Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1851-05-28
sidered would Be
catiohal Interest,"
I ,,:q1 xlc,,h<1o

sidered would be- promote the edu-
Icatiofal interest the state.
! will doubtlel excused in this
connection for e ing to the name
OF Mr.. Fales, the audltor Of state,
gentleman for mi have always
and still entert1E Ne kindest feel
ings. An attei1 has been made
(not by you) t0e1 3 the impression
that the greate1 of the labor of
this office wa5i 6rmed by him.
Now the facts iese: Mr.. Fales
and myself oc0unf the saperoom,
and during my a ice | a1tholized
him to opef my rs and answer
them when satI5 u iq the infor-
nation requires reference
to my files th 81 hundred
letters uaitt. ty:de as
many mo-: sqtl tkshar-.
actay md ian kaF ~
dition to tKI Al IN pa,t
the distributions l0oNaw and
occasionally WI ne WSen the
pressure of busih( |kderedit ne
cessary, for all of n ch l remtaera-
ted him out of my iMGpnuat comen-
sation. But Mr.. Fales is now a pri-
vate citizen, and consequently asyrv
worthy man. | should not be ssr-
prised, however, Should he again be q
candidate for some responsible station, to
hear it asserted that he was notori-
ously incompetent as auditor, and
that the principal duties of his office
were performed by the superintend-
ent of public Instruction.! SO wags
the world--circumstances altering
cases.
The length of my report has been
made another subject of complaint
| have received nearly all the recent
school reports of this county and
Canada, and find by comparison that
my own is far less voluminous than
any made the past year, although it
includes the business of two years
That of the Superintendent of Wis
consin, embracing the same topics
and for only haT he period, is more
than double as large. The Michigan
report, for one gear, is larger by
one third. That of the School Com
mittee of the city of Cincinnati alone
for one gear, is larger by several pages
That of the School Board of Phila,
delphia, for one gear, independent Of
a separate report of one hundred pages
for the High School, is more thar
twice the length of the one in ques,
ton. The annual reports of Massa.
chusetts, Connecticut, New York
New Hampshire, New Jersy, &c.
are many of them double and treble
:. The length or my 5tst,eesf report. |,
must be remembered also that ma.
.jority of these States have no lands
to select and dispose of, and con
sequently, nothing to report under
that head. If then, | have erred in
this particular, have only followed
the example of those whose commtcn,
cy and efficiency cannot be questioned
And yet fancy that if this host o.
learned and practical educators
should appear before the editor o.
the "Whig and Register" they would
have tomake low bow. and, despite
their experience, yield their precon.
, ceived opinions to his superior judg,
ment.
The concluding paragraph of YOU
article, | heartily approve. have
: long since been impressed with thu
importance of lecturing in the schoo
districts, and have twice urged upol
: the General Assembly the prophet.
. of transferring the duties which ren
: der it necessary for the Superinten
? dent to remain at his office, in orde
that he might devote more time t.
: travelling through the State. | hav'
: visited and lectured in nearly ever,
+ portion of the State, but in the meal
r time the duties which require the Su
I psrintendent to be here, have neces
e sarily been neglected. Upon m
: return from your country, after a
C absence of one month, found NOR
n than sirty afcin letters in the Pos
e Office, requiring immediate answers
d But it may be aslh I'd why do nc
: employ clerk? answer is, tha
d to submit to disc nfloper cent
: (and thus far b an compelle
), to do SOY upon timous sn'
: of $1,000 per 4 nVhich S
e the EXPENSE convc,
e ance, travellff The Stat
y and hiring cid npetent
IS discharge the d the ofiic
J. Gor an individual yshtute of sue
g qualifications couI render but lit
o efficient aid) QUITO - rcmainder,wo
le require higher order of ciphcri,
l. than ! profess to have attained. Ar
at here allow me to add word in rel
,e ton to the "perquisites." to whic
you have pleased to allude in yo
he remarks. The Legislature appropl
ID ated the sum of Sl00 per annu
m during my official term, as a CONT
70 rent find. This fund was given e
tn pressly for defraying the expens
e, incurred for books, stationary al
IS, the necessary appendages of t
c. office, and should any portion of
I'd remain on hand at the end of t
IS. term, it reverts to the Treasury
e, other unexpended appropriations.
ly Vouchers are required Of the office
ne in whose hands it is placed, to sht