The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-16

 IN WINSTON Teachers of County Ac-
 cuSed of Frauds TO SECURE CERTIFICATES Department of Education Re-
 ceiveS Salty Report. Conspiracy is Said to Have Been En- tered Into at Double Springs by
 County Superintendent and

What is regarded as the most fia- grant nest of teachers examinations frauds in the history of the Alabama Department of Education has just been disclosed after a laborious investiga- tion which resulted in the recall of seven of the nine certificates issued to applicants of all grades in Winston County last January.
 W. A. Bates formerly Superintendent of Education of Winston County him. self is charged with complicity in the cheating.
 The seat of the frauds is Double Springs, the county seat of Winston County. Clouds of suspicion began to gather over the Winston County ex- aminations of January 2-4 as soon as the papers had been turned over to the State Board of Examiners. This was just after the close of the exami- nations. Of the thirty-two applicants from the county twenty-three in all were rejected by the Board and eleven of this number were thrown out be- cause of marked similarities among
 many of the answers.
 Investigated by Department.
 Responding to serious charges of cheating coming in from disinterested
 citizens of Double Springs, State Super
 intendent of Education l. w. Hill sent
 a representative of the Department to
 that place to conduct a thorough in-
 vestigation. The work of the Depart
 ment's agent seems to have fully sub
 stantiated the numerous suspicious and
 after a trip of two or three days he re-
 turned to Montgomery equipped with
 proof of a number of scandals, not only
 among the applicants for certificates
 which had been refused, but the of-
 ficers of the examination. who, includ-
 ing the then superintendent of educa-
 tion, are reported as being involved in
 the manipulation of the papers.
 An affidavit from one of the leading
 citizens of Double Springs, now held
 by the Board of Examiners, tells of in-
 cidents on the night following the
 January examinations which indicate
 some of the most palpable 'doctorings"
 of answers sent to the State Depart ment that has ever come to its knowl-
 edge
 The scene of the alleged doctor ing" and manipulations was room in
 the main hotel of the town. Wednes-
 day night after the examinations were over, according to afndavit, the affiant
 who assisted A. c. Romine, the con-
 ductor of the examinations, in packing
 the papers for post delivery to the De- partment here, noticed that certain of
 them were missing from the lot. He
 has informed the Department that they
 were the papers of A. H. Romine, Mrs. All Romine, Miss Eliza Romine, daugh- ter of A. c. Romine and W. A. Bates, at | that time County Superintendent of
 Education, and others. Further testi-
 mony pointed to the clandestine meet ing of the persons named in the hotel. The packing of the papers, 1t Is alleged. was going on at the same time in another room of the hotel. The parties named are reported as amending the papers at this rendezvous.
 | Most of the papers in question measured on their faces to the standard averages, but certificates were not is- sued to the applicants on account of
 similaritles which were detected by the Board on first sight.
 Brought About by Politics. When the Department representative
 reached Double Springs and began his investigation, he found the situation complicated. Collision dating back
 to the warm political campaign of last November was in the air and on the | lips of the people. w, A. Bates, the Democratic nominee for County Super intendent of Education, was defeated | by l.. T. Steele, the Republican nomi- nee MT. Bates was apponted to the office, however by State Superintendent Hill to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of C. A. Olivet October 15. He was one of the superintendents who contested for the retention of the office for another year under the supposed conflict between the new general cleo tion law and the old statute said to regulate their terms
 Desiring ta stand the examination in January, as is often the case with the superintendents, Mir. Bates asked that
 A. c. Romine be appointed to conduct the examination. MT. Romine was appointed. He had his son, A H. Romine, applicant for a first-grade cer- tificate. his daughter, Miss Romine. his daughter in law. Mrs. A. H. Romine, Superintendent Bates and others under | his surveillance His son assisted in
 the first two days work. it Is reported, as they embraced the first and second grade periods. On Wednesday when
 he stood the examination for the first grade the son submitted to the dis cipline of his father.
 Young Romine is charged with con
 nivance with certain applicants dur | ing the first two days of the examina- lions and to collusion with Superinten- dent Bates several days before the ex- aminations to insure some applicants their certificates by the "doctoring methods. It is alleged that there were money considerations Tn the colluslonS. Superintendent Bates. in a letter to the ] Department. admits that in his race for the office he made any sort of promi- ses to the 'Rads' (meaning the Repub- | licans) fin order to get elected.' 1t being reported that some votes of the opposition party were sought by MT. Bates.
 County Schools Shaken. In this way the public school sys- tenn of Winston County has been some
 what shaken. The situation has brought about a dearth of competent and certified teachers. It Is thinly populated county. Many successful applicants of the past won their cer- tificates in Winston County and then departed the regions for more promis- ing schools.
 The Board of Examiners and Super Intendent Hill are determined to weed out all corruption in the educational system of the State even though few inconvenience may be experienced in
 the process.
 No penal statute has been violated in the dealings told of and 1t Is supposed that all action has been stopped with revoking the certificates that were issued.