OREGON NORMAL SCHOOLS 131
an appropriation of $8,000 to carry the schools through to the end of the school year. This they scornfully refused. At this, Senator F. J. Miller introduced a bill in the senate repealing all normal school legislation. Bowerman and Selling led the attack, the president of the senate taking the floor. Shortly before adjournment the bill passed, and Oregon was without normal schools : they were killed as effectively as it was pos- sible for the legislature to do it.
For their defeat, the normals blamed chiefly Jay Bowerman and the Oregonian. In respect to the former the Ashland Tidings said on February 22d :
"Jay Bowerman was the most intemperate and irrational opponent of the normal schools. Rumor has it that he has a gubernatorial bee buzzing in his bonnet, or some other politi- cal ambition, and played his game in the senate for popularity. What a vote he would get in this section of Southern Oregon !"
At the next election Bowerman was a candidate for governor, and though the state is normally Republican by a big majority, he was defeated by Oswald West, Democrat.
The Oregonian gave the following as the real reason for the destruction of the normals :
"The real reason why the normal schools have been aband- oned lies in the belief that there is no real reason to educate and graduate school teachers at the expense of the state. It is believed teachers, as others preparing for professions, should educate themselves. The state does not educate plumbers, nor boilermakers, nor sheepherders. Yet all these and many more are essential to the state.
"Besides, it is believed that there is too much literary edu- cation these days, and not work enough to furnish a supply of milk, eggs, and butter, pork and beans. Again, members of the legislature, moved by the crowd of normal advocates, were trying to trade and to log-roll everything to get what they wanted."
The legislature drew much criticism after adjournment for
