Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-05-18
LETTER FROM MR.. ELY.
He is After Our Nameless and Inter
minable Correspondent Of Last Week
With a Sharp Stick.

He is After Our Nameless and Inter
minable Correspondent Of Last Week
With Sharp Stick.
CHICAGO, Ill. May 10, 1877.
EDITOR OF THE Bulletin Your issue
of May 18th is just received, in it l have
read "An original view of it," not the
paper, but of various subjects, quite as
many as may legitimately be covered by
that little word 1t. l shall not try to
classify the subjects of that communica-
ton, only name few Of them, ignoring
the personal illusions as unworthy of
consideration. 1st.-The right of tax
alton for the support of schools. I'd
Supervision in general. 3d-.County
school supervision. NATURALIZATION of
teachers. 5th.-Who shall decide wheth-
er the candidate possesses necessary quail
lfications or not? &C., &C., dd iatinitim.
do not propose to attempt to answer
all these questions, nor any of them full
~, and would not trespass on your good
nature so far rs to write at all, if thought
those who are competent to answer fully
would devote their time to the thankless
task.
If it were not for the danger of making
my communication too long, would put
the whole thing in the interrogative form,
and ask Nc. or Mr. whether it was
easier to govern benighted ignorance, or
cultivated intelligence? Mexico, or New
England, Italy or Iowa, there can be but
one answer. Governments, from the in
fnitely holy government of God, down to
buchanan CT fol
for the good of the governed. If this be
granted, the question becomes one OF
method, and if the former position, i. e.,
that the cultured arc more easily govern
ed than the ignorant, be granted, it then
becomes aquestion of policy; it is the
policy of the State to educate her citizens,
and the history of the ages proves her
course to be true policy, or the best policy
for the highest good of the greatest num-
Der. 1t is better to build school houses
and pay teachers, than to build jails and
pay jaiiors: it Is cheaper to pay preachers
than sheriffs. This was the doctrine that
erected the church and school house by
the side of the log cabin in glorious New
England, promulgated by the Pilgrim
Fathers, and believed in by their decen-
dents. This doctrine gave that section
of our country the hundreds of years of
uneXampled prosperity it has enjoyed,
and shed halo of glory all over our
land.
The principle of supervision is recog-
nized in every branch of industry and by
every writer on the subject of political
economy, of prominence. The need of
supervision is especially shown in the ar
ticle written by our querist. So this
Wealth, or Perrys, or Carey's, or Adam
Smiths Political Science; if these do not
satisfy, take any one of the multitude of
writers on that subject.
The State of Michigan, by legislative
enactment, abolished the office of County
Superintendent of Schools two years ago,
and the results are deplored by educa-
tional men and by the people of the State
in general. Ohio substituted Board of
County Examiners for the County Super
intcndent, and have found that to be more
cumbersome and less satisfactory. So |
might go on and multiply examples, but
experience is the best school for some
people; these are they who refuse to be
instructed by the experience of others.
am under no personal obligation to
Mr.. Parker, opposed his nomination in
the convention two years age, have watch
ed his official course more critically than
kindly, perhaps, do not agree with him
on quite a number of educational ques-
tons, and never expect to, but should be
unjust not to say that ! am satisfied he is
AZ,
nations impartially, and with the expe-
rience of the past two years, will be able
to do better service for Buchanan county,
as County Superintendent, than any other
man am acquainted with who would ac-
cept the position. shall DO what l can,
be that little or much, to secure Mr.
Parkers. denomination, for | believe he
deserves it, though | have never had a
moments conversation with him about it,
or any other communication with him re-
lating to this matter, but the cowardly at
tack on Mr.. Parker by your nameIess con-
tribution, Compels me to be outspoken.
Comparisons are odious,' somebody
has said. So the comparisons Mr.. Origin
al view has made between educated and
self-made, or uneducated men, seem to
me to be odious to the latter class. Grant
ed that B. Franklin influenced delibera-
ton assemblies; that A. Lincoln was pref
cradle to W. II. Seward, what does that
prove?-too much, far too much it it
proves anything, for the logic of our
friend O. V.-What would have been the
boundaries of the influence of B. Frank
lin, had he had the advantage of modern
culture? What would Abraham Lincoln
have been able to do for his country had
the rough angles and inaccuracies of his
giant intellect been polished and pointed
by the acute training of the modern
schools and colleges? What would the
Apostles doctrine have been without the
Interpretation of the cultured PAUL.
What will 0. V. do when he compares
the influence of an Agaziz, Tyndall, Il
Huxley, a Porter, Il Sumner, or any one
of a thousand other names with the illit-
crate horde who may have been hoisted
by circumstances into rotoriety, only to
disappear, having their failure covered by
the mantle of charity.
The argument that the committee mans
daughter is kept from teaching, and also
from stealing the public money, flor if
money is taken, except Il gift, and no
equivalent rendered, it is stealing), is a
rich mine for O V. to draw on, and if
the County Superintendent can thus pro
tect the public funds, ought he not to be
retained? No one knows better than
County Superintendent how much of that
kind of nepotism is actually and continu-
ally practised, especially i'll the rural dis
tricts, in spite of the efforts of the County
Superintendent, sometimes in spite of the
law itself. The County Superintendent
should have more authority, more pay,
and be held to rigid accountability for
his official work.
For fear of going into the waste basket
on account of my length, close.
Respectfully Yours,
f. ii. Ely