and confirmed by the Senate and one army engineer officer 
 detailed by the President. These tliree men not only act as tlie exec- 
 utive, with power to appoint, promote, and dismiss all subordinate 
 officials, but they also maJce eind change at will the municipal laws or 
 regulations whicli come in direct contact with and most afi'eet the 
 citizens and their interests, such as health regulations, building, 
 plumbing, and police regulations, and fix the penalties for their viola- 
 tion — tlve law providing that these regulations, when apjjroved by 
 the commissioners, "shall have the same force and effect as if enacted 
 by Congress." 
 
 Thus there are combined in these officials both executive and 
 legislative functions in direct violation of the principle on which the 
 national and state governments are founded. They may, if they 
 choose, and frequently do, give public hearings to citizens interested 
 in any special matter, but they are under no obligation, except their 
 own sense of justice, to comply with the requests of the citizens. It 
 is proper to add, however, that the present Commissioners are the 
 best in that respect we have thus far had. 
 
 This government was well described by Senator Ingalls in the 
 Senate in 1883 and again in 1890, when he said: 
 
 The government of the District is an absolute despotism. It is the only place, at 
 least under the American flag, where the citizens have no voice in the selection of 
 the men appointed to perform the functions of government over them or in the dis- 
 position of the taxes they are compelled to pay. 
 
 And yet we are now told b}^ an interested official that this is the 
 "best form of government" and "the best-governed city in the 
 world." 
 
8 SCHOOLS IX THE DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 • 
 
 In 1878 the debt of the District amounted to $22,106,650, of which 
 $15,000,000 was funded in fiftv-year bonds, drawing 3.65 per cent 
 interest, the balance drawing 6 or more per cent. On this, to June 30, 
 1908, there has been paid in interest and sinking fund over $32,000,000, 
 and there still remains to be paid $10,602,750 of the principal, besides 
 $3,650,563 of unfunded debt drawing 2 per cent— or $14,253,313 still 
 due — an average of $184.25 for each of the 38,680 o^^^lers of real 
 estate, including every negro who owns a shanty. Tliis relates simply 
 to the existing debt,'^ and has no reference to the annual expenses, 
 which for 1908 amounted to $12,717,780, not enough to meet the 
 actual needs of the District. 
 
 The law requires the taxes and all the revenues of the District to be 
 deposited in the United States Treasury, and not a cent of it can be 
 used except as appropriated by Congress. The citizens liave no voice in 
 tJw matter whatever. I pay over $1,000 of taxes, and many pay much 
 more, and we have no more voice in saying where or for what it shall he 
 expended than the mule that hauls the cart along the street. 
 
 Congress, by the act of 1878, agreed to pay one-half of the expenses 
 of the District, in lieu of taxes on its property, hut it does not do it; 
 for at every session it passes from one to a dozen bills to extend streets 
 of douhle width through suburban property owned by speculators, 
 and refuses to pay any portion of the cost — the land for one street 
 alone being appraised at about $700,000, of which the citizens were 
 compelled to pay $600,000, the balance, out in the countr}^, being 
 donated by the owners, who wanted the street extended to the 
 Maryland line, some 6 or 7 miles. 
 
 Under these circumstances it has been impossible to obtain the 
 necessary means for the erection of first-class buildings and support 
 the schools. 
 
 WHAT THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAS DONE FOR EDUCATION IN 
 
 THE STATES. 
 
 When, in 1785, the ordinance for the government of the North vrest- 
 ern Territory was established, Jefferson, Dane, Madison, and others 
 ai'gued that the Government had the power, and that it was its duty, 
 to provide for public education; and in the act for disposing of the 
 public lands there was inserted a provision donating to each township 
 section 16, for the support of a school in said township. In 1787 a 
 committee, consisting of Messrs. Carrington, King, Dane, and Benson, 
 in a report recommended that section 16 in each township of all the 
 public lands in each State should be given perpetually for the purpose 
 stated in the ordinance of May 20, 1785, and that was the law down to 
 the act for organizing the State of Oregon in 1848, when Stephen A. 
 Douglas had it amended so as to give each State two sections in each 
 township, the sixteenth and thirty-sixth, and that has been the law 
 ever since. 
 
 In 1787 Congress provided that each State should also have two 
 townships — 46,080 acres — for a state university, and to five of the 
 States it has duplicated the gift, besides numerous special grants in 
 several of the vStates. To those States in which there were no pubhc 
 lands, certificates were issued, which were receivable in payment for 
 public lands, and which those States sold and used the proceeds for 
 their schools. 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 9 
 
 Governmental aid for education was urged by Washington, Jeffer- 
 son, John Adams, Madison, and John Quincy Adams in their messages. 
 Washington, in his private correspondence, urged it strongly, and in 
 his Farewell Address said: 
 
 Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the diffusion of 
 knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public 
 opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. 
 
 As stated in the "History of the Public Domain," published by 
 Congress in 1884, this idea that the Government should aid educa- 
 tion originated in New England, and it adds: 
 
 Every im.migrant ship had its schoolmaster on board, and each settlement had its 
 schoolhouse, and the cultivation of the mind advanced with the. cultivation of the 
 soil from the landing of the Mayflower through our colonial history. 
 
 It was also urged by the New England colony, which made the first 
 settlement in Ohio, and by Doctor Rush, of Philadelphia, a signer of 
 the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 In 1862 an act was passed granting lands to the States for agricul- 
 tural colleges, and in 1900 a bill was passed by which each State re- 
 ceives annually $25,000 additional from the proceeds of the sale of 
 public lands for agricultural and mechanical schools. Since 1881 
 numerous bills have been introduced to give to the States a portion 
 or the entire proceeds of the public lands in aid of education and 
 others to appropriate money for the same, one of the latter appro- 
 priating no less than $68,000,000 for industrial education. 
 
 In 1836 Congress authorized the distribution among 27 States of 
 $37,468,859 from the surplus in the Treasury, of which $28,101,644.91 
 was so distributed. Seventeen of the States devoted theirs in whole 
 or in part to education. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that although the act included the District, it 
 never received a cent of it. So, too, of all the bills since introduced — 
 but three of which included the District — none were passed. 
 
 In 1881 Senator Blair introduced a bill to aid common-school 
 education by the payment, from the United States Treasury, of 
 $105,000,000 in ten years, but as it was not passed, in 1884 he again 
 introduced it, changing the amount to $77,000,000 in eight years, 
 when it was amended on motion of Senator (subsequently President) 
 Harrison, hy striking out the District of Columhia. At my request 
 Senator Ingalls got it amended by restoring the District, but as the 
 bill was not passed it was of no benefit to us. 
 
 So, too, when the Morrill bill of 1890, to give the States the $25,000 
 per annum, as above stated, passed the Senate, I saw that it did not 
 include the District, and at once applied to Chairman McComas, of 
 the House Committee, to amend it by including the District. He 
 said it ought to he done, but if the bill were amended it would have to 
 go back to the Senate, and might be lost, although six weeks of the 
 session still remained, and every Senator and Member favored its 
 passage, because each State was to get its share. 
 
 That law was amended two or three years ago so as to appropriate 
 $5,000 the first year, increasing, the amount $5,000 yearly for five 
 years, and thereafter to remain at $25,000 per annum, so that in two 
 or three years each State will receive $50,000 instead of $25,000 each 
 year. 
 
 In 1908 a bill was introduced providing that each State should be 
 paid $500,000, to be increased $100,000 per annum for five years, 
 
10 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 and thereafter S1,000,0{]0 per aniiir.. In this, too, the District was 
 omitted. 
 
 Time and again the citizens petitioned Congress for aid, one peti- 
 tion containing 10,000 names, and in 1861 Senator Wilson, of Mas- 
 sachusetts, introduced a bill to give the District 1,000,000 acres for 
 a permanent school fund, but nothing was done. 
 
 Under the law of 1787, and subsec(uent acts, accorcHng to the 
 report of the Public Lands Commission in 1905, there had been 
 given to the States and Territories as follows: 
 
 Acres. 
 
 For common schools 69, 058, 443 
 
 For state universities, to 1900 1, 305, 920 
 
 For agricultural Colleges 9, 600, 000 
 
 Of swamp lands, used in part for education 66, 733, 059 
 
 Salt springs and adjoining tracts, used in part for education 606, 045 
 
 A total of 147, 303, 467 
 
 besides special grants, amounting to over 50,000 acres additional, 
 and the annual payment of money as above stated. 
 
 Oklahoma, admitted in 1906, was given for its university 250,000 
 acres; for a preparatory school, 150,000; for agricultural college, 
 250,000; for agricultural college for colored students, 100,000; and 
 for normal schools, 300,000; in all, 1,050,000 acres, in addition to the 
 sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, the total being estimated at 
 2,000,000 acres; besides which it is given $5,000,000 in cash. 
 
 Texas, when admitted, reserved its public lands, of which it had a 
 vast amount. It also claimed 101,360 square miles in what are now 
 the States of Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and New Mexico, for the 
 surrender of which the United States paid Texas $10,000,000. She 
 still had an enormous amount left, out of which the State has appro- 
 priated for common schools many million acres, and for her State Uni- 
 versity 2,289,682 acres. Her public school lands remaining unsold in 
 1902 amounted to 22,080,225 acres. A large portion of these lands 
 are leased for grazing cattle, of which in 1902 there were over 
 8,000,000, the rental for that year amounting to $457,657. 
 
 Governor Johnson, of Minnesota, in a recent publication said the 
 school fund of that State is now $19,000,000, and that when all their 
 school land is sold it will amount to $100,000,000, the State having 
 provided by law that none shall be sold for less than $5 per acre. 
 
 This aid to education in the States is one of the most beneficial and 
 grandest things ever done by any nation. 
 
 WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS DONE FOR EDUCATION IN THE DISTRICT 
 
 OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 One would naturally suppose that a government which had done so 
 much to aid education in the States would take special pains to pro- 
 vide for it in the national capital — the only capital that was ever 
 deliberately established as such by the Government for its own use — 
 but, alas, the records tell a ver}^ different story. 
 
 In the History of Federal and State Aid to Higher Education, pub- 
 lished by the Bureau of Education in 1890,1 find the statement that in 
 1833 Congress appropriated lands in the city, supposed to be worth 
 $25,000, to the Georgetown College; and that in 1836 it gave a like 
 amount to the Columbian College, and that is all it has ever done for 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 11 
 
 higher education in the District, except that it makes an annual 
 appropriation in aid of the Howard Universit}^ for the colored. 
 
 For the common schools it has never given the District an acre of land 
 nor a dollar of money, except that it added a few thousand dollars to 
 the lottery fund with which we built our first high school l)uilding, and 
 a little in a few other cases. Prior to 1878 it never contributed a cent 
 for the erection of a school building or the support of a school — and 
 that, too, notwithstanding the fact that the 30,000 government 
 employees and many of the Members and Senators send their children 
 to the schools. 
 
 In 1882 the Jefferson, a 20-room school building, in which there 
 were 30 schools, was partially burned. We had $54,000 insurance, 
 all but $5,000 in our local companies, which we proposed to use in 
 repairing the building at once, as we could not rent buildings in 
 that vicinity in which to start the schools; but as soon as this was 
 announced by the local press the Comptroller of the Treasury noti- 
 fied us that we could not use that money — that it was a part of the 
 District's revenues, and must be deposited in the United States 
 Treasury. Through the kindness of Senator Allison, to whom, as 
 chairman of the committee on school buildings, I explained the mat- 
 ter, an appropriation for the repair of this building was embodied 
 in the general deficiency bill, but as that did not pass until near 
 the close of the long session the 30 schools were closed for nearly 
 six months. Not only that, but when the bill came up in the House 
 that item was bitterly opposed by "Sunset" Cox, then of New York, 
 who abused the citizens of Washington, and said we ought to sup- 
 port our own schools, and that we might as well ask Congress to board 
 and clothe our children as to educate them, when all we were asMng 
 was to he allowed to use our own insurance money to restore a building 
 erected, wholly with our own taxes. 
 
 The mass of the Members and Senators know little or nothing about 
 District affairs, and, judging from their action in the matter of schools, 
 would seem to care less. This was well illustrated by a Member from 
 Arkansas who, in 1894, when the District bill was under considera- 
 tion, opposed the Government's bearing any portion of the expenses 
 for the schools, and said we "ought to pay taxes as his constituents 
 did;" thus showing that he did not know that we paid taxes — and 
 that, too, while the amount paid by the citizens is reported to Con- 
 gress every year — the amount for 1908 being $5,494,447.18, an aver- 
 age for the taxpayers of $749 per capita for their half. 
 
 The State of Arkansas had already received over 9, COO, 000 acres of 
 public lands, of which 932,280 acres were for common schools and a 
 state university, besides $250,000 in money, as her percentage on the 
 public lands sold in the State. At that very session a bill was favor- 
 ably reported to give the State 886,400 acres more for common schools, 
 besides which she has received 150,000 acres of the grant for agri- 
 cultural and mechanical schools and $25,000 per annum in cash for 
 the same. 
 
 A couple of years ago a bill was introduced by Senator Dolliver to 
 place the schools of the District under the Commissioner of Educa- 
 tion, and, in commenting on this in a local paper, he said that it was 
 far more important that the District should have a permanent school 
 fund than that Harvard should, for while Harvard had but 5,000 to 
 educate, the District had 60,000. Seeing this, I wrote, urging him to 
 
12 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 introduce a bill to give the District a permanent fund, as it had to the 
 States. In reply he wrote me that he did not consider it his business 
 to do it, but gave no reason why. 
 
 This discrimination against the District in regard to "aid for educa- 
 tion has existed from the location of the Government here in 1800 
 to the present day, doubtless due to the want of information and 
 personal interest on the part of Members and Senators. As was 
 said by Randolph, when discussing the necessity for a local govern- 
 ment, in 1803: 
 
 We come here to represent our States and districts, and we will not have time to 
 obtain that knowledge of local affairs necessary to enable us to legislate intelligently 
 for the District . 
 
 Had he been inspired, he could not have better described the 
 conditions as they exist to-day; and yet complaint is frequently 
 made that our schools and school buildings are not what they should 
 be. If so, it is not the fault of the citizens, but of the Government, 
 as it has absolute control, and constantly ignores the demand for 
 the necessary means. 
 
 An estimate is made annually by the board of education for the 
 schools. This is sent to the commissioners, who usually reduce it 
 more or less, because of the demands for other purposes. They send 
 it to the Secretary of the Treasury to be embodied with the general 
 estimates for the United States Government. He, in like manner, 
 usually reduces it still more, though Secretary Cortelyou did not 
 reduce it. It then goes to Congress and is referred to a subcommittee 
 of the House Committee on Appropriations, who usually reduce it 
 still more. It then goes to the Senate as an item in the District bill, 
 and is there referred to the Senate committee having charge of the 
 same. This committee generally increases the amount a little, and 
 it is finally compromised in conference. 
 
 During the past twenty-four years the amount appropriated by 
 Congress was S8, 526, 583 less than the estimates of the school hoard, 
 and that, notwithstanding that on six occasions, for special reasons, 
 the appropriation exceeded the estimate. 
 
 The estimate of the board of education for buildings and the support 
 of the schools for the coming year was $4,755,340, and Congress 
 appropriated $3,030,660— a reduction of $1,724,680. 
 
 In like manner last year the board in order to replace the wooden 
 stairways with fireproof ones, and to render the buildings in other 
 respects more safe from fire, asked for $241,000 and Congress gave 
 them $50,000. Is it any wonder that our school buildings are 
 defective ? 
 
 OUR SCHOOL BUILDINGS, WHAT THEY WERE, AND HOW WE GOT WHAT 
 
 WE HAVE. 
 
 In 1881, when, without my knowledge, I was appointed a member 
 of the board of trustees, the District owned but 38 school buildings. 
 All the rest were rented buildings or rooms, one being a room over a 
 tin shop, another an old engine house, and still another was a frame 
 building which was erected for a stable. All but a few of the larger 
 ones were heated by stoves, without any means of ventilation, 
 without water, closets, or play rooms or grounds. The following 
 description of one, prepared by the teachers, which I presented to 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 13 
 
 the House committee in an effort to secure an appropriation for an 
 additional twelve-room building, will give an idea of what they were: 
 
 We, the undersigned, teachers employed in the old stable now used as a school- 
 building, and known as the Peabody Annex, call your attention to the condition of 
 the aforesaid building. 
 
 The ceilings are too low to admit of proper ventilation except by the windows and 
 doors, subjecting the children and teachers to a constant draft. Even this is not fully 
 under the control of the teachers, owing to the defective windows and doors that will 
 not shut. 
 
 The light is insufficient, owing to the low ceilings, the windows are on a level with 
 the pupils' eyes. No shades or shutters permit any softening of the light. This is 
 a four-room building into which are crowded eight full schools — 500 children if all 
 there. 
 
 As there are neither play rooms nor cloakrooms, and only very narrow halls, after- 
 noon pupils arriving before the morning schools are dismissed, either have to be exposed 
 to the inclemency of the weather, or crowd into the morning schools and disturb the 
 exercises. 
 
 The stairway that leads to the upper floor is too narrow to admit of two pupils; 
 passing comfortably, and it is dangerously steep. There is no water in the building. 
 The outhouses are not in a sanitary condition. 
 
 The building is out of repair generally, the ceiling leaks, plastering falling, black- 
 boards peeling, windowpanes out, and door locks broken, one outside door being 
 kept closed by means of a spade, and furniture inadequate to size and number of 
 pupils. 
 
 The state of the sm-roundings and proximity to a row of stables render it an unde-r 
 sirable location. 
 
 We invite an immediate investigation of these facts now presented. (See Con- 
 gressional Record of May 25, 1886, p. 5060.) 
 
 Nothing was done, and so another ex-trustee joined with me and 
 called a public meeting of the citizens of east Washington, at which 
 I presented a preamble and resolutions reciting the need for more 
 and better buildings, showing that there were in that section 5,000 
 more pupils enrolled than there were school seats; that 12,000, 
 considerably more than one-third of the children, had but half-day 
 schooling; that out of 83 schools 35 were half-day schools, in which 786 
 of the pupils were in the third and fourth grades; that the mass of 
 the children did not attend beyond the third or fourth grade; that 
 we were not allowed to build a schoolhouse with our own taxes with- 
 out permission of Congress ; that no attempt was made to enforce the 
 compulsory law enacted by Congress in 1864 because of the want of 
 buildings ; and that at a public meeting the assertion had been made by 
 the then Commissioner of Education that "there was more crime in 
 proportion to population in the District of Columbia than in the city 
 of New York, because of the lack of schools," followed by the asser- 
 tion of a Senator that "if such was the case it was the fault of the 
 citizens, because they had not made their wants known to Congress." 
 
 (Note. — June 25, 1864, Congress passed a compulsory law imposing a fine of $20 on 
 every person in the District having under control any child between the ages of 8 
 and 14 years and who failed to send such child to school twelve weeks each year. So 
 completely had this law been ignored, because of the want of school buildings, that at 
 least three of the District Commissioners were not aware of its existence until I called 
 their attention to it. Two of the leading papers published editorials advocating the 
 enactment of a compulsory school law, and a Senator actually introduced a bill for 
 the purpose, so little did they know of the law then in existence.) 
 
 The preamble was followed by a series of resolutions invoking 
 Congress to at once take steps to remedy the existing conditions. 
 The preamble and resolutions were unanimovisty adopted, and I was 
 instructed to have them presented to the Senate. 
 
14 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 Knowing that if they were merely introduced the}^ would be re- 
 ferred to a committee and not be seen or heard b}^ the Senators gen- 
 erally, I induced Senator Van Wyck, whom I had known when he 
 was a Member of the House in 1861, to make some remarks on the 
 subject and have the preamble and resolutions read by the clerk, 
 which would not only attract the attention of Senators, but also secure 
 their publication in the Record, which was done. (See Record of 
 Feb. 5, 1887, p. 1450.) 
 
 Their reading caused great excitement in the Senate, several of the 
 Senators expressing great astonishment at the statement of facts, and 
 insisting that Congress was not to blame in the matter; but Senators 
 Van Wyck and Hawley, whom I had posted beforehand, replied with 
 force and effect. The result was that at that session Congress pro- 
 vided for seven new school buildings, the next jea,r nine, and later 
 eleven, including the colored high school, which, with its site, cost 
 $139,000. Since then more liberal provision has been made, but not 
 sufficient to meet the necessities of the District, as is shown by the 
 fact that in 1901 there were 360 half -day schools, of which 84 were in the 
 third, fourth, and fifth grades, and even in 1908 there were 2^8, of which 
 133 were in grades from the second to the seventh. 
 
 THE SCHOOLHOUSES. 
 
 At the present time there are 155 school buildings, of which 79 are 
 8-room buildings, a few of 4 rooms, with several large ones of 12 to 20 
 rooms; and during the past year a dozen one-room ''portable" 
 buildings have been constructed, they being used as an annex to the 
 larger buildings (which were filled to overflowing) and are capable of 
 being moved wherever needed. 
 
 At first Congress allowed but $25,000 for an 8-room and basement 
 brick building, while in 1902 it allowed the same for a 4-room addi- 
 tion, and as high as $36,000 (nearly twice as much) for an 8-room one. 
 As a result, those erected at first were provided with wooden stair- 
 ways, and were wholly devoid of architectural display. These 8-room 
 buildings, although cheaply and plainly constructed, are the best 
 warmed and ventilated of any. In 1883, after a year's contest, I 
 secured the adoption of the Smead system of heating and ventilating, 
 by which a large volume of air at a comparatively low temperature, 
 enters the rooms near the ceiling, and the foul air is drawn out at the 
 floor by two tall ventilating shafts, one at each side of the building. 
 As proof of how effectual this is I may add that some years ago a 
 delegation from Massachusetts, where they were about to erect a large 
 normal school building, after examining the systems in use as far west 
 as Minnesota, then through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, came here to 
 examine ours. We took them to the Giddings, an 8-room building 
 occupied by negro children, and in which there were 12 schools, 8 of 
 them half-day schools. We said to them that we did so as that was 
 the best possible test of thorough ventilation. 
 
 After examining each room, they went into the basement, where 
 the urinals and dry closet were located, where one of their party who 
 had an air meter measured the volume of air as it entered the dry 
 closet at the base of the ventilating shafts, and found that it passed 
 out at the rate of over 14,000 cubic feet per minute. In some other 
 8-room buildings it exceeded that amount, and that without the use 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 15 
 
 of a fan, which is now used in all those erected during several years 
 past. 
 
 The visiting delegation expressed themselves as delighted with the 
 ventilation, tlie mayor saying that "had he not seen them with his 
 own eyes, he would not have believed there was such a thing as a 
 closet or urinal in the building." 
 
 These buildings were erected under the super\nsion of the then 
 inspector of buildings, who insisted, against our protest, on bringing 
 the warm air into the rooms near the floor instead of above, as it 
 should have been, which accounts for the sheet-iron shields in front of 
 the openings to protect those sitting near, as mentioned by the 
 correspondent. 
 
 Another benefit of the system is, that the warm air passes from the 
 outlets in the rooms laterally underneath the floor, thus keeping the 
 floor warm and drying the moisture of the shoes of the children, who, 
 frequently, tramp through the snow or along the wet pavements on 
 their way to school, thus preventing their sitting with cold feet and 
 taking colds. The principal defect in these buildings is the absence 
 of any means for moistening the heated air, the aridity or dryness of 
 which, when heated, increases in a greater ratio than does the heat. 
 For many years I have sought to have this defect remedied, but so far 
 in vain. 
 
 In 1882, when the first high school was built, Congress required that 
 the plans for it and two 12-room buildings, should be made by the 
 Architect of the Capitol, instead of by the inspector of buildings, as 
 formerly. The act required the plans to be approved by the school 
 board, and the contract let by the commissioners by a specified date, 
 or the money should not be used. Against this I protested, on the 
 ground that the Architect of the Capitol had not the time, and would 
 have to employ an outside architect, which the amount appropriated 
 would not justify. The result was that he did employ an architect, 
 and when the money became available, July 1, he presented a bill to 
 pay the architect. This the commissioners refused, on the ground 
 that the law did not authorize it, whereupon the architect refused to 
 do anything more. 
 
 At that time there was only a pencil drawing of one floor plan, and 
 one horizontal section of the liigh-school building. As originally pre- 
 pared, it had no assembly room for lectures or meetings, and we 
 induced him to so change the plan as to provide one. 
 
 As the time was short, we were alarmed at the prospect of losing 
 the appropriation, but we borrowed the plans, such as they were, 
 called a special meeting of the board, and had them approved. Then 
 the commissioners advertised for proposals, and on opening the bids 
 the lowest exceeded the appropriation, so we were stopped again. 
 As there were some ten days before the money would become unavail- 
 able, I finally induced the commissioners to advertise again, feeling 
 confident the same party would lower his bid so as to bring it within 
 the appropriation. He bid the exact amount of the appropriation, 
 and the contract was let witliin the specified time, and thus we got our 
 first high-school building. 
 
 The lottery fiuid with which it was built had been invested in 
 bonds, and at that time amounted to $70,630.47. The total cost of 
 the building was $78,000, and in 1889 $40,000 was appropriated for 
 an addition to it. Four other high-school buildings, including the 
 
16 SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 Business and Manual Training high schools, have since been erected 
 for the whites and two for the colored, one being a manual-training 
 school. 
 
 The plans for the two 12-room buildings prepared at the same 
 time under the supervision of the Architect of the Capitol w^ere to 
 be heated b}^ steam, the coils to be set under the windows in the 
 schoolrooms, the air to be admitted through a perforated plate under 
 the window sills, to pass thence down a narrow flue in the wall to 
 near the floor, and thence out onto the radiating coils, inclosed by a 
 screen. 
 
 How defective this plan was is shown by the report of a commission 
 appointed by a resolution of the House in 1882. The commission 
 consisted of the Arcliitect of the Capitol, the Commissioner of Edu- 
 cation, and the Surgeon-General of the Army, and in the report they 
 said : 
 
 The principal defect from a sanitary point of view is in regard to the fresh-air 
 supply. The sum of the area of the openings in the plate under the mndows is from 
 22 to 25 square inches, so that the total for a room is about two-thirds of a square foot. 
 When it is remembered that this is intended to supply fresh air for 60 children, each 
 of whom should have as a minimum 30 cubic feet of air per minute, it mil be seen 
 that it is simply impossible to obtain such a supply through the openings pro^'ided, 
 which in fact -will hardly furnish 5 cubic feet per minute per pupil. In most of 
 the rooms these fresh-air openings were found to be entirely closed, apparently to 
 prevent the freezing of the condensed water in the pipes and to prevent drafts on the 
 children sitting near them. Even when left open, in a majority of cases, very little 
 air was entering through them. 
 
 This report was signed by Architect Clark, of the Capitol, and 
 though Smead, who was here at the time, offered to put his heating 
 and ventilating plant in the two 12-room buildings and build another 
 ventilating shaft — there being but one — for $4,800 less than the 
 steam plant was to cost, guarantee 70° when the thermometer 
 showed 10° below zero, and wait until it had been run one winter 
 for his pay, and if not up to liis guaranty, to remove it and restore 
 the building to its original condition, yet the arcliitect insisted on 
 his plan. 
 
 As there was no appropriation for the heating plant, we had to 
 wait until Congress met, and tlie plant was not installed until after 
 the schools opened the next fall, and freciuently during the installa- 
 tion the schools had to be closed. The heating proved so defective 
 that additional radiators had to be put in the northwest rooms, and 
 are there still. 
 
 As will be seen, all this was the result of Congress having taken 
 the control from the District authorities and school board, who had 
 previously had entire control, except as to the amount of means, 
 which was alwaj's much less than needed and asked for. 
 
 THE QUALITY OF THE SCHOOLS. 
 
 Not unfrequently we see published in the papers and periodicals 
 in the States articles condemning our schools. One such was pub- 
 lished in an Ohio paper in 1900, and another in the Educational 
 Review of February, 1907, both of which refused to publish a brief 
 reply which was sent to them, as have also some others. 
 
 I assert, without fear of successful contradiction, that our schools 
 will compare favorably with those elsewhere. Many of the graduates 
 of our high schools occupy important positions in the government 
 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 17 
 
 service, and also in the States throughout the country. I recall one 
 instance in which the four sons of one famil3% after graduating from 
 the high school and then from the law schools of the District, were 
 admitted to the several District courts and also to the United States 
 Supreme Court. For j^^ears past one of them has been the president 
 and general manager of a large manufacturing establishment employ- 
 ing nearly 2,000 skilled mechanics, while the two surviving brothers 
 are conducting a successful legal business, extending from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific. And these are but samples of hundreds of others. 
 
 A few 3'ears ago a Senator presented a resolution of inquiry as to 
 whether our schools qualified their graduates to enter college. The 
 answer was that they did, and the proof was furnished. 
 
 No less than 32 free scholarships — 21 white and 11 colored — have 
 been conferred on our liigh school graduates by different colleges and 
 universities, wliich speaks well for the efficiency of our schools. 
 
 A more devoted corps of teachers can not be found anywhere, the 
 only trouble being that their pa}^ has been much less than is paid in 
 other cities, the result of wliich is that many in the higher grades have 
 left and gone where they are better paid. AVithin the past two years 
 Congress has increased their pay somewhat, but not as much as it 
 ought to be. It is proper to add that with a brief exception the 
 school board has always served without salary. 
 
 On June 30, 1908, there were on the school roll 36,006 white and 
 17,379 colored pupils, a total of 53,385. TJiere were then 286 en- 
 foreed half-day schools, 152 white and 134 colored, of which 11 were in 
 the third and fourth grades. 
 
 In the adjoining city of Alexandria, formerly a part of the District, 
 pupils outside of the city were required to pay $60 per annum for 
 the privilege of attending the city schools; and some ten years ago 
 Congress required outsiders who attended the District schools to pay 
 $20 per annum, but that has been so changed that very few now 
 pay anything. During 1908 there were 1,258 pupils from the States 
 who attended the District schools, nearly all attenthng the high 
 schools, in which the cost is nearly three times what it is in the lower 
 grades, and but 22 of them paid anything. 
 
 From the foundation of the Government the citizens of the District 
 have borne the same burdens in all respects as the citizens of. the 
 States. In every war we have furnished a much larger number of 
 volunteers, in proportion to population, than have the States. While 
 for the civil war but seven of the States filled their quotas, we filled 
 ours and 18 per cent more, excelling every State in the I^nion but one, 
 and had our home guard been included (as it was in that) we would 
 have excelled that one, and that without the payment of any bounty. 
 In the war with Spain we furnished nearl}" twice as man}^ volunteers 
 in proportion to population as mj State in the Union. 
 
 Since 1861 the District has paid for the support of the General Gov- 
 ernment in custom duties and internal revenue nearly $15,000,000. 
 In 1901, the latest return I have, the citizens of the District paid in 
 internal revenue four and one-half times as much per capita as did 
 the 8,500,000 citizens in 15 States and 4 Territories. And yet we 
 have no voice in either the 'national or our own local government. 
 
 Five-sevenths of all the land in the city of Washington was a free 
 gift to the Government b}' the citizens, with the understanding that 
 
 S. Doc. 86, 61-1 2 
 
18 SCHOOLS IX THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 the Government would open and improve the streets, the title to 
 which was in the Government; but, as shown bv the report of the 
 board of works, from 1802 to 1873, the Government had spent but 
 $4,476,706, while the citizens had expended for the same purpose 
 $18,148,445. 
 
 As shown by a report from the Treasury in 1878, the total amount 
 expended by the Government for improvements to 1876 was 
 $5,975,295, while the citizens during the same time had expended 
 $20,000,000 for improvements, and as much more for local govern- 
 ment, schools, etc. 
 
 Our only recognition as citizens of the nation is when the Govern- 
 ment calls on us for taxes imposed without our consent, for men to 
 join the army and navy, and when the politicians urge us to send 
 delegates to the national conventions to help nominate candidates 
 for whom we are not permitted to vote. 
 
 In view of the foregoing facts, which are matters of record, I think 
 every fair-minded person will agree with me that whatever defects 
 there may be in the school buildings or the schools is the fault of 
 Congress and not of the citizens, and that our treatment is most 
 unjust and contrary to the principles on which the national and 
 state governments are founded. 
 
 The wonder is that under the circumstances our schools could be 
 what they are, and all must agree that their present condition 
 reflects great credit on the school officials antl teachers and the 
 citizens of the District. 
 
 A year ago Congress authorized the expenditure of $2,500 of the 
 District revenues to enable the Commissioners to examine the school 
 buildings elsewhere, and several trips have been made to Chicago, 
 St. Louis, New York, and other cities, and the engineer commis- 
 sioner on his return stated that our school buildings, especially those 
 recently erected, compared favorably with those of other cities. 
 
 During the last session Congress provided for a city architect, at a 
 salary of $3,000 per annum, whose business it will be to design the 
 future school buildings; but unless Congress is more liberal in its 
 appropriations for their erection, it is difficult to see how matters 
 can be improved. The only remedy is for Congress to provide a per- 
 manent school fund for the District, as it has for the States; and it 
 should be one worthy of the nation's capital, whose schools, as a 
 writer has well said, should be the best in tne land, as an example for 
 the country generally. It has numerous private schools of an excel- 
 lent character, especially for young ladies, but they are for the select 
 few, and do not benefit the great mass who will have to earn their 
 own living. It is for these that I plead. 
 
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