The state chronicle., 1893-05-25
Col. Harrell Says That Mr.. Joyner
Evades the Main Question.

MY Irleno, Mr. ,. \. JOyner, Su-
perlntendent Of the Gol1sboro
Graded Schools, like most other in
terested persons who have written
in regard to the Normal and Indus
trial School, follows the same line
OF argument by entirely dodging
the questions under consideration
and impugning all motives actuating
those who desire that the State
School shall conform to the law. In
regard to the letters of enquiry sent
out by The Teacher Mr.. Joyner
speaks the truth, and I will say that
l received only two replies express
ing his views, ono from himaelf and
the otEer from Mr.. Grimslsy, Su-
perintendent of the Graded School
OF Greensboro. I received five re-
plies in hearty approval of The
Teachers position, but asking that
the letters be not used for the pres
ent unless absolutely necessary, as
their motives would be, and already
were, impugned by friends of the
other side. They seem to fully un-
derstand those who are seeking to
make an ordinary female seminary
out of The State Normal and Indus
trial School. I sent similar letters,
such AS Mr.. Joyner received, to
thirty four leading public and pri-
vate school teachers in North Caro-
line and am hoping to have replies
from at least a majority, it being nay
intention, as stated in The Teacher.
to publish in one article my enc uiry
in full and every answer thereto
received. MIR. Joyner may have the
pleasure of reading all those letters
in due time, and until then it might
be proper not to rashly charge de-
ception in discussion.
Mr.. Joyner, I believe, has been
lawyer. en- not surprised that he
retired from that profession if he
tried to defend his clients by such
absurd reasoning as he is now ap.
plying to the case OF MIR. McIver,
his present client! have no inter-
est whatever in seeing any ybody take
Mr.. McIver's place as President of
the institution, but as one concern
ed in the cause of true and lawful
education in North Carolina l de
sire, with great many others, o
have the State institution do tt
work precisely as the law requires
it to do for the young women of our
State.
Mr.. Joyner admits that the insti-
tuition is not q Normal and Indus
trial school by saying of it: "No in
stitution was ever full grown at it's
BIRTH" Why is it not a full grown
Normal school at it's birth? The
State appropriated $4,000 of the
taxpayers money for full grown
Normal school-does the manage
ment intend that the institution
shall be born as an ordinary female
seminary and then grow into Nor
NAL school as Mr.. Joyner would
claim? This idea must strike the
public as rather amusing, and even
more so when we know that the
State has amply endowed pure and
simple Normal school for our young
women, and has never appropriated
single cent for female seminary,
so far as we have heard of.
Inotice on the programme of the
first commencement of the so-called
Normal and Industrial School, that
after near eight months of work
only four students out Of an al
legged enrolment of about two hun
dred and twenty five have been pre-
pared to teach! Is that what might
be expected of real normal school?
What have the other two hundred
and twenty-one students been do
ing? A true normal school could
have prepared at least one hundred
teachers in the same time and at
less expense if it had received as
students only girls who were edu'
clted ready for this preparation, as
is in accordance with the law ere
ating the Normal and Industria
School. Perhaps the management
construes the words "prepsre tt
teach" to mean that q girl is "pre
pairing to teach" from the time tha
she begins to study the American
alphabet, The law does not contem
plate any such idea Nor does
mean anything more nor less thar
that the State will take an educate'
girl and prepare her in the Norma
and Industrial School to teach o
to earn living in some industrls
pursuit. At the present rate c
"preparing teachers" for our put
lie schools in North Carolina by tn
"Normal and Industrial School
will take over six hundred years
time before the public schools al
supplied. Was not, therefore, II
legislature very wise IN framing
law which does not require 81
to pursue primary and seminar
! course at the State Institution o.
fore beginning to prepare to teac
EUGENE G.. HARRELL,
Editor "North Carolina Teacher.