Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-04-05
FRIDAY, APRIL ), 1889.
Two M EN-.

" wv WEN
There is in this county gentleman of
excellent education and exceptional in
telligence, of fine appearance and pleas
ing address, a graceful, convincing and
eloquent speaker. His habits are of the
best and his character is above reproach.
He has held numerous offices, and in
whatever position placed has acquitted
himself admirably. He is not rich. But
this gentleman, though importuned by
influential friends. has refused to enter
the field as a candidate for county super
visor and says emphaticallv that he
should under no circumstances serve if
chosen. He bases his refusal on the
ground that he is incompetent to dis
charge the duties of the Office, for the
reason that he knows comparatively little
about the management of schools or of
the general subject of education, his life
work having led his thoughts and studies
in other directions. He contends that
the man who holds the place of super
visor should be Jan educational specialist,
but to direct the efforts of the teachers,
in short, to be teacher of teachers. We
are not prepared to say that this gentle
man does not take the right view of the
matter; indeed, it seems to us that he
acts wisely in declining to be made su-
pervisor.
There lives up in Waterbury another
gentleman whose record, as furnished to
the legislative directory for 1883, is
Edwin F. Palmer of Waterbury, Re
publican, was born in Westfeld in 1896.
He is reporter and located in Water
bury in 1865. Is graduate of Dart
mouth. class of 81. Read law and was
admitted TO the bar of Washington coun-
" in 1864; was second lieutenant of Co.
B, 18th regiment Vermont volunteer mil
ita ; has held minor town offices and rep
resented Waterbury in the legislature of
1880, in which year he was appointed re-
porter of the decisions of the Supreme
court. Religious preference, Congrega-
tionalst.
Mr.. Palmer represented Waterbury a
second time in the last General Assem-
bly,. and got himself elected State super
intendent of education. The incumbent
of this office should be able to direct. and
by law is given control over, the county
supervisors, one of whom the gentleman
first described could not be, because he
didn't think he knew enough. Mr.. Palm
er has had plenty of education, but he
can't, or at any rate doesn't, talk five
minutes without making half dozen
grammatical errors. His appearance is,
to say the least, not taking, and he is
most emphatically not an orator in any
sense of the word. If he knows any,
thing about education, he can't tell what
he knows. His remarks upon the sub.
ject are wholly in the nature of glitter.
ing generalities and petty platitudes, not
worth any human beings attention for 8
moment. But that is not to be wondered
at, for the history of his career as com
piled by himself does not hint that he
ever taught even district school or evel
had anything to do with educationa
affairs.
The moral of all this he who run,
may lcuN, MI Il ull1cI snoulu at O!lct
resign. He cannot do the work which
he was chosen to do and his continuance
in the office would be a swindle upon the
people of the State. He can do neither
himself nor the State credit. Wherever
he goes he makes the cause of education
ridiculous, and his retention of the office
can result only in harm to that cause, &
cause second to almost no other to the
people of Vermont, especially at this
time, when a new law is to be tried and
when the best possible leader is de-
manded.
A man who aspires to and obtains pub
lie office should expect criticism, and the
more important the Office and the larger
the pay, the more eXacting ought thai
criticism to be. Mr.. Palmer is obviously
unfit to hold the place he occupies anC
he should be told so, if his elimination
cannot be brought about otherwise, anC
apparently it can't. Had he been wis,
he would have let this job alone; but h,
wasn't wise, and now he should abide by
the consequences of his unwisdom, con
fess that he is failure and get out, leav
ing vacancy which the governor cal
fill with better man.