Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-09-22
HAVE YOU READ |T2
It's out in all its Pomp and Glory
1t took him Two Weeks to
compose it.

where 1t provides what the SuDerlnten-
dent must do. 1t is nof7Dptional with
the superintendent of schools any more
than it is with any other county officer
as to what he shall do.S The statutes
provide the law and he should obey it.
If he does not he violates the law just
the same as those who murder or COM
nit any other crime. He is liable to
punishment and ought to receive it, He
finally makes reply as follows:
GRAND RAPIDS, Sept. 18th, '92.
Editor Marshfeld ZImeS.-DEAR SIR:
In the last issue of your paper you
gave currency to an attack upon me
by the Wood County Reporter of the
issue of the week before. In justice to
myself, feel called upon to say few
words in reply through the columns of
your paper which trust you will give
the same prominence you did the Re
porter article. In the first place the
editor of the Wood Comfy Reporter has
a personal grudge against me, of long
standing, which l do not know the
origin of, neither do l care. He never
loses an opportunity to use his sheet
to vent his personal spite against me,
and always with the same degree of
unfairness as in the present instance.
1t has been a long time since l paid
any attention to his eruptions, being
satisfied with their reactionary force,
which was finely illustrated two years
ago. 1 would not now give any atten-
ton to his article if it were confined to
his paper, but when a paper of the
standing of yours gives it circulation
the case is different.
The Wood County Reporter makes
two charges against me. One is that
l have departed from the old custom of
holding a teachers institute of one
weeks duration and have inprovised
in its stead a sumner school of four
weeks duration. In other words, in
stead of the old social gathering in
which the conductor describes to the
teachers the manner III which they
should do the work, the teachers now
get together and do the work after the
most approved methods. I have no
excuses to make for. the summer
schools. The testimony of teachers
and superintendents is that they are
vastly more beneficial in their results
than the institutes, and as evidence of
their popularity they were held in
more than fifty counties of this state
this year.
The Reporters further charge is that
1 am constantly dealing in tax certifi-
Gates and engaged in looking over
lands upon which l hold certificates.
The fact is that during the past two
years I have bought scarcely any ccr-
tifcates except where [ desired them
to perfect titles upon lands upon which
1 hold deeds. The Reporter is evident
1y ''straining at a gnat' when it tries
to make it appear that this is an
Occupation" in which, by following,
1 violate Sec. 2, Chap. 215, Laws of
1885, which he purpose1y garb1es by
quoting only a portion thereof. This
is what he quotes:-''No County Supt.
of Schools shall engage in any profess
sion or occupation, nor shall he absent
himself from the county or district for
which he is elected &C." Now as some
people might like to know what the
&c" is, l will continue and finish the
section, ''to engage i'll any occupation,
profession or pursuit during the term
for which he is elected for such time or
in such manner as to interfere zVih the
PROPER discharge Of his duties as Super
lntendent Of Schools" By putting the
two portions together you will see that
the words quoted have direct bearing
upon the first words of the section and
are III fact the very essence of the law.
In reply to the whole section I think
1 can stand before the bar of justice
and truthfu11y say that l have allowed
nothing " to interfere with the proper
discharge of my duties as Superinten-
dent of Schoo1s.'' Words fail me to
express my contempt for an editor who
will purpose1y try to deceive his read
ers in the manner resOrted to by the
editor of the Wood County Reporter.
It's total unre1iability is what has
caused it to lose all the prestige it once
had. Thanking you for your indu1-
gence, I am,
Yours very truly,
EDWARD LYNCH, Co. Supt.
The reader will notice that he admits
he has held no Institutes as the law pro-
vides. He also says that ''The fact is
that during the past two years | have
bought scarcely any certificates except
where [ desired them to perfect titles
upon lands upon which l hold deeds"
He therefore adEits both charges we
made as the truth. He admits that he
did not hold an institute, and he
acknowledges that he has purchased tax
certificates. The number or quantity is
immaterial The Offense has been COM
mitted and our statement is verified by
his own letter.
Now we desire to state we hold no
personal enmity towards Mr.. Lynch, on
the contrary we were among the first to
help him the first year he was an appli-
cant for his present position. We
admire a man, but we do not a miser or
a glutton. Any man of common sense
or good judgment who has held an
office for eight years and been candi
date constantly since 1877, ought to be
satisfied and ready to give some one
else a chance To the contrary Mr..
Lynch will be a life long candidate un-
less he is kicked out. He has not
brains enough to make him realize that
others are entitled to recognition in his
party, but no, he comes up with each
recurring convention for nomination.
If not nominated he bolts his party
nominee and supports the opponent of
his party as he did four years ago. From
the tone of his letter you can see that
he owns the office and will do as he
pleases. The people have nothing to
say, and when we dare to find fault with