The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-01-23
I'll e DEPENDENT PRESS.


will he scarcely felt, rs in most eases, it will be
substitute for the tuition money now rail to
Pr"mo'" schools, whilst the bruc;& received,
Will he more than an picgrntr rrcomrrnsr for
MI expenditures. II j., nut likely that the dts
'iIr's viii simultaneously ati"l,; the new svs,
'rni ami 1t would probably take ten yrurs to
establish it, ever the State. But in case, each
district undertakes ut once To act ,l,, hill mn,
th"rizcs draft Of - per cent. per anuun
upon The general lax, which woull amount Ia
about :lW,0m. But a"nims. this. is ,o w. cred.
itcd the $Ii,n"o appropriated to free
r"!r'"l', leaving; only !6,"nno, rs th. addition.
, nj Mutual burden. To This must lie added the.
sam" rate upon tlir general tax for the cree.
ton Of school houses which would amount
I" about Sluo,UoO, t" bc distributed over the
series of years, during which the school ho,.sc
would be erected.
Ih" necessity Of u change on the present
system Of elementary education, is @, ilcnt as
well from lis manifest defects IL from the ben g.
rtirial results which have cn>,,cd from the.
adoption "f different plan elsewhere. Our
, State, whilst in the learning and intelligence
; OF It's highly educated classes will compare"
fav"rahlr with any State in the Union, vet
presents Il sad deficiency in the general dis
scninati"n of the elements of IL common c,lu
cation, throughout the great body Of the com
muniiy. Gut Of l0n,GOO children caIaL. Of
going to school the entire number who attend
even for Il fraction Of year. is only I0DuD :;
and according to the last census, there ar.
lIoOO whit" adult. VIII" can nci,h,r real nor
write And yet, since 1871, the Legislature
has conferred upon every citizen. the privilege
! os sending his children or wards to school
free OF the expense Of tuition. The reason Of
| this r"ru-nanrc to receive the hrncli. confer.
r''' Is That amounts t"a confession of I'aupcr
ism; an admission of imicri"r!y which is gal
ling I" the pride of u man "f proper spirit.
The consequence is, that that the children of
the rich are educated II, sch"nls "f ,l.,.r owu,
whilst the poor are retained in Ignorance
The superior advantages of the nrw system
are We'll illustrated in the history Of school
education iii North CaruIina. For 6i Year.
she tried the system Of frr. schuol, and M,
result WAS, that III the whole S,at., at tn. en-
llrati"n OF That period, there were only l?,.
493 pupils mt school. In lsIu she adopted the
Common School SYSTEM and in u Years ,b
children at school, a,n",Int.l to lIu.oon /,
the same time, the students at goll,.r,. in
creased from lbs to l0ou; and those at ncad..
mes from i,"!S t" 9uuu, thus showing gen.
cral advancement in cduca,ion Th,. number
o' "s"uhah!c to read or write, was r,-lucc,l
in the same pcrio from l in every II adult,
To in every - or -.
Lake success attended n similar ~, nrc in
Canada. In 1911, the common school system was
adopted in upper Canada; aul :sn,uoo appro-
rria'rd from the public treasury to ai,l similar
sum received by taxation and subscription.
After eight Years trial, the voluntary assess
mcnt had amounted to 500, 900 AMI in ISL ,n
$:n",0bn, whilst the attendance Of r.;;.iI, had
increased from 6t, 90 10 10 900.
The Common School system has been o,l,n,
ed by nearly every State in the Union: and
the results have every where been HIGHLY graft.
flying, particularly in the ars. cities. In New
York. ab"nt 1j,onO children daily attend the
common schools, at an annual expense nf about
SlunU"D. Employment has ais" been given to
about 500 female teachers, who being engaged
five days III the week in teaching attend u Nor.
nrc taught. These schnols furnisl, the clc,n.ui.
Of Il thorough and substantial c,lu:a,ion. nnl
afford ii t preparation for the higccr in.ttu
tions OF learning. In New York, it has been
found advantageous, to teach the BOYS n com
plete course OF English, before the commence
ment Of their classical studies; and thus the
whole community, inruling those designed
fnr n ',.t al. 4
equal benefit from the common Schools.
In Charleston, builling and lot have l,ccn
procured at the cost Of :25, 900, which cnn &c.
comnodate 500 pupils. Although many lis
advantages have attended the commencement
Of the enterprise; there are now about 100
pupils in the school, and the progress male by
them is such ns to secure the appreciation of
the whole community.
The peculiar advantages afforded hv the
common School system are very apparent. In
the first place, it affords grade of c.luco, ion
wholly unattainablc ut our poor schools, ut n
less cost. In New York the expense of the
whole system, including books aud stationery.
is about *12 per pupil in Philadelphia less
thnn SO; md in Charleston less than Sla.-
Among oihcr advantages it secures the SUPER
/; intending interest and sympathy of the whole
community; it promotes that association of
| the different Glasses of society in the school
which the cXigcnc;es # future life demand: it
| enables the taxpayer to avail himself directly
of the funds which he contributes to the cans.
] Of education; and by embolyng the strength
and resources Of the whole community it. nro
vidcs the best facilities of education at the least
| cost a suitable building is first procured: the
pupils are then thoroughly classified; each
rluss is taught in separate room and by sep.
aratc teacher. The best teachers are thu, cuo
blcd to devote themselves to the most advanced
pupils, whilst the less advanced arc taught bv
teachers of Inferior attuinments
There is no doubt but that the system sue
ccets admirably i'll the cities and the densely
populated rural districts. And we sec no rea.
son why il should not be we'll adapted to the
shire towns country villages and other neigh,
borhoods, where school districts of about four
or five miles square would furnish from fifty to
sixty pupils The system comes to us will,
the prestige Of Success, and We can conceive no