Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1909-04-22
sVASIONS, NOT ANSWERS.

Richmond News Leader to investigate 4
and give US information about the as
sertion of the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction, made at Tazewell, |
that there were no politics in the De
partment of Education. Our esteemed !
contemporary spoke of these requests /
as demands" made upon the News
Leader.
We made no demands, but simple re-
quests. as we had been led to believe,
by the oft repeated professions of the
News Leader, that it was eagerly IN
earnest to promote the public we'll
fare. Our Richmond contemporary
mad made quite a reputation in the
domain of morals by its insistent
demands that the liquor ques-
ton be kept out of politics; and we had
right to presume that it would be
equally as earnest in its hostility to the
dragging of the public schools in the
mire of politics. We notice that the
News Leader is now making war
against the proposition of the Anti
Saloon League to disturb the political
situation in Richmond by calling for
local option election, and that the able
editor of that paper was a conspicuous
figure in large public meeting of indie
pendent citizens of his city who as
sembled to enter their protest against
the agitation of the liquor question.
Why is the News Leader so anxious to
keep the liquor question out of politics,
and so acquiescent in having the public
schools of the State controlled by a DO
litical machine? The questions we pro-
pounded to the News Leader were as
follows:
1--WE want to know how many Re-
publicans are now filling the position of
e county or city superintendent of public
free schools.
How many Republicans are to be
found members of the district boards
bin the various counties of the State.
e How many county superintendent
: of public schools are not supporting the
Z Machine candidate for Governor-w
mean Judge Mann.
How many of the officials in the
offices of the Department of Education
n are opposed to Judge Mann, and how
d many in all the Departments of the
: State Government. "
e When we sought to enlist the support
e of our Richmond contemporary we be
d gan our appeal as follows:
!; "Our esteemed contemporary, the
= Richmond News Leader, is always &C
v tive and useful in the way of gathering
Is information. We wish to awaken it.
d interest once more on that line, anC
d hope it will respond to our request
# If this is not courteous method O.
o calling for information, we do not under
: stand the English language. Surely j
% did not warrant such ridicule from tn,
n News Leader as:
5 with all the aplomb, so to speak, o
& that historic young Horner who sat in
/ corner and put in his thumb and pulle
i out plum and thereupon declared hi
own greatness, the Tazewell Republi
Al can editorially demands of the New
e Leader answers to several question
ie which it seems the Republican submit
ted for consideration some time ago."
- Thereupon, our Richmond contempor
4. shows its Indifference to the question
D by partly responding as follows:
p {, 1.-The News Leader is not informed O
: the private political opinions or pur
poses of a single person employed il
= public school work in Virginia, fron
Superintendent down"
l. So, the News Leader declines to in
vestigate further than to satisfy itsel
n from observation that every official il
L the public schools from Superintendent
l. down is Democrat. This admission o
a the News Leader does not, however
ic agree with the declaration of the Su
a. perintendent of Public Instruction, tina
1t politics did not exist in the Department
ID of Education. The News Leader indi
e directly disputes the word of the high
It est school official in the State. If h.
3 deliberately misled the audience he ad
It dressed at Tazewell, is he worthy t,
e hold the position of responsibility b,
= now fills?
10 If the Department of Education /.
d controlled by partisan machine polite.
e is not that a matter for the earnest in
+ yesti0ation of a neWspaper that show