The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-05-19

corder's charge of "jobbery IS "holly
without foundation.
'.These books prepared by Mrs. Hunt
| have as O~ne-fOurths of their cOntehCS
physiology and hygiene, and the act
saws this limit shall control. the Board
| of Education"
This is about the finest specimen OF
jumping at a conclusion that we re-
member to have seen. By this method
Of reasoning the Board of Education
could be forced to use every book that
may hereafter be published that gives
one-fourth of it's space to the special
subject contemplated in the act.
1.-The publishers of these books very
shrewdIy sent a female agent to lobby
this bill through the Assembly" etc.
Did they? Where is the proof? The
Recorder gave no proofs of its state
ment. Did it have the proofs in it's
possession? Has it got the proofs of its
statement in it's possession now? THE
PROGRESSIVE FARMER is assured upon
good authority that Mrs. Hunt has no
connection of a business character with
the publishers of the books the Re
cOTder complains Of-that she is not the
agent Of said publishers, and that she
has. no financial interest in either the
publishing house or the books. If the
Recorder knows to the contrary, let it
speak right out.
The communication Of the SUperin-
tendent of Public instruction, pub
lished in another column of this issue,
dispOses of the Recorders calculation,
and we say nothing upon that point.
But we are curious to know why
Mrs. Hunts sex and her Christian
character should have been sneeringly
assailed by the Recorder. There is not
one iOta of evidence outside of the I'M
supported assertion Of the Recorder
that Mrs. Hunt did anything in con-
nectiOn with the passage Of the bill
complained of that was ~UnbecOming to
any 'piOus female" We think Mrs.
Hunts sex. if not her Christian char
acter, should have been enough to Sc
cure for her fair and merciful treat
ment at the hands of the Recorder.
We regret more than we can say that,
50 far as we know, the Recorder should
have been the first Southern journal to
apply the term 'femGle" contemptu-
Ously to a woman.
1--WE sincerely hope that the Super
lntendent Of Public Instruction and the
| RDOTI Of Education mill Of 1oOc& CO fOr,
ignore the act of the General Assembly
as to adopt only one of the four books
and thus save the poor people of the
State a very large and needless x
pense."
The above quotation advises the SUI
perintendent Of Public instruction and
the members of the Board of Education
to ignore the act in part, at least. The
Recorder must have known, when it
gave the above advice, that the Su-
perintendent of Public instruction was
a sworn officer of the State; and yet it
calmly advises him to violate his oath
by ignoring an essential part of a plain
statute. The Recorder probably did
not think of this feature of the ques-
ton when it gave the above advice.
But thoUghtlessness upon a grave
question like this is not more COM
mendable than the advice itself. The
Recorder was bound to take into con-
sideration all the features of the case
when it advised these State officials to
disregard a plain law of the land.
The Recorder does not present the
real questions at issue. The real ques-
tions are these: Ought the subjects,
embodied in the act, to be taught in
the public schools of the State? Did
Mrs. Hunt render the people of North
Carolina a valuable service in procur-
ing the passage of the act under dis
cussion? If the Board Of Education
should adopt the books the Recorder
complains of, which it is under no obi
cation OF necessity of doing, are the
books unsuited to the work to be done?
Or are the prices of the books too high?
These are the real questions; and these
questions the Recorder avoids with an
adroitness worthy of a better cause.
We have heard it said, more than
once, that the Recorder is opposed to
the public school system; and numbers
of persons have declared openly their
belief that the Recorder was opposed
to the work of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union. Surely these ex-
pressions of opinion must be without
foundation in fact.
We have diligently sought to find
the motive that influenced the Recorder
in it's unfair and groundless attack