The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1911-12-30

ial acts to appoint the School Boards in
seven counties. Finally, in 1892, the
Governor was given this power through
out the State. He has continued to ex-
ercise 1t for nearly 20 years, during four
of which he was a Republican, now 1t
is proposed to vest it in some safely
mon partisan" (that is TO say, Demo-
cratic) body, and the proposal is said to
meet with enthusiastic approval from
the sisters and cousins and aunts" of
Democratic politicians or friends of such
politicians, who just now happen to be
supported at public expense as teachers,
and also from a well known firm OF
Northern book sellers and a well-known
Democratic politician representing the
fir min Maryland, whose unselfish inter-
est in our public schools was displayed
by rancorous hostility to Mr.. VanSickle
1t seems probable that these various
worthless fear lea the purity If the pu-
pills English may be sullied If unfriendly
boards shall succeed those now in Office
in certain counties: an investigation,
from the inside, of the management of
some of our public schools, conducted by
Commissioners with no tenderness for
mon partisan" Il. e., Democratic) ire
gularities and peccadilloes, might per-
haps bring into common use, for time,
some slang terms, such as graft"
"spoils mongering' and "rake-offs."
Our good friend, Mr.. William l.. Mar
bury, suggests that it may be a good
plan for the Democratic majorities, while
10
to jam through" bill to place the
choice of School Boards and the super
vision of Public Schools throughout the
State in the hands Of genuine educa-
| tional experts, including President Rem
sen and some other heads of universities
or colleges. We know from recent ex-
perience in this city how highly our ty-
pical Democratic politicians prize the
opinions and the services of educational
experts of the first class; in view of this
experience, 1T would seem about as rea-
sonable to discuss the merits of Mr.
Marbury's proposal as TO speculate whe-
| Their his Satanic Majesty might with ad-
| vantage turn over his kingdom to re-
gency of three Arch Angels.
The profound anxiety of our Demo-
mission should get into politics" as a
result of change in it's membership
seems to bear no little resemblance to
the horror of Mr.. lite Barnacle and his
promising family for those who came
into public office saying they wanted
to know"-that is to say, to know some
thing about it's management.
| 1t is possible, even probable, that a
new Commission, or even Commission
only partially changed, may want to
| know" how the millions of dollars of
public money passing through the hands
| Of their predecessors have been spent,
whether the present Commission has al
ways kept proper books, always pre-
served proper vouchers, always obeyed
the law in distributing it's work among
the several counties and keeping its ex-
pendtures within appropriations for the
several years, and never placed the State
in the odious and humiliating posture of
refusing to pay its just debts when they
were justly due.
| Possibly a question or two might be
also asked as to the qualifications OF it's
Chairman and the reasons for his choice,
as to purely accidental condolences ru-
mored to exist in some cases between it's
| selection of roads to be improved and
the interests or wishes of more or less
prominent Democratic politicians and
as to hoy far all of it's own members
were kept in close touch with it's work
| and had full and timely information
about all of its business.
These inquiries might very WELL and
| it would be the earnest desire and hope
| of all good citizens that they would
| bring to light nothing rejecting unfav-
| orably on any of its members; but when
we find one, and that one by far the most
influential, of it's members calling and
presiding at conference which pub
fishes program" demanding that any
change in the personnel of the Commits
sion and any effective supervision of it's
work be made impossible for the next
four years, some synical mind may be
led to ask what is the true inwardness"
for the light of day.
Writing of the defacation of our State
Treasurer, in 1890, the late Severn Tea
exile Wallis said:
He had no official supervision, and he
had nothing to do but to help himself.
The Governor of the State, it is admit
ted, on all hands, did not discharge the
supervisory duty imposed upon him by
the Constitution, although he appears
not to have been free from uneasy
doubts and a little anxiety. But the
Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer
were all fast political friends and COM
rades and members of the Democratic
Central Committee, of which Mr.. Archer
is chairman. They were all ring Demo-
cratic Central Committee officeholders,
holding their places, one and all, from
Mr.. Germans gift and committed, alike,
to the ring doctrine that all was right
inside the party, and nothing was
wrong except what was outside. Nat
ura!ly, therefore, they trusted and were
very polite and accommodating to each
other"
In more recent years very much the
same disposition to be very polite and
accommodating" was rather conspicuous
ly displayed by those who should have