The war came, and Dr. Van Schaick obtained leave of absence from the school board and served as Commissioner for Belgium of the American Red Cross. He has written a book about this, “The Little Corner Never Conquered.” Returning, he again became president of the school board, and took up the fight for the public. The district commissioners were fixing the value of the traction lines, squeezing out a little of the “water,” and Dr. Van Schaick supported them. He opposed one of the traction mergers, which would give value to millions of dollars worth of this “water.” Also, there was a commission to reduce rents, and Dr. Van Schaick committed the crime of supporting one of its members who was trying to expose the high rate of interest charged by the banks on second mortgages. He had tried to get the new tuberculosis hospital located in a decent site, whereas the real estate interests wanted it in a swamp. As if that were not enough, this clergyman-educator advocated prohibition enforcement—and anybody who knows Washington life will understand how intolerable this would be to senators and congressmen. Also, he supported the commissioner of police, who was trying to clean up the “red-light” district; and this also would cause much inconvenience to our leading statesmen. There was a superintendent of schools who was incompetent, but who stood in with the gang. He had made political appointments, he had fought the unions of the teachers and held down the teachers’ salaries; also, he was a local favorite, raised in our own schools, and supported by the Washington “Star.” Now Dr. Van Schaick and his board of education had the temerity to get rid of this superintendent by a vote of eight to one. The gang took up the challenge, and “Pat” Harrison of Mississippi introduced into the Senate a resolution for an investigation of school affairs. This investigation occupied a period of six weeks, during which time the work of the schools came pretty much to a stand-still.