The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1863-10-10
FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
commissioners Of Public Schools
CECIL COUNTY.

To the County Commissioner, Of Cecil County
YHyHE Board of Commissioners of Public
III Schools of Cecil county respectfully
submit to you, and through you to the citi
zens of the county, the following as the
Fourth Annual Report OF the Board
1t will be remembered that the last Report
covered peri cd of sixteen months, COM
mencing on the LIST Of January, 1861, and
ending on the 18th OF May, 1862, having
been thus extended in order that the Annual
Report of the Board might thenceforward be
made to correspond with the termination Of
their official year or term of service.
The present Report covers regular term
of one y, ar from May 1862, to May, 1868,
but exhibits the statistics of only nino months
of actual tuition, the fund OF the Boar hav-
ing been found wholly in adequate to the
support of the Schools tor q longer period
OF the year.
The three quarters embraced in this Re-
port were composed of the months of April,
May and June, October, Nov ember and De-
cemher, 1862, and January, February and
March, 1868. The quarter in progress at
the termination of their official year will
form part of the matter for their next Re-
port.
1t will be seen from our Treasurer's Report
s
quarters there were sixty-seven schools in
operation sixty-hve in the second quarter,
a"d sixty-seven in the third. The average
number of scholars attending the schools
has been about two Thousand six hundred
aud fifty, OF whom eighteen hundred aud
twenty were pay and eighteen hundred and
thirty were free scholars. 1t is a matter of
regret with the Board that notwithstanding
considerable effbrt on their part in that di.
rection, they find the proportion of free
| scholars increasing rather than diminishing,
as they had hoped This may be attributed
I in part to the troubled condition of the coun-
try hut it also arises, we fear, from an UNI
due anxiety on the part Of persons really
able to pay, to avail themselves of the add
vantage this feature OF TIL. system admits Of
and who press thei claims upon the Com
missioner of their District with a perlnacity
that be finds it impossible to resist. If the
number o. free scholars could be kept down
to about one-tourth OF the entire attendance,
there might be no just Cause of complaint.
AS it is, there is striking inequality in the
numbers as reported from the different Dis
| triets. In some of the Districts a commend
able spirit OF independence is exhibited in
the fact that comparatively few seek to place
their children in the schools upon the footing
of free scholars; while in others, there seems
~ " d Sio"luS hiopOotioI " avail ti!eJi-
selves OF this public charity. We are con-
strained to believe that these differences are
not the result OF any material inequality in
pecunary ability, bnt that they arise chiefly
from the different light in which the citizens
Of different localities regard their own duty
and responsibility in this matter. The dis
CT elton vested in the Commissioner Of each
District in this matter by the law is one of
the most perplexing portions of this duty
and which each member of the Board finds
it exceedingly difficult to exercise with that
impartiaity that the law doubtless contem-
plated. 1t is to be hoped that this public
reference to the subject may be productive
Of some Improvement in this respect Tor the
future.
The total amount Of the Receipts of the
year, as will be seen by the Treusurer's Re-
port, was S23, 974.62, part of which was a
legacy of $500 from the late Caleb Re! nolds,
Esq. and part the principal Of Mortgage Of
$40, being the last Of the investments Of
the Old School Pund, thus making $1,000
apart from the regular and ordinary revenue
OF the year. The remainder being for taxes
rcceiv I'd proceeds Of notes scounted which
are only anticpatiOns of regular revenue,
and the States donation for the year Eigb-
teen Hundred and SixtyThrec.
For the Disbursements and other statistical
Information we respectfully refer to the
Treasurer's Report and accompanying Ia
bles.