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CHAPTER XVII.

Securing Free Schools for Utah.

    Previous to the passage by the Legislature of the Free Public School Law of 1890, there were no free schools in the Territory of Utah. The prevalent school system before that year and the school houses and school facilities were disgraceful. The means resorted to by members of the Liberal party to procure the passage of the free school law of 1890, is stated in the following communication of Mr. C. E. Allen:

"Dec. 6th, 1911.

    "Hon. R. N. Baskin, City.

    "Dear Sir: In response to your request for a statement from me regarding public school legislation in the legislature of which I was a member, I submit the following:

    "The so-called Edmunds-Tucker law was passed by the Congress of the United States sometime in February or March, 1887. Under this law the affairs pertaining to schools were taken out of the hands of the Territory so far as the appointment of a territorial superintendent of education was concerned, and this appointment was vested in the territorial court of Utah, as I recall it. I have not the law at hand.

    "Also by this law the districting of the Territory for the election of members of the territorial legislature was placed in the hands of the so-called Utah Commission.

    "In the summer of 1887 the Territory was redistricted, and the mining districts of Tintic, Bingham, and Stockton and Ophir, together with some farming districts, were made a legislative district.

    "I was nominated for the lower house of the legislature by the so-called Liberal party of this legislative district, and was elected in August, 1887.

    "In the fall of 1887 certain friends of mine in Salt Lake. (I was then living in Bingham Canyon) wrote to me asking if I would accept the appointment of territorial superintendent of schools. I answered my friends that I did not think I could give suitable attention to these matters while living in Bingham; that I did not care to leave my work there and come to the city to devote myself entirely to educational matters, and that I thought it best to appoint someone in the city who could be in more direct touch with the teachers and other persons connected with school affairs.

    "Mr. Parley L. Williams, a prominent attorney of this city then and now, was appointed, by the supreme court, territorial superintendent of schools.

    "Before the meeting of the legislature, which occurred about the 10th of January, 1888, Mr. Williams drew up a bill which did not purport to change materially the law as then existing, except that the schools were made absolutely free under its provisions. This bill he placed in the hands of Judge Enos D. Hoge, who also was a member with me in the lower house of the legislature.

    "When I came to Salt Lake in January to enter upon my duties as a member of the Twenty-eighth session of the Utah legislature, Judge Hoge placed this bill in my hands and asked me to look after it, saying that I would be better able to handle it since I had had considerable experience in school matters.

    "In this legislature, of which W. W. Riter of Salt Lake was the speaker, I was appointed a member of the committee on education. The chairman of this committee was Hon. James H. Moyle. The names of the other members I do not recall. I introduced the bill prepared by Mr. Williams and it was sent to the committee on education in the lower house. We worked over it, as I recall the facts, about half the session, and finally the committee was induced to report it back to the house for passage.

    "This bill was defeated in the house, as I recall the vote, by all the votes of the house except five. Three of these were elected by the so-called Liberal party and two were members of the Peoples party. They were Philo T. Farnsworth, now residing in Salt Lake City, and a Mr. Held, as I recall the name, who was a member from the southern part of Salt Lake county. After this bill failed in the house, the council [senate] took up educational matters. There a bill was introduced. This bill was presented to certain members of the council by Heber J. Grant, now and then an apostle in the Mormon church. It was commonly supposed to be the result of the wisdom of that organization, and Heber J. Grant openly fathered it.

    "This bill proposed not to make the schools of Utah free, but to divert the school moneys to any church organization which was carrying on schools in the State of Utah in proportion to the number of pupils that such organization had in such schools. If this had been done the schools instead of becoming free would all have been under the domination of the various churches of the Territory. This bill was vetoed by Governor West.

    "In the summer of 1889 I was again a candidate for election to the legislature from a Salt Lake district, having moved my residence from Bingham Canyon to the fifth municipal ward of this city. I was re-elected to the legislature at the election held in August.

    "Between the time of my re-election and the assembling of the legislature I devoted considerable time to the study of the school laws of this Territory, the States of Kansas and South Dakota and the city of Buffalo. The laws which I found at these various localities seemed to afford me a better groundwork for the proposed laws for Utah than any other that I could find. I drafted two bills; one, if it should become a law, to apply in general to the Territory, the other to apply to cities.

    "Just before Congress was to assemble in December of that year I called a meeting of four gentlemen besides myself, only two of whose names I now recall and those two were the only ones who attended the meeting. Governor Arthur L. Thomas and Hon. Parley L. Williams and myself met in response to this call to consider these bills. I presented to them the bills which I had drafted and told them of the difficulties I had had in the previous legislature, and said that I desired to have these laws passed either in Utah or in Washington, and asked Gov. Thomas to take them to Washington and present them to Senator Edmunds of Vermont and to ask him to introduce them in the Senate of the United States if the action of the territorial legislature should indicate that there was doubt concerning their passage here. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Williams both agreed with this plan, and Mr. Thomas took the bills and gave them to Senator Edmunds and requested him to introduce them into the Senate of the United States, provided there seemed to be a disposition here not to do anything in this matter.

    "In the territorial Assembly of 1890 there were six Liberal members in the lower house. We had a meeting to decide upon the officers that we would present for election in the lower house and also to decide upon what positions upon committees we would ask for. I gave my reasons to the Liberal members and they unanimously agreed that I should seek a position on the committee of education. At this time the People's party in the legislature was divided into two factions one was led by Hon. Samuel Thurman of Provo and one by Charles C. Richards of Ogden. These factions seemed to arise through the desire of the Ogden faction to prevent suitable appropriations being made to the insane asylum at Provo. I had shown considerable interest in the affairs of the insane asylum in the legislature of 1888, and had become quite friendly with Mr. Samuel Thurman through this. At the opening of the legislature in 1890, I went to Mr. Thurman and told him that I desired to be chairman of the committee on education. He thought it was considerable for the minority to ask for a chairmanship in the lower house. I replied that we had six solid votes which were agreed to be cast in any way that I should desire in order to further what we believed to be the interests of good education in this Territory: that if he desired these votes he could have them; if he did not, we would try to use them elsewhere. The result was that I was appointed by the Hon. James Sharp, speaker of the house, chairman of the committee on education.

    "The two bills which I had prepared were introduced by me as Bills No. 1 and No. 2 of the session. They were immediately referred, of course, to the committee on education. Within a short time the committee on education had considered the bills and they had been reported back to the house and passed by the house; one unanimously, the other with only one negative vote.

    "Then these bills went to the council and appeared to have died. Nothing could be heard of them; no one could tell when they would be reported. One morning an item appeared in the Salt Lake papers saying that, the day before, Senator Edmunds had introduced into the Senate of the United States a bill providing for free education in the Territory of Utah. Senator Edmunds had combined the two bills which I had prepared into one and presented them as one bill in the Senate of the United States

    "When I entered the Assembly hall that morning, one of the members belonging to the majority met me and said: `Mr. Allen, what is the meaning of the introduction of a bill on education for the Territory of Utah by Senator Edmunds?' I replied: `The bill which has been introduced by Senator Edmunds is the same as the two bills which were introduced by me here; which have passed this house and which have been held up in the council. I spent the whole session two years ago trying to get something done here on this question. Nothing could be accomplished. I do not propose to spend this whole winter here without results. If your party does not care to pass these bills, or something similar to them, and have the credit for doing so, you can take the same legislation from the hands of the United States.'

    "All at once the committee on education in the council became very active. My two bills were combined into one, essentially without change, and named the Collett bill, from Mr. Collett, who was chairman of the committee on education in the council, as I recall the facts, and the so-called Collett bill was passed by the council. This bill came down to the house. Some minor changes had been made in the original bills and several amendments which seemed to me to detract from the efficiency of the bill had been inserted, but the original bills with these exceptions were practically unchanged. The bill as sent down to the house from the council was passed by the house after certain amendments thereto had been made.

    "The bill as passed was put into operation throughout the Territory during the year 1890, and with the changes which time has suggested, which changes have particularly been made with reference to the schools of cities, the law then put upon the statute books has been in force up to the present time.

    "The above are the main facts concerning the passage of the free school laws in 1890. The minor details, of course, I do not readily recall.

    "I hope they may be of use to you and you may feel free to use them in whatever way you choose. Very truly,

"C. E. ALLEN."

    Governor West, in his message vetoing the school act passed by the legislature in 1888, referred to in the letter of Mr. Allen, said:

    "There are many grounds of objection to the enactment of such a law, which it is unnecessary to enumerate, as there is one which is insufferable - that is, the provision that private or denominational schools shall share in the public school fund.

    "I can no more give my assent to such a provision than approve an appropriation from the public treasury for the benefit of any other private interest or individual. I regard such a provision as a blow at the public school system which prevails in every other section of our country.

    "Under the proposed law, denominational schools may have the aid of the civil power by means of taxation to advance the tenets of the church. It seems a surprising fact that such a system should be proposed at this time. None of the reasons which can be urged in support of the general education of the youths of the Territory at the public expense can, in my judgment, justify such legislation."

    Governor Thomas, in one of his messages to the legislature on the subject of free public schools, said:

    "I can present no subject for your consideration of greater importance than the condition of public schools throughout the Territory. It is the bounden duty of the Territory to give to every child the opportunity of receiving a free public education. This is denied by existing school laws. I earnestly recommend that you enact such legislation as will lay the foundation of a system of education that will progress until the highest standard is reached. You will serve your Territory well by so doing."

    In 1892 the committee on education of the upper house of the territorial legislature of which Mr. John D. Peters, a Liberal Mormon was chairman and I was a member, reported a free public school bill and recommended its passage. This bill retained all the vital provisions of the act of 1890, and strengthened it by additional requirements. The bill so reported was enacted and approved by the governor. Other provisions were afterwards added until now Utah's free school system is such as any civilized community might well be proud of, and is the boast of the generality of the inhabitants of this State.

    The foundation of that efficient system was laid by the Act of 1890, which having been originated and drafted by Mr. Allen and its passage procured by his sagacity, he is entitled to the gratitude of the people of this State, and especially to the gratitude of the rising generation, for that act contained a section which made the education of the children of the Territory compulsory and also provided adequate methods for its enforcement. He is also justly entitled to the appellation, the "Father of Utah's Free Schools." The Act of 1890 also authorized the boards of education of the respective cities to submit the question of issuing bonds for school purposes to the qualified electors.

    In 1890 the board of education of Salt Lake City submitted to the electors of that city the question of issuing bonds to the amount of eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of purchasing sites and erecting thereon school houses. The Liberal party at that time had a decided majority of electors in the city and as it was the policy of that party to improve the inadequate school facilities then existing, the electors of that party generally recognized the pressing necessity of substituting modern and commodious school houses in place of the miserable buildings in which the schools at that time were being held, and voted in favor of said bonds; consequently their issuance was authorized by a decisive majority of the votes cast. The board of education which submitted the issuance of said bonds to the vote of the electors was composed of six members of the Liberal party and four of the People's party, the latter being the name given to the Mormon church party.

    Col. William Nelson, who was formerly United States marshal of the Territory, and acted in that capacity at the execution of John D. Lee on the scene of the Mountain Meadows massacre, and for years, until his death in November, 1913, the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, was elected by the Liberal party a member of that board and afterwards was chosen by the board as its president. He held that position for several years and was most active, persistent and efficient in promoting the interests of the public schools of the city. During his incumbency thirteen modern school houses were, in pursuance of the policy of the Liberal party, erected in the city. Their perfect adaptation for school purposes and their superior appointments are not surpassed anywhere, and they are justly the pride of the city.

    Until after the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887, no Gentiles were ever elected to the territorial legislature. From the organization of the Territory in 1850 until 1890, a period of forty years, no free school law was enacted by the legislature and even at that late date it was impelled to act, as shown by the letter previously referred to, by the assurance that failure to pass the free school bills introduced by Mr. Allen would impel action by Congress.