The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-02

/ q reasonable time for the reports the
superintendent sent out notices TO the
dc linquents irstructing them m their du-
| ties and urging compliance with the laws.
| In many cases no accounts were made of
the money received and dsbursed, and
| defalcations were frequently charged.
/ The superintendent therefore. deemed it
necessary that an investigation be held
| as an earnest Of what would follow ur
| less there We're q change. Accordingly,
! selecting a very plain case, he caused q
| defaulting chairman TO be arraigned be-
| fore the court on the charge OF embez-
Element. From spow on matters began to
| mend, but never during his administra-
| ton was he free from the evil effects Of
the old careless management
The work was slow. discouraging and
| tedious and the Superintendent was of
ten compelled to draw heavily on his
| fund of patience. But the results were
| far beyond his calculations. Old friends
| were discovered, new ones made and
| enlisted in the work; enemies We're met
and routed: tardy officers We're spurred
ON to more dilgent and efficient work;
| incompetent ones found out and removed; :
many misconceptions We're corrected;
| colleges, high schools and academies
4
| interest in the common schools: unity
was gradually introduced into the sys-
TEN and school men in all parts of the
State were taught to see that the inter
ests of all were bound together in one
| great and ever widening circle.
! The next object for which DR., Wiley
worked was the initiation of needful re-
| forms. Let it be remembered that all
these objects led howard one definite
| end, and thus were intimately connected.
| Therefore, to enumerate all his labor
under this head would be but to repeat
| many things already mentioned and TO
| forestall many others which fall more
properly in other places.
One of the most pressing matters and
| crying evils that DIR. Wiley found was
| the multiplicity and frequent change of
| text books. The results of these evils
| were seen in accumulated expenses for
parents and retarded progress of the
| schools through lack OF classification Of
| pupils. The Superintendent was often
| called upon to interfere in this matter
and he felt justified in using all his pow
| er to suppress the difficulty. He wished
! to secure uniformity, save expense and
enable teachers to organize their pupils
| into classes. Where suitable text books
could not be found with characteristic
energy he went to work to prepare them
| himself. ever bearing in mind his origi
raj desire to awaken North CAROLYN
| ians to q sense of the resources Of their
State. He notified publishers that he
would not approve of any geography IN
/ less he were allowed to correct the text
so far as it related to North Carolina.
! Several publishers consented 10 this and
ne selected for the purpose "Mitchells
intermediate Geography To this he
padded an appendix giving a condensed
but full account of the State; helped to
prepare a new map giving all the rail-
roads. plankr0ads and intended routes OF
travel; and in other ways emphasized the
advantageous resources of the State. He
declares with some degree of satisfac
! ton at his work that such a concession
was never before made in any work to
| any State.
Nothing in DR.. Wileys long career of
| usefulness to the State better illustrates
bis unselfish devotion 20 her interests
/ than his action in regard to a series of
| North Carolina Readers prepared by MIN
/ for use in the schools. This series OF
books had been begun before his elevation
| to the Superintendpncy Of the Common
Schools with the purpose OF opening the
| eyes of the people 10 the greatness of
| their State. Upon assuming an official
| re lation to the schools he could not
/ think of having any investments in
school books He therefore made ar
rangements by which Prof Hubbard, Of
the University, was 10 finish the series.
/ and sold to A. S. Barnes & Co, or New
| York the stereotype plates Of his read
ers and the books on hand at original
| cost. BY this arrangement Or. Wiley re-
eeived nothing for his valuable copy
| right. no profit on his books. and no pay
| for his trouble and expense. besides
losing three years interest and the or
| iginal investment. There was nothing
/ cstentatious about this il was done
| quietly and solely that the books might
be more useful. The readers We're re-
/ ceived with every mark of approval and
| were generally adopted in the schools.
Prof John s. Hart, of the chair of Eng
lish Literature in Princeton University,
in his History of American Literature,
says of them: THE work was model
| of it's kind and has become as it deserves
10 be, a classic in that region
BY far the most important question
facing the Superintendent at the outset
OF his work was the difficulty of supply
ing teachers. How were from eight hun
dred TO thousand old field school teach
/ ers to each of whom his own school had
long been the educational world of which
ne was the center and sovereign, TO be
utilized in q system Of one genius, one
law and one end? How were the fifteen
hundred in two thousand new
| teachers needed to be supplied
The Superintendent went about this mat
ter with his usual wisdom and energy.
Normal schools were proposed but DIR.
! Wiley saw that these could not supply
the demand. while the expenses would be
enormous. The common schools must
feed themselves DIR. Wiley considered
that their ability and tendency 10 pro-
cLre teachers would be one good test by
which to judge the character of the sys-
TEN. His plan, as We're all his plans,
was simple and, as the results showed
an effective one. In each county an ex-
aiming board was created whose duty
it was to examine teachers annually and
to issue certificates. No teacher who
Ifailed to hold one OF these certificates,
should be allowed TO teach the certih-