Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-07-10

Capt. A. NJ. Pierce has been appointed
county superintendent of public schools OF
Frederick county. He acquired fitness for
the position while serving his term as gro
Gerry drummer for Baltimore irm.-Rock-
in9ham Register.
Capt. Pierce is well known here, and we
are sure that no one here, in the vagaries
of his widest dreams, ever thought of his
ever being county superintendent of schools.
1t is case of the blind leading the blind.
In the management of our public school
system, we are, in the language of the
lrishman, advancing backwards'-R. R.
Farr State Superintendent, and A. NJ
Pierce County superintendent 1t is not
fitness for the office that now secures it,
but loyalty to Malone. The Winchester
Times, published in Frederick county says !:
eve are sorry to see the public schools
being made political engine by the party
now in power. When the positions of
teachers and superintendent are made the
rewards of political service then goodbye
to the usefulness of our public school sys-
tenn.
Perhaps if Cameron, Farr, and Blair had
searched Frederick county with tine-tooth
comb they could not have found a more ut
terly incompetent and in every way obiec-
tionable appointee than Pierce. Yet for
no other reason in the world than that
Dolph has gained an unenviable notoriety
by hugging the negroes and making pitiful
attempts at public speaking in behalf of his
lord and master Malone, he is rewarded
with this position of county superintendent.
Mol, ! a, III
schools
ellis universal ignorance, unfortunate
natural stupidity and general cussedness
may not be unbecoming in Mahoneite poll
tician, but perhaps the good people of the
county will not like the idea of having the
education of their sons and daughters di-
rected by an individual possessing such
characteristics. And right here is some
thing for us all to ponder on, Democrats,
Mohoneites, and Republicans alike, what
ought to become of party which while
pretending to be the friend of the public
schools appoints such creatures as Dolph
Pierce to an important position in eonnec-
ton with public instruction"
X
s'The man who is made Superintendent
of the Schools of this county, upon whom
falls the examination, and, in great meas
ure, the selection of the teachers is a Great
ure who would not be permitted to enter
respectable mans house."
The Winchester NeWs says
"Without desiring to speak harshly, per-
sonally, of any one, and leaving out of
question entirely the qualifications suppos-
ed to be essential for the proper perform
ance of the duties of the Office, we feel sure
that we voice the sentiment of our commu-
nifty when we say that the appointee of the
Board for this county-Capt. Pierce-is too
much of partison and untitled for the
place. and the appointment was not made
in the interests of education but rather in
the political interests of Malone.
1t seems to us that the place of Superin-
tendent of Public Schools is very impor-
tant one, and that il, together with the en-
tire system, should be divorced from poll |
tics. If man, by heated partisan ha-
rangues, incendiary appeals and out Herod-
ing Herod in devotion to pestilent faction,
can earn for himself such an appointment,
the true friends of public schools will turn
from them with loathing and disgust and
the whole system will soon become a mon
ument to the folly and selfishness of pc
litical tyrant and boss"
Srpxrrf,17o D17Ir, Mr7rr