The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1916-11-02
A SQUARE DEAL?

When asked to pay he wrote a very insulting let
ter in which he said that he had received no aid from
us but that he had secured his position thru the aid of
a friend. When asked to name the friend or to give
evidence that we had not helped him he failed to do so.
If he were honest, why no answers to our letters telling
him of other schools? If he were fair why not simply
name the friend who helped him? Reed is positively
the only man who ever raised any trouble so he must
be the man from whom Mr.. Layne secured the state
ments made in his letter and for the stories circulated
concerning the agency. Was it right for Mr.. Layne to
bring my enemy into the county and then upon his
statement of his side of the case, write the above max
ing a personal attack upon me? l refuse to criticize
but leave it to your sense of fairness. Should a man
who is in office try to tear down the character of a fell
low man in order to keep himself in power?
Why did Mr., Layne send out the letter which he
claims to be a copy without putting the address and
date on it? Does this not look misleading? The let
ter is not an exact copy Of any letter that | have ev-
er sent as there is no place nor date shown. If such
letter were ever written it was from Danv1lle, Ind, IN
July or August, 1913.
The following is an extract from a letter written
by r. L. Wampler, Supt. of Schools at Neche, N. D.
1t will explain itself:
Il have known Watkins since childhood. He was
an orphan, penniless and homeless but he had deter
-nination and worked his way thru high school and COL
1ege and sent a brother and sister to school. He helped
many poor boys who grew up with him, one of whom
was myself, for it was he who brought me to Bottineau.
I was his room mate at Danvile, Ind, during the sum-
mer of 1913 and know that he did not pretend to be-
long to any agency except the Dakota Teachers Agency,
which charged a reasonable fee for services rendered.
Was this preying upon teachers?'
1t has been my privilege to help more than twenty
poor boys, most of whom we're either motherless or
fatherless. G. r. Weller, of Rugby, N. D., and for
merly of Greencastle, Ind, was the son of an Odd Eel
lows widow. He managed to secure a high school
education. There were more teachers than schools in
Ind. so l secured a school for him in N D., and paid
his carfare out here so that he might support his w1d-
owed mother and her children. The anne year l Sc
cured for Burl Hurst, also of Greencastle, a school in
N. D. His mother had been left a widow with a large
family and Burl was practically her only support. l
did not even think of such a thing as charging these
people for my help. Is helping widows sons preying
on teachers?
Another story has been circulated to the effect that
I called on a teacher near Antler and tried to sell her
some books and that she would not buy and that l
told her that I would not give her a SCHOOL, this coun-
ty if l should be elected superintendent. The following
is Photographic reproduction of a note which she sig
ned and paid. 1t shows that she did buy and that l
could have had no cause to make any threats.