The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-12-23
'anhood in the mire OF such political

manhood in the mire OF such political
rot.n
He stated that the public had all
been kind to HIM and that the past
four years had been the happiest per-
iod Of equal. length in his lite.
Reviewing the former condition of
the schools, he said:
lone OF the greatest sources Of
pleasure to me has been the splendid
condition in which I found the
schools at the time Of my induction
into office. DECLARING him who is
completing his supervision, | wish to
congratulate Dawson county for the
splendid superintendent she has
brought forth. Each of my distin-
guished predecessors were able edu-
Gators, good organizers, and born
leaders. Each one, following in the
footsteps OF his or her predecessor,
lending their influence and PERSONAL
ity toward the perfection Of a COM
mon plan Of work, succeeded in rails
ing the schools to a standard, which,
at the time | assumed charge, made
supervision comparatively easy.n
The speaker then commented p o
the changes which he had made in
the general plan OF the school work.
Calling attention to the raise in
teachers salaries in every school in
the county, he declared that one Of
the greatest factors i'm bringing it
about had been that teachers had
been attending higher institutions of
learning and increasing their equip
ment for the work, thereby enhance
ing the value of their W services.
He made d pointed attack upon the
present certi ticate law, showing that
it had hopelessly failed in its primal
object, because it had heen ''passed
for the express purpose of relieving
the county superintendent from the
pressure brought to bear upon him,
by INSCRIPTIONS politicians, over
anxious parents, and ever teachers,
themselves, in granting certificates.
AS the law now operates, Il state
hoard of examiners, selected by the
superintendent of public instruction,
marks the manuscripts Of all expert
enced teachers, while the county
superintendent is compelled to mark
f1,o ,,nt,1rc nj an I,nyi,,rorc t1,o yoxv
ones in whose behalf the pressure is
greatest.
To illustrate: Not long since a good
mother reported at my office, volun-
tarily, and asked for special privil-
eyes for her daughter, with regard
to a certificate. | had already exam
ined the young lady twice; both
times she had failed. The mothers
request was c%ourteous,y denied. She
drew her chair closer to mine and
made an urgent appeal. Again | re
fused. Then en%deavoring to gain
sympathy by appealing to my emo
tions, she fell on her knees before me
and raising her arms to show me the
ragged condition of her waist, here
tofore concealed by an old cape, while
the tears streamed down her anx-
ious face, she made one of the most
piercing entreaties | ever heard. She
said: MIR. Coursey, my husband
voted for you twice. We need the
money, look at my own clothes. Won't
you give her a permit? | know she
can teach that small school, the
board is willing. Won't you please
do it? With a tremor of emotion,
mingled with silent pity, hidden in
the recesses Of my own soul, and
remembering my oath Of office which
requires me to execute the law,
again | refused.
"The theory Of the present law
is good, its workings are bad. The
next legislature should so amend it
that ALL teachers manuscripts shall
be marked by a committee or else
NONE"
Mr.. Coursey then reviewed the spell
ling schools which had been organ
lZed ''for the purpose Of overcoming
the pernicious evil resulting from
modern methods Of. teaching this al
important subject" He touched up
on the large flags that had been
raised over practically all OF the
school houses in the county and he in
sisted that on January 3, the day he
goes out of Office and Superintendent
Quigley comes in. that these flags be
permitted to float all day, as a patri-
otto reception to my worthy success
sor.
The question Of holding Joint Gel
ebratiOns, the scheme Of holding an
annual school picnic: his issuing GER
tiiicates of award to encourage puncl-
uality and regularity in attend
ance, library certificates and diplom-
as to encourage the reading of good
books. were subjects which he
touched upon at length.
Referring to his column OF educa-