The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1902-10-30
DISCUSSES THE AMENDMENT.
). J. Kerwin, Of silverlake. Gives His Views
on tho Proposed Amendment.

Il
on tho Proposed Amendment.
silverlake, Wis, Oct. IS, 1902.
To the editor Of THE TELEGRAPH
CoURIER:
A few lords regarding the school
amendment to come before the people
of this Staze at the fail election. The
disputed feature Of this amendment,
and one that will bear close investi-
cation, is the following clause: 1.-THE
term Of Office, time and manner Of
electing or appointing all other officers
/ of supervision shall be fixed by law"
The supporters of this measure say
aThis clause does not give the Legis-
lature any new power But it does.
It permits the Legislature to enact that
the county superintendent of schools
as county officer may be appointed by
the State superintendent.
Section 9 Of article Is of the State
constitution provides that "a1l county
officers shall be elected by the State
electors of the respective counties or
appointed by the county board of SUI
pervisors or other county authorities as
the Legislature shall direct
At present whether the Office of
County Superintendent is elective or
made appointive) as the constitution
stands, his election or appointment
Except in case of a Vacancy can not
be taken out of the hands of the county
authorities.
| When they tell you that the office of
County superintendent can be made
appointive as the constitution now
stands, they tell you one of those half
truths, which is worse than a false
hood.
This question of choosing the County
Superintendent has been a much
rnooted one for years. It has been the
aim Of the State department for long
time to secure the power to appoint
County Superintendent, and much
pressure has been brought to bear on
legislatures in the past. 1t was found
that the legislature had not the power
to take this privilege from the people
and confer it on the State Superinten-
lQCAls 14CuNC lkl1S G1duSGs
The amendment without this clause
tackled on must appeal favorably to all.
The trainers knew that they endan.
gered the success of the amendment
by hitching on this clause, but hoped
that the good features Of the amend
ment would appeal SO strongly to the
people that this clause would be pulled
through by the others. Most vicious
Legislation is secured in this way.
My motive in Offering you this arti.
Gle for publication is not to influence
voters o. this amendment, but tc
awaken spirit Of inquiry that the
voter may not neglect his highest po.
litical duty, which is to vote under.
standingly Our educational institu.
tons are, the safeguards of the Nation
and any measure directed toward them
should receive our most careful con
sideration. Having been engaged in
school work many years / naturally
am interested in our schools and have
their welfare much at heart.
# The common schools are the peoples
schools, and are the ones in which the
majority of the people start and finish
their school education. The people
support these schools and should have
a voice IN administering them.
4 fail to see how you can increase the
peoples interest in the schools by de-
creasing their RESPONSE bi1ity in them.
Garry this appointive power one step
further by placing the selection of the
teacher in the hands of the county, SUI
perintendent, then kind and patient
tax payer, you may hold your arms and
look on after you have gotten the
necessary tax money ready.
j To quote from another: "Suppose
the State superintendent were en-
trusted with the appointment of the
county superintendent land the pro-
posed amendment makes that con-
tingency possib1e) then the State
superintendent would be a very va1u-
able commercial asset for any book
company that should secure control of
him.
And that is all the milk there is in
cocoanut. 1t is more easy to vote
away privilege than to get it back,
and before voting it away we should
be thoroughly convinced that the
privilege would be safer in other
hands than it is in our own.
1t is difficult to understand how the
promoters of the measure reconcile the
facts that the people are competent to
choose State superintendent but are
!. not to be trusted in the selection of a
county superintendent.
Respectfully,
!, ]. J. KERwIN.