Читать книгу The Goslings: A Study of the American Schools онлайн

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In Christ’s name we ask it. Amen.

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There has existed for the past twenty years inside the school system a secret oath-bound society of the school men known as the “Owls,” whose members pledged themselves to consider first the interests of this group. They served the Southern Pacific Railroad in the old days when this machine ran the state; they now serve the Santa Fé Railroad and the Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ Association and the Chamber of Commerce and the Better America Federation, and the other organizations of the Black Hand. For twenty years the system had one man, an assistant superintendent named Lickley, who declined to join this society. He had also refused to make the various anti-social pledges which the Better America Federation has required of every candidate for the school board and of every school official. In the 1921 election Mrs. Dorsey pleaded with Dr. Lickley, advising him “as a mother” not to support the “teachers’ ticket.” He supported it; and so in the interests of “harmony” it was necessary that he be driven out of the system. The intrigue against him came to a head during the election campaign, and became an issue in this campaign.