Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/235

 High School Legislation In Oregon 213 far as actual secondary shool attendance is concerned than is generally supposed to have existed, for in this group of six representative states, Oregon stood third in 1890, and fourth in 1900. The figures for Oregon are almost identical with those of the country at large for each of these years. Referring to the last column, it will be observed that the number of secondary students at- tending public high schools in Oregon in 1890 was only forty per cent of the total, considerably lower than any other state in the group and twenty-nine per cent below that of the country at large. By 1900 the figure in the per cent column had increased to seventy-five but was still far below that of any other state except Pennsylvan- ia. The private schools were actually taking care of the situation though the number of public high schools was small. However, as the competition between the public and the private schools became sharp, the latter disinte- grated too rapidly for the former to meet the situation. This resulted in Oregon's slipping back in secondary school attendances as compared with other states. Note that Oregon stood third among the six states in 1890, fourth in 1900, and fifth in 1910. II. The Development of Public Opinion Favorable to High Schools Conditions and influences favorable to high school legislation and which finally resulted in the enactment of the high school laws of 1901 will now be considered. During the long period while public secondary education in Oregon, except in a few larger centers, was without legal sanction, there were those who, from time to time, lifted up their voices in favor of this department. The attitude of Harvey W. Scott as editor of the Oregonian, in opposition to public high schools, has been pointed out. It should be noted, however, that others connected with this great daily took a different view. One of these was Aaron Bushweiler, well known in Portland as a news writer of the seventies. An article from his pen appears