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Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL
Newspaper Page Text
to Spriugfield last night, Victor Olander, secretary Illinois Federation of Labor, said: "The cry of 'Save the public schools' is being raised in some wards m Chicago. Large sums of money are being spent for literature, halls, moving picture theater slides and paid political workers to -carry on at tacks on Aldermen Buck, Merriam, Kearns. "While thfc costly campaign goes on, financed from mysterious sources,, a bill has been moved quietly in Springfield. It has come close to a vote. Not a public hearing has been held on it and not a word of public discussion has been offered by its promoters and backers. "Yet this bill aims openly and spe cifically to take away from the city council all power over the board of education in the matter of selling school land. A corrollary fact is that board of education members are in favor of selling a section of land near Clearing worth about $1,000,000. It is at present leased in part to the Chicago Belt Line railroad. Armour men are directors of this railroad. And Alfred Urion, chief counsel for Armour & Co., is a member of the ex ecutive committee of the Chicago Public School league. This so-called league has for its secretary Mr. John L. Lovett, who came to his present position from that of assistant editor of the Manufacturers' News, 'official organ of the Illinois Manufacturers' ass'n. The first official move of this league when it was organized last November was to issue a public statement declaring that Jacob M. Loeb should be re-elected president ef the schofil board. "I am not making any charges at this time. After presenting these facts I leave it to any open-minded citizen whether there is a direct con nection between the school board, the Armour Belt line, Jacob M. Loeb and the forces who are setting up the cry of 'Save the public schools.' I i ve y. to any fair-minded citizen to I say after looking' these facts over whether one more series of manip ulations is under way by which the people will be despoiled of school land again today as in the past." Teachers' Federation executive 'committee members who left on night train for Springfield were Mrs. Ida L. Fursman, Nano Hickey and Sara C. Rochford. School Board Secretary Lewis E. Larsen, Att'y A. R. Shannon and Trustees John W. Eckhart and Ralph' Otis left earlier in the day for the state capital. Sup't Shoop and Dis't Sup't Cole joined them at night.' Armour connections stand out all through the present situation. Sen Percy G. Baldwin, who introduced the school land bill, is a pal of Sen. Sam Ettelson, corporation counsel of Chicago, attorney, for the fire in surance combine of Illinois and at torney for the Illinois Tunnel Co., an Armour-Harriman concern which owns the Automatic phone system. Alfred Urion, the Armour lawyer, was president of the school board when the Tribune "midnight lease" was sanctioned and the revaluation clause struck out of the lease. It used to be that the school land on which the Tribune bldg. stands, was revalued every ten years. The lease put through under Urion's leadership fixes things so, no matter how high land values go up in the loop, the Tribune sits easy and pays only the same rental for 99'yetfrs. Jake Loeb, the school board presI-( dent, has an office in the Insurance Exchange bldg., where he runs a fire insurance business. This husiness, naturally, connects him financially and socially with the merchants and manufacturers who are members of the Illinois Manufacturers' ass'n and hostile to the Teachers' Federation many years because of the federa tion's activities against corporations", taxdodgers and the Cooley bill. Also, in trying to analyze the situation, the question is often asked: "Is it merely a coincidence that; jggg