Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-07-31
All three of the candidates for state

All three of the candidates for state
superintendent of education are good
men. and no matter which is elected,
the educational department will be un-
der as good management as 1T has been
for a number of years. We were I'M
pressed with the energy and expert
ence that Mr. Elmore proposes to give
to the work, and we are still more i'm
pressed with the high veneration in
which the veteran educator, Mr.. Melli-
champ holds the position; but nothing
that occurred during the day Impress
ed us like the heroic record of Mr..
John F.. SWearingen, the blind profess
son at Cedar Springs, and his bold dec
laration to the effect that the great
est trouble with the educational system
of South Carolina is inefficient teach
ers. The probability is that 1t will be
years before the people will begin to
give heed; but as we see 1t, Mr.. Swear
ingen raised the alarm against the fur
ther enactment of what is nothing
more than a most pitiable tragedy
There are able and efficient teachers In
South Carolina; but in every commu-
nity there are teachers who are neither
able or efficient, who hold their posi-
tiOns by reason Of local pull and influ-
ence not so much because Of their abil-
ity to teach as because of their need
of the position. Trustees give them
places from considerations of friendship
or patronage, and help to supply their
deficiency in equipment with profusion
of deliberately over-estimated praise
while they still further sustain them
selves with unsuspecting patrons by
giving children credit for progress that
is impossible under the circumstances
Mr. Swearingen said he would try to
put a stop to this, and those who heard
him had a right to feel convinced that
he would gladly devote the balance OF
his life to such an undertaking.
AS to the race for comptroller gen.
eral, it is hardly worth while to add
any comment to what is said in the re-
port of the meeting. The conditions in
the office of the comptroller general
may be all right and they may not be-
We don't know. But we are not in
clined to the opinion that the election
Of Mr. Brooker would be the best way
to get at the facts. A thorough and
honest investigation by the Legislature
would be more to the point.
Under conditions as they have grown
up in South Carolina, the politics in
the military department of the govern
ment have been left principally to the
militia Outsiders have given very lit
tie attention to the office of adjutant
and inspector general. For years and
years thousands of voters have been
scratching their tickets at random OF
submitting to the guidance Of friends
and acquaintances connected with the
militia. Often one or two militiamen al
a box have been able to throw practi-
cally the entire vote for the candidate
of their choice Col. Thompson seems
to be trying to get the general public
to take q more direct interest in the
situation, and while the controversy
between himself and Col. Boyd devel-
ops some hints that more light on the
subject is desirable, still it is not fair
to say that the general public has yet
been furnished with sufficient informa-
ton to warrant intelligent action.
Taken altogether, the meeting was
unsatisfactory. There was not time
for a sufficient presentation Of the case
of any one of the candidates. The pub
lie was unable to get comprehensive
grasp of the merits of any Of the con-
troversies, and as usual thousands OF
people will be compelled to cast theil
ballots without a clear understanding
of exactly what they are doing.