Stone County enterprise. [volume] (Wiggins, Stone County, Mississippi) 1916-current, 1923-03-22
PROF. BOND is IN RACE
FOR SUPT. OF EDUCATION
State Superintendent of Ed
ucatiOn Addresses Open
Letter to People.

6 voter Of Forrest county, hav-
ing come here from the State
Normal College. The announce
ment follows:
To the People of Mississippi:
I am candidate for re-elect-
ion as State Superintendent of
Education.
| choose this medium of tell
ing the people of the state of
my candidacy and soliciting
their cooperation and support,
because between now and June
! shall be too busy attending to
the business of the Office to
make an active campaign. In
1919 you elected me to serve as
your State Superintendent, I
have been ''on the job" ever
since | took office in 1916 and l
do not propose to neglect my
duties now. Until the 100000
school children and 10000 teach
ers Of the state finish the pres
ent school session and begin
their summer vacation, my duty
is serving them and I shall con-
tinue to do SO to the very best
of my ability.
| have tried to adopt as a CEN
tral rule of life that high ideal
of duty which General Lee held
out to his son as the cardinal
principle of his life, when he
wrote DUTY is the sublimest
word in English language"
On the famous Ozark Day"
in New England in 1881 when
night seemed suddenly to des-
cend at midday and people
thought the end of the world
at hand, Col. Abraham Daven-
port rose in the Connecticut
legislature to protest against ad-
iou'tnment. Whittier thus
phrases his words:
" this we'll may be
The day of judgement which the
World awaits,
But be it so or not, [ only know
My present duty
Let God do His work, we will see
to ours,
Bring in the candles J"
And so I say to my friends
throughout Mississippi: I in
tend to do my duty here; do
your duty in your community
and get others to do theirs and
we need not fear the outcome.
My friends have been wiring
and telephoning and writing
their offers of support. For all
these I am profoundly grateful.
Until the schools close, my can
didacy is in the hands of my
friends, and | shall appreciate
every effort expended in my be-
half. After that date | shall go
before the people to report upon
my stewardship. Even then |
do not expect to. indulge in any
personalities what ever. The
school system of the State of
Mississippi is far too important
in the states life to be dragged
through the mire of fractional
politics or made the basis for ac-
rimonious personal issues. I for
one do not expect to, commence
it.
My record is an open book.
When | took charge of this office
endeavored to go ahead with
the progressive policies of my
predecessor, Hon. w. H. Smith,
and to initiate others as oppor-
tunity was presented. In 1916
there were 29U consolidated
schools in the state. Today
there are 770. Then there we're
six teachers homes, today over
two hundred. During my seven
years tenure of office the school
term has been increased an en-
tire month in length and there
has been a 80 per cent increase
in the enrolment in the white
schools. An equalizing fund of
more than a million dollars per
year has been provided, its con
stitutionality upheld through all
the courts, and the money made
available for the poor counties
so as to give every white child
an equal opportunity for an edu-
cation.
Hon. J. T. Tigert, United
States Commissioner of Educa-
ton, stated not long ago in a
public address that Mississippi
j.