The gold leaf., 1900-09-20

dren should be trained and fitted for His
service. Such q man will never educate
his children And there are hundreds
and almost thousands Of such men IN
North Carolina.
Ii. then the>t. children nareey-rrducatcd.
the STATE must do it. II tn" State would
free herself from ignorance and -upersti-
ton and pauperisln and crime. let her
-e.a to it that by the strong arm OF the
law. those who shall constitute her cltl-
zenohip in the coming years shall be We'll
cultured in heart and in mind and III
body Then no longer will ignorance
hover over our State as ii bird Ol prey:
Self-hneSS and hypocrisy. pauperl-1n and
crime viii be- diSlOdged from their III
trnchrnent-: and knowledge and true
patriotism. opuence and Innocence. Will
become the rich heritage OF all her rlti-
ZrnS.
Before the STATE enacts IL law OF com
pulsOry education it shOuld- make the
necessary provision. TO DO this it must
furnish more money. and enlarge the
schools bv having fewer school houses
and massing the pupils. Tofurnish more
money to increase the term OF the Public
Schools is not all that is necessary. for
there are numbers of boys and girls in
-\OTiil tiloIliit " no lldN' Itfltlfl p')ohH
nor Clothes For these the State must
provide; because their parents nre TOO
poor to furnish them. In some instances
the children cannot attend school. because
they must either work to support them
selves or some one else. In such cases the
State must also make provision What
ever else is necessary the State must pro
vide Let lis have more money and let ii
be used iudiciousIy: let lis have fewer
school houses which will help us in s"cur
ing Il longer term OF school: then will
North Carolina undergo Il great educn-
tional revolution.
Ii the State would have its money used
judiciollsly. it must have fewer men to
manage its schools. and they must be
better paid. There are too many men
irving TO manage the Public Schools
They dispute about locating school
houses. employing teachers. and a thou
sandand one things, which could he easily
adjusted Were there not so many to say
how it should be done. TO say Just how
many are really necessary to manage the
| schools is difficult Some prefer the
Board of School Directors and the Town
| ship Trustees. while others prefer simply
| the Board of School Directors BE that
a. it may. we need fewer men. and let
them b" better paid for their services.
As it is now, for most school officers,
| the law does not even provide the ncc"S-
| slry postage Consider this Il small mat
| ter if YOU will. but no man who serves the
| public for nothing feels it his duty to take
| money ont OF his own porket and meet
| the expenses OF his office. In many Oi
our counties the Public School teacher
receives more compensation than the
County Superintendent The teacher il
not paid too murh but surely the Super
nt"ndcnt Is not paid enough. The law
| should fix tn" salary of the Sup"rintend
rnt ly the year; and the salary should be
such as to Justify him i'll giving every day
| during the school term to the cause q
| public education. Until some such chang,
! is made. the cause of public education
| must forever suffer.
These few men should be the most com
| pet"nt
First OF all they should he well-nform
| ed. We mean by this. men of good com
mon SENSE, of general information, o
| broad and liberal mind men who's,
| knowledge reaches beyond their owl
neighborhood Not like the man in {;
certain county III North Carolina who
was so ignorant that he stopped his chill
drrn from attending the Sundny-school
lest it should cost him something; but We
want men OF natural endowment. an,
who know something beyond their owl
little sphere.
Next. they should be progressive men
| We want men who are not satisfied to d,
things as their grandfathers did, hu
| men who keep abreast OF the times
| These men should know the value OF goOC
teaching, and they should be willing to
pay the very best price to obtain II
| They should be men who realize the eos
of education, and who do not think tha
it is sufficient to pay the school teacher
tn" meagrr wages OF the common farm
hand
More than this. these men should no
be Self-cOnceited. \ self-cOnceited man il
IL menace to the Public Schools. He can
not be taught by the Wooings OF Nature
( by social contact. or hy the advice O
friends His sensbilities are blunted b,
his own pre-conceived notions and th
estimate he has of himself The Public
School has noll for him The man wht
is not self-conceited learns from Nature
learns from the Word-learns from hi
friends. His Smind is open. He is ever OF
the alert to learn something that he ma,
impart it to some one. and cause light t'
shine into darkness For this man tn
Public School has a useful place.
Besides being competent. those VIII,
manage our schools should be the brs
| men.
First they should not be men VIII,
hay" IAN axe to grind. These AXE
grinders are found evcryW here The,
wish to locate the school house for thei
own convenience. having no regard t.
that OF their neighbor. They emplo.
their own daughters to teach school
though they are incompetent and Il ma
jrrity OF the patrons do not want them
simply that they may turn the Publ
School money into their own pocket
They secure contracts to build SchOC
houses and build them out OF the YER
cheapest material, and put the large
amount nf the money i'll their own pocket
They rob the school and rob the chidre
of the community. The Public Scho,
| has no need OF these Wholesale robbers
Again. the men who manage our Publ
Schools should not be ''political tools
These characters are closely akin to tn
''axc- grinders They wish to cmplo
Tom JONES daughter. or "Joh
Smiths daughter. because ii will civ
them political influence With the hop
pl Once Iilt'N can ne piIthtl 10 90 ann
. anything in the Public school, They ar
tn" tools OF the 'parti>an politician an
the ''political trickSt"r They are Il
eVcr-lncreaSlng menance to tn" Publ
School. and we have no need for then
, | But We want men to manage the Publ
schools who realize that our schools az
. ahOv" politics: men WhOcannot be bribc,
men who, like our lGonOlrd SuperintrnC
cnt of Public Instruction, will do thei
duty: and when 1t comes To n question {
public education know no political party
These Str. tn" men W.. need.
Besides all this. the managers ui on
Public schools should le ardent support
"r~ OF public education. We want me
who believe i'll Public School with a
their heart soul mind and strength" :
men who talk for il and work for it. W
want men who realize that the little boy
and the little girls in North Carolin
are some OF cod : gold dust OF humanity
,pl tho ,,1,t nf rItiS cold 3,,l+ ,b, .Ja