It had chanced that prior to the war the Dutch consul had sent to Dr. Van Schaick a scientist from his country with a letter of introduction, and Dr. Van Schaick, as a matter of routine, and in the midst of many pressing duties, gave this gentleman a letter authorizing him to inspect the schools. Subsequently this man was accused of being a German spy, and it was proved that, as an anthropologist, and being interested in racial types, he had taken nude photographs of women. Whether these photographs were really obscene, I cannot say; but in any case, Dr. Van Schaick had known nothing about the matter. But there was that letter of introduction; and you can imagine what use the kept press made of such a chance! Professor H. B. Learned of Yale University and Stanford, having been so unwise as to serve on this school board, had to travel all the way from California to explain that the Dutch anthropologist had visited his home one evening and played on the piano and sung! The city of Washington can claim the prize over all the capitals of the world for the degradation of its press. The leader of this man-hunt was Theodore Noyes of the “Star,” who has always run the school board; he is the brother of Frank Noyes, director of the Associated Press. Also Edward B. McLean, owner of the Washington “Post,” heir of one vast fortune and husband of another; Mr. McLean is notorious among Washington newspaper men for his defiance of the prohibition laws, and it takes some real defiance to achieve such prominence in Washington. These two newspapers made the claim that Dr. Van Schaick was not eligible for the office of district commissioner, because he had not been a resident of Washington for three years. They published a photographic facsimile of a ballot alleged to have been cast by Dr. Van Schaick at his summer home in Cobleskill, New York. It was subsequently proved that this ballot had been cast by Dr. Van Schaick’s father, at the time when Dr. Van Schaick was busy with Red Cross work in Belgium. You will not need to be told that the newspapers did not feature this correction! At the close of the investigation Senator Harrison delivered three or four hours of eloquent denunciation in the Senate. But the school board persisted in asserting its right to appoint a competent man as superintendent. Then, having made sure of this appointment, Dr. Van Schaick resigned, so that the new superintendent might not inherit all his enemies. Also, Mrs. Gerry resigned—saying to a friend of mine: “After all, my life is worth something to myself, and apparently it is worth nothing to the city.” You can understand that the effect of this uproar has been to make self-respecting citizens very reluctant to assume the unpaid and thankless task of being responsible for the Washington schools. CHAPTER XLVI THE CALIBRE OF CONGRESSMEN