Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-05-15

portance of needing and being gov
erned by the regulations of our school
laws. And yet these instructions
were called forth by u mere mole hill
of law ignored compared with this
mountain, thrown up by d political
party athwart the law. In the mere
matter of o school holiday the SUI
premacy of the law with its pnrticu-
lar regulations was urgently stressed
by a most capable writer. The obi
gation upon a superintendent to be
strictly governed by the regulations
of the law, even in the most minute
matters, was enforced upon the at
tention of the officials and the people.
Can it be possible that our people, or
leaders, then stood ready to strain ut
the tiny, Illegal gnat of IL school holi
day, and now stand ready to swallow
the massive iliegality of their nomi-
nation by political party-without
protest by the hitherto champions
of legality? 10 consistency, thou
artn-doubtless thou art, but where
art thou? Thus, Doctor, last Decem-
Der your duty of standing by and
obeying the school laws and regula-
tions was publicly insisted upon. /
am glad that, in this matter, you are
needing the views then urged upon
your attention. For one, ] should
have considered it against your tit
ness for the position if you had
shown q disregard of the school laws,
by giving your name and money to
political party, acting in your inter
est, in contravention of both the
letter and the spirit of the law. AS
superintendent-in fact, or to be
you could not afford to take this
law, political view of the very system
of laws that you would be, or are,
called upon to uphold. AS you know,
Doctor, am democrat from core to
rind. But every democrat has the
right to Judge and act for himself in
this matter, and more than one fea
ture of Sthis primary illegality is
stamped with unfairness. a petition
gives every voter" the right to eX
press preference, no matter what his
politics may be. The law also gives
the "voters ''-all of them, the right
to express their choice, when the
State Board asks it, and the candi.
dates consent to it. But the law
gives no political party,-be it repub-
lican in republican counties, or demo
cratic in counties where the majority
is democratic,-the right to nominate
a candidate. In this case, u demo
cratic primary says to every parent,
patron, friend, teacher, taxpayer,
voter" who is not Il democrat,
stand aside, you shall have no
lNo Eli.
We are going to shut you ont of this
matter of selecting. But we are still
going to speak of our selection as the
.people'S choice, Notwithstanding
it was a party choice, and we had
excluded all the people that could
not pronounce our Shibboleth.n
Doctor, am glad you ask your
friends not to vote for you. hope
they will mott shall not for one.
And whoever gets the appointment,
| hope it will be some one who has Il
high and tit regard for our school
laws. They are not perfect | know.
But to take the position that any Of
their regulations can be recklessly
ignored by you as a candidate, would
be to eyince a spirit that would fore
bode evil if you were appointed. |
am glad then, that even the fear OF
the party whip, cannot move you
from your position Of loyalty to the
school laws. If you go down, go with
your colors dying from that position.
Better that than to be appointed
after you had discounted the whole
system of school laws, by turning
away from their regulations to the
behest of emergency dictations OF
politicians, or party.
Yours very truly,