Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-03-08
Alistllaneous 8sadina.
HON. J. E. sWEARINeEN.
State Superintendent Described As q
Blind Man Who Sees.

-
State Superintendent Described As .
| Blind Man Who Sees.
In the March number Of The Amer
lean Magazine Is an article entitled
Undressing Persons" and one Of the
contributors to this piece takes South
Carolina's state superintendent Of ed
ucation. Mr.. ]. E. Swearingen as his
subject. A full page picture Of Mr..
Swearingen accompanies the article.
Following is what the writer has to
say:
The old expression, there are none
so blind as those who will not see,"
might with propriety be revived In
the light Of modern achievements Of
blind workers; as an instance, ]. E.
ISwearingen, the blind state superin-
tendent Of education for South Car
olina, Is seeing wonderfully well for
thousands of wide-awake boys and
girls. Although Mr.. Swearingen has
lived in darkness since his eleventh
year, when an accident while hunting
destroyed his eyesight, his vision OF
the needs of his great army Of young
people has quite as likely been i'm
proved instead of injured. DR.. Sam
uel Gridley Howe early in the thirties
the founder of the first school for the
blind in this country, was wont to
say that blindness Is an inconveni-
ence, but not an afflictlon." Some
times a human handicap is the spur
that makes a career. When / asked
Mr.. Swearingen II he felt his growth
had been because Of his blindness,
rather than in spite Of 1t, he was In
clined to believe his Inconvenience"
had been a flip to his ambition. He
has conquered so far as to pass
through the prescribed course in the
University Of South Carolina, leading
his class to become a teacher In the
state institution for the blind, and
finally to be accepted, through the
civic suffrage of his people, as the
best equipped educator in the state
to direct the training Of its future
citizenship.
Mr.. Swearingen's administration
has already become a potent factor In
the construction Of an industrial edu-
cational system that promises to in.
sure to South Carolina the perma-
nent possession of its children-for he
has seen that the prosperity OF a
southern state depends upon agricul-
ture primarily. His solution Of the
problem of industrial education de-
serves wide publicity. While in New
Hampshire, for example, 100000
acres of soil once under the plough
has been allowed to grow up into un-
derbrush, the cultivated acreage OF
South Carolina is growing each year.
The corn crop Of this state In 1910
was worth s33,000,O00, against $17,-
OOO, 900 in 1908. The agricultural
products of the state were worth
$500, 100000 last year, against less
than one-half that sum for manu-
featuring and the allied industries. A
truly practical education will tie the
rising generation to the native plan
tation, instead of serving the world
outside the state by the sort or
schooling that compels the exporta-
ton Of young blood.
The school administration of Mr..
Swearingen and his co-workers aims
to keep the boys and girls at home.
The sort of pedagogy he wishes to
give to his state may be best ex-
pressed in his own words-"the three
RS are no less indispensable for in
dustrial efficiency than for cultural
efficiency; but the idea that corn and
cotton roots supply less education
than do Latin and Greek roots Is not
borne out by modern science with
this watchword the school children
of South Carolina have been learning
(as the law compels) the principles
of elementary agriculture. They
have planted over 5000 acres of corn
this year, and their fathers looking
on, as they have delved In their books
anu III the SUI dl tHC Se'ihS S'''>'
have themselves been taught that the
God given gift Of the earth has never
been worked to it's best capacity.
Corn clubs, tomato clubs, the Federal
farm demonstration service, the la
boratory for instruction Of the State
Agricultural college going on rails
throughout the state are supplement-
ing Mr.. Swearingen's efforts. A beau
tiful factor Of the crusade Is the up
lift given to the conventionally desc
late homes Of the rural districts. Mr..
|Swearingen is devoting his effort and
the funds of the state to making the
southern home better-and Is sue
ceeding. He sees with ideas and pol
icies that help his people: we who
travel about the state also see the
material fruit of his work.
Stanley Johnson.