Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-03-11
President Harvey, Of Milwaukee,
Eay0rS GUSHING County
superintendent.
Dane County Drainage Causes d
Lively Debate Other
Arguments.

assembly committee on cuuCd upll. ana
made Il very convincing argument in
favor OF the bill which, IN conjunction
with other leading educators ne drafted
aud which is now before the legislature.
He exposed the coTuptncss OF the pres
ent syS en-. he dcplored the laci that
politics plays such a controlling part
in the selection of our county superin-
tcndcnts, and gave many interesting
Instances Of perfectly incompetent men
who have been elected TO This office
which is Of such great importance. He
knows Of a debauched drunkard in one
county of the state, who, because he
had influence in one political party,
was reelected time and again, although
the better people Of the state feel that
their county was diSgluced 10y having
such Il man to pass upon the moral
character Then, he said, it is perfectly
evident that no one man can travel
over | 900 square miles of territory and
direct The work OF some 10 teachers
as the superintendent of Grant county
is expected to do. Other counties in the
state are in as rs agg1ayating a pre-
dicamcnt, In cities where the teachers
are more compact. easily reached, and
the territory to be covered 10y their sup
erintendent is very small the work is
much more effective.
Mr. Harvey said that he was aware
that the argument of taking from the
people something which now belongs to
them, interfering With the peoples
rights, had been and would be urged
against the bill, but he did not see why
Bns should have weight It is the
peoples right To have the best system
of common ,hoOls possible ana it has
been proved, ne thinks, cUuclusivcly
that the county superintendent system
will never attain the high lea. dc.
sired He then reviewed the bill briefly.
emphasizing It's main points. He told
how the Till was drawn only after ma
ure debate at several meetings of the
state superintendent himself and many
other prominent educators. The bill
calls for the appointment Of "a state
commission, the members of which are
TO be men who have made education
their life work who are perfectly famil-
Jar with the needs OF the schools of the
state, and who are to serve without
financial compensation They are To
make appointments Of officers cores
ponding in many ways with the present
county superintendent, but are to be
better paid, The total salaries being
raised from what they are Mt present,
about $4,000, to about $4,000. Mr..
Harvey considers the small salaries
paid, one of the weak features Of the
present system. 1t is recommended
that the state commission be com
posed Of such men as the professors of
pedagogy in the state university. direc-
tors Of normal schools, institute con
ductorS, or men of that stamp; men who
are interested in the welfare of WIS
couSin education He showed that this
is no innovation. A similar system is
used in Mt least fourteen states in the
union.
Mr.. John Maggie, of the Manitowoc
Pilot, who has had a great deal of ex-
perience in experimenting county
schools followed with an earnest ap-
peal for The passage of the measure,
and advanced some very strong argu-
ments.
The gentlemen who were present to
defend the bill then graciously gave up
their claim to the floor and allowed Mr..
II. w, Dietrich, Of the senior law class
to present a carefully prepared and
lengthy paper antagonizing the bill
His arguments We're clearly put, being
similar TO those advanced at other times
before the committee.
Mr. Dietrich had barely taken his
seat when Mr. 10 H. Sheridan, Of the
state superintendent office, was on his
feet and declaring that Mr.. Dietrich,
who is at present, a county superintend-
cnt, is just the kind of men that the
legislature under discussion is designed
to Dust from office Mr. Dietrich, he
said. is a county superintendent elected
by the people and paid a salary Of $500
a year to govern their schools and at
The same time comes to Madison and
takes a course In law in the law school.
Mr.. II. NJ. Lewis, Of Madison, appear
"a before the committee on education
yesterday afternoon and made an earn.
est plea in favor of a bill authorizing
the school board Of the city Of NTadi-
son to borrow q sum Of money some
S35 900. to aid it i'm the construction of
needed school buildings and to better
the city system Of education. lie laid
down the facts Of the matter in Il Very
clear way and manifestly did much
good for his cause. Mr.. Heyl had i'm.
troduced bill looking TO this end,
but rs there were q few slight changes
that it was desired 10 make. Mr.. Lewis
presented to the committee substi-
tute for the Hevl bill