The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-09-18


! 1t was not operated as q part Oh soS
ernmental machinery but as a locd'
/ interest to be controlled by locdl @4
tlorities almost at their dlScretloi' II
was left 10 the counties even " y
whether they would have schools at 81,
and then to say whether tney w. WI
levy any county tax for their suppol L
Under the IaXity Of such law IL was
/ rot TIL 1876 that all the counties even
| voted to have schools. Some leVleu
taxes and some did not Many, usually
~ large majority, of the county CIldlt-
men of the Boards of SuperlntendehlS
failed TO report to the Literary Board.
AS returns from the counties could not
| ba enforced it was impossible TO Cd
tain any accurate information ABOUT
! +ba schools from which to form any
opinion as to the progress or dellclen-
cies of the system. Nobody knew now
1.-The school funds in many Counties were
expended. In some counties tue
school funds had not been spent for
Years. and. the chairmen were using
them for purposes of private specula-
t1on There We're no moral or intel
| lectual qualifications prescribed or en-
| forced Tor teachers The idea OF
| charity was attached to the common
! schools and the name itself helped to
raise a barrier between the upper and
lower classes of society. In almost
every biennial report the literary
board pleaded for reform and re-
commended the appointment of SUI
perintendent of common schools to be
the executive head Of the headless sys-
! tenn.
Such was the deplorabIe, chaotic
condition of the common school sys-
tenn in 1850. After a trial of more
than ten years it had failed to win
the confidence and respect of the peo
pie and the common schools were
patroniZed, IN most instances, only by
those who were compelled to patroniZe
them because they could do no bet
| ter.
Surely the hour had struck in
| North Carolina when a great leader
was needed to organize and direct a
great SYSTEM of public schools Tor all
| the children Of the State. The people
persisted for lack OF knowledge"
About one-third of the adult white
population of the State were unable to
read and write. Where was the leader
| for this great work?
L believe in the inspiration and the
divine call of great men to their great
work. Where did Shakespeare get
his genius? Where did Mozart get his
music? Whose hand smote the Tyre
of the Scottish plowman and stayed
the life of the German priest? God,
| God, and God alone" III ever man.
| VI DIS IHSpITcu anu Cdli0u VI OOu 10 d
work, Calvin Fl. Wiley seems TO me
to have been inspired and called to
| his.
Yonder in the classic. cultured Old
! town of Oxford young lawyer of
fine promise and fine culture, a gradu-
ate with high honor OF the University
| of his State, a man of rare literary
taste and attainment. author already
Of several books of more than average
merit and popularity. In the midst of
! the most congenial social and literary
surroundings, life to him was indeed
sweet and all the skies of his future
were agloW with the rOseate promise
Of professional and literary fame. Am
bition Wooed him to follow where she
pointed the way But another voice is
heard, still small voice. Things have
been going badly yonder at the dear
| old home in Guilford. Financial re-
verses have come, the old father has
been compelled to surrender a large
part of the ancestral lands and now
even the roof that shelters father and |
mother and two younger sisters is en- |
dangered by debt. His loved ones need |
him, the voice Of duty calls, the young |
I man hears and obeyS, for he indeed |
is of that heroic mould who reyer- |
enced his conscience as his king"
Without a murmur without a mo- |
mentS hesitation, he turns away from |
the Literary Visions lldG 1llFe MIN on, |
leaves his delightful social and intel |
lectual surroundings, returns to the |
scclusion of the country home of his |
boyhood, and quietly takes up the |
burden of life and of family support |
on the little remnant of the wasted |
farm. AS il to make the struggle |
harder and the sacrifice greater, his |
political party, the Wing, was just |
coming into power in the nation and |
he soaking with prnSnact nj |
success, an appointment to a foreign |
conSulShip which would have given |
| him means and leisure for the pur- /
suit of his cherished literary work. He |
lays this ambition and prospect on
dutys altar toe. OF such stuff was
this man made.
Little knows man what is best to do /
Lead Kindly Light" Ever at his |
peril man disobcyS the voice of duty, |
which is the voice of Cod. There is
something tragic, though, in the sac
rsfice of a cherished plan and a fond |
ambition, even at duty's call. There is
something heroic too. We can under
stand now what he could not then, |
how in this sacrifice was a blessing for
men and for him too, and how through |
it he should be led to a grander mis-
sion and a nobler fame.
Thus was Calvin Fl. Wiley called |
from the work that he had chosen for
himself to the work that God had |
chosen for him. Thus was the great |
leader found for the great educational
work that the hour called for.
From the hour of his return to the
old farm in Guilford, a new life, a |
new career lay before him, a life of
long, unSeltish service, first to his kim
dfed and then to his beloved native
state. He returned to Guilford in
lS49, in 1850 he was elected to the
General Assembly. In the Legislature
OF l85O-'51, he introduced and advo-
Gated in Il speech of great power and
eloquence his bill ITO provide for the
appointment of a Superintendent of
common Schools and for other pur-
poses" This was the beginning of
his public career and of his great ser
wee to the public schools. The
speech in support of his bill
showed careful and thorough study
or the common schools of this State, a
clear, comprehension of their defects
and or the remedies for those and a
surprising knowledge of the success
Iul school systems of other States
ms Dill received a large vote but fail
ed to pass. DR.. Wiley was also a mem
per OF the General Assembly of 1852
1893, and through his influence q bill
$780,