Show COMMISSIONER OF SCHOOLS One of the first thin g that the supreme su-preme court will do at the next sitting in the early part of September will be to appoint a commissioner of schools This is a very important office The commissioner is to the school system what the general is to an army Without With-out his active supervision the system is at beat goofl by paitu He Is th directing jjenluathjit coordinates h tt monizeh and unifies the all progressive educationalefforts Among the candidates candi-dates for this office is ourfelloWitowns man Prof N L Nelson We have Borne yery strong reasons why he should be the successful one First he seems to be the choice of the teaching profession He was endorsed en-dorsed by the joint teachers institute insti-tute of all the southern counties last July and was endorsed a few days ago by the joint teachers institute of eight of the middle and northern counties This would indicate that his views and plans are in harmony with the progressive and representative educators of the territorya most necessary nec-essary consideration in an organizer Second he is a young man and yet he has been a successful teacher for ten years He ia an able lecturer and a vigorous writer and his talent is widly recognized in both these directions Now these are the very qualifications nseded in the present stage of our educational growth To develop and uaify our school system requires most zealous missionary efforts The commissioner com-missioner must travel visit schools lecture to trustees teachers patrons We have nothing to say against Mr Nelsons competitors They are both or perhaps it is more just 10 say they have both bean eminent educators buV verging as they do upon three score yearrt the fire of their educational enthusiasm en-thusiasm must be burning low while in the case of Mr Nelson it is ablaze and therefore capable of kindling an nhuBiasm in others Nor is this 8UQQteint lScunt 1 ftcr6Ii gOtta the evolution of the teachers in Utah proves his ability to grasp the situation and bring into play the appropriate educational factors for improvement These qualifications are BO well recognized recog-nized that he has the support of both political parties indeed the mover oft of-t re n resolution endorsing him was a strong republican Now while we join in his endorsement as a citizen we are not aboye urging political reasons rea-sons for his appointment And first we note that out of about twentyfive federal and territorial offices whose average emolument is greater than thit of this office the southern half of tlie terrl tory has received but two Now Mr Nelson is emphatically the candidate of the southern part of the territory It is good democracy to distribute dis-tribute equitably the benefits of office Hence he should be appointed Then Mr Nelson is a staunch dem ocrat The office of commisaoner while not elective must nevertheless be regarded as a very important part of the recordmaking personnel of democracy de-mocracy Probably no other officer will come so frequently or so intimately before the people Much therefore depends upon this office The schools rein Buch a state as to make a splendid splen-did record possible to one who has the requisite ability and enthsiasm A brilliant success will be a decided pmmefor the party in 98 But a comparative com-parative failureand it must be remembered re-membered that anything but a decided success will be BO regarded Fill be a weakness scarcely to be apologized for Now it is from a conviction that Professor Pro-fessor Nelson will thus serve his party In a way to make it strong that we give him our hearty support This we do from a very intimate acquaintance with the man personally as well as with hie brilliant prolessional career Wetrust the appointing power will closely investigate his claims and if it does we feel perfectly assured that Professor Nelsons will be the winning name |