218 Charles Abner Howard The year previous to the publication of the report con- taining the above recommendation, the board of regents had raised the standard of admission to the University. The sub-freshman department had previously accepted all applicants who showed any sort of intellectual promise regardless of specific preparation. 33 At the regent's meeting in February, 1897, it was decided to require at least two years of work above the eighth grade for ad- mission to this department. If this new standard was to be maintained, the state must have high schools in which the necessary preparation might be made. In public ad- dresses as well as in his printed reports, President C. H. Chapman threw his influence back of the move for defi- nite high school legislation. 34 At the session of the Oregon legislature in 1899, an attempt was made to have a school code adopted that would unify the school laws and give Oregon an educa- tional system in the place of the unorganized group of schools that were endeavoring to serve the educational needs of the state at that time. This code, known as the Daly Bill, from the fact that it was presented by Senator John M. Daly of Benton County, included provisions for the organization of high schools in communities where voters desired them. The Daly Bill was the most talked of measure that came before the legislature at that ses- sion. 35 It proposed, among other things, to change the system of textbook adoptions and to cut out about twenty- 33 The requirements for sub-freshman admission are set forth in the catalog of the University for 1896 as follows: "1. All graduates from reputable schools where the eighth grade branches are completed, are admitted without examination. "2. Persons holding teachers' certificates are admitted without examination. "3. Other applicants must pass written examinations covering the topics specified below:" The topics listed are Arithmetic, Geography, United States History, Mathematical Geography, English Grammar, and English Composition. The work to be covered in each subject is set forth. 34 Thirteenth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion of Oregon. 1898. pp. 86-88. 35 Files of the Oregonian for January and February, 1899.
