Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-02-21

ofsour sister States. Without claiming
perfectioR for this systen,a and without
objecting to such amendments as time
and experience may show to be necesS
sary, we would earnestly deprecate all
changes which would not tend mani
festly to make it more efficient; and es-
pecially would we deprecate any change
so radical as that proposed in this bill
striking, as it does, in the opinion of
your committee, at the vitals of the sys-
tenn, and tending, if adopted, to the final
overthrow; not only of our present ad-
mirable school law, but to the defeat of
the wise and benefcent provision of the
Constitutions which makes it the duty of
the State to. provide the means for the
education of all her children. 4o. a.
| Your committee do not propose to ar
que either the rightor the expediency of
taxation for educational purposes. If
the proposition was new one, wefmight
properly do so;9 but while the, present
liconstitution remains in force, these are
not open questions. That fundamental
law has defnitel ly settled these ,ques-
tions; and, In the opinion of your COM
mittee, they are wisely settled. In strict
conformity with the provisions of that
instruments and, as your committee be-
! lieve, in its true spirit and intent, under
our present school law, the State levy
| for the support eof common schools is
distributed throughout the State, in pro-
!. portion to- the number of youths in each
School district withoutlregard to the ac-
cidental location of the property so
taxed, or the youths to be7educated 1t
therefore happens, that those counties
which have in their limits, more mate
trial wealth relatively than they have
fchildren, payinto the schools fund more
! than theirs ratio ofschildren. entities them
ftoreceiye backsforl educational purposes;
while those counties which have more
children In proportion than they have
accumulated wealth, receive more of this
fund than they pay in. ..5
This isclaimed to be unjust and OPP
IpressiVe on those counties where the
greatest wealth is accumulated; and at
first sight it would seem to be so. But,
however plausible the objection to the
present law may seem, it is, in the opin-
ion ofyour committee, plausible only,
and founded upon a very palpable fall.
lacy Foa the mind of your committee.
{ the law of 1853, in the feature COM
planned of, embodies the only principle
of equity upon which system of COM
mon schoolsican ever be maintained.
The. only-theory upon which your
committee can jurtify a tax at all for the
purposes Of education, is, that the State,
being sovereign, has or right to tao the prop
serty Of The State, for the purpose Of eauca-
ing the people OF the State. IF this the
/ ory is not sound, then the wholesystem
is builtupon fallacy, and ought to fall
But if the prineiple Is right, then the
money, wherever in the State collected,
ought to be- appropriated to the educa-
ton Of the children of the State wher-
ever they may be found. ga8s.res
The net work Of railroads which enter
in Cincinnati, Cleveland, a' Columbus,
Dayton, and other cities, has made them
the centers of the trade, and is drawing
to them the wealth, not only of the ru-
raj districts of the State, but of the Con-,
E,tinent But these railroads haze! no chill,
dreit to edacdte.s The Banks of the State,
tlocatedin the same centers, issuing their
millions Of promises to pay, make the
whole State tributary to them. But
these Banks hare no children to educate
These railroads and Basks, with other
facilities, invite to the investment of
capital, drawn from all directions, and
! ,,,A h.
mandatory, spring uplike magic, until
millions of dollars are invested in these
vast establishments. But the furnace,
and mall, and factory hare no childrea to
educate These means of material prog
ress increase until the merchants in these
cehters become as princes, and their
splendid residences rival the palaces Of
royalty in other lands in costgand mag
| nifeenee, and crowned heads are beg
gars compared with them in theaextent
of their revenues Butsthese merchant
princes have no children to send to COM
MON SCHOOLS. AS all these sources of
wealth are developed through the enter
prise the energy the talent and wellidi-4
reeted effort. ofShese business men, the
means for the qualification of literary
taste and stelegant easel accumulate,
until the men of wealth, for the sake of
the social lgadVanta ges to be enjoyed in
these centers, take up their residences
therein,g and bring with them the aceu-
mulated riches of years of ;perseyering
| industry in their various professions and
pursuits in other localities. But these
seldom have children for the common
schools iA2 = t5s .ag e
Now, when the State, in its sovereign
capacity, has laid its almighty hand upon
all this swealth-upon all these railroads,
and Banks and furnaces, and manufac-=
tories-upon the palaces of these mer-
chant princes. and the money and invest.
ments Of these retired gentlemen, and has
swept into her common school fund the
tribute they are thus compelled to pay,
your committee are wholly unable to
comprehend the equity or the justiceeof
the claim made, that this fund belongs
alone to those children who happen to
| live within the limits of the several coun-
ties In which these centers of wealth are
| located. sfsti.5+s i'ss s1s'f.si ati 'aa
The State, in this behalf, is thesguar-
dian of all her children. By her sover-
eign power she assumes to tax the
property, wherever found within her
jurisdiction, for the benefit of these her
wards. Having thus created common
fund, shall she not act with an impartial
Justice in its distribution? But would it
be either just or impartial to distribute to
such of her wards as happened to live
within ten miles of Cincinnati, or Cleye-
land, or Columbus, twice as much of this
common fund as to those who may hap
i 80 : : Il. i u