152 JOHN C. ALMACK
ly to its financial support and by replying to charges against its efficiency. This feeling is likely to be deeper rooted when the institutions, as in Oregon, had their origin in denomina- tionalism. Some citizens at Monmouth, Drain, Ashland, and Weston undoubtedly prized the normals because they believed them to be of financial advantage; these, however, were few in number. More than money, they esteemed the educational opportunities, and the normals afforded what would otherwise have been available. The great need of secondary educational institutions is shown by the fact that the legislature subsidized the Lakeview high school by an appropriation of $5,000, and by the rapid rise of the high school after district and county high schools were authorized in 1901. With the growth of high schools, the demand for normals to perform so varied and complex a function disappeared, and they began to spe- cialize in the training of teachers the original design. Had high schools been as numerous as at present, it is doubtful if the normals would have given so much time to the teaching of high school subjects. Yet the normals and high schools have been in competition.
This condition was found identically the same in Pennsyl- vania. E. O. Holland writing on the Pennsylvania Normals 47 in 1912 makes statements of conditions that applied with some force to Oregon :
"The Pennsylvania state normal schools and the public high schools are in direct conflict. In the past it was undoubtedly true that the high schools of the state were so few and so inadequate that it was absolutely necessary for the state nor- mal schools to give work of a secondary grade."
On the question of whether the normals were responsible for vicious legislation, opinions differ. There is a distinct absence of unprejudiced evidence on either side. Specific examples of vicious legislation for which the normals were responsible are not on record. The men favoring the normals in the legislature compared very favorably with those who
47 Pennsylvania State Normal Schools and Public School Systems. E. O. Hol- land. Columbia University Contributions to Education, 1912, page 80.
