Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-08-17

In my next snail ITy W tSifo Iii.
description Of the mountain. scenery, ana
not q dry letter about the crops, and the
Impoverished condition of the country.
5HS4 s1s Yours, truly. J4
.easl7a.ty h.is 'lI.,'''.s -s''9a lstJ. L. A.
For the Advertiser
Mr.. ED1ToR:-W lille glancing over tne
columns of the Adverttser for the two OF
three past issues, I have noticed that sew
eral communications have appeared over
the nome delpla.ate of. aHowARD." III
appears that !. Howard" purports to be.
fully eonversant with the School Law,
1.-the financial condition Of the County,
and the School Fund, insomuch that ne
Uniforms us exactly as to the amount that
should Be collected for Poll; Tax, the
amount of the School. Fund appropria-
| ton due this County, and the pay Of
Preacher defines the dutieso of the School
Gornmaissiorniterand officers, criticises
| theiractions rather severely; and in fact,
offers as his opinion that it would be bet
ter that theyiwould vacate their offices.
| sFeahnot depict the misfortunes which
might befIll the people 1of this County
were we deprived Of the eounselofi a,few
as q HowARD:s Ishall,
however: allow ".HowARD'' 'fthe benefit.
of his opinions. .y.9e1 ~. ai'ia
The simple ideaiof some. thisty fellow
sresigning his position itself would be as
a beacon of.hopeheld out to ightsome
"hulnble petitioner'aon his way. It is
not beyond the range of a possibility for
| some thirsty fellow to take the advice Of
HOWARD merely for PHYS, sake
"HowARD'' probably is dry, and would
like to have his throat quenched; if so,
it should be done. a 4er siii1
Although I have not been satisfactorily
informed that HOWARD has been COM
missioned to represent tho people of this
County; nevertheless, being. fully dcsis
rous that the public may be made fully
acquainted with any and every thing
connected with my office as School Com
missioner; and 1T the same time wishing
| 70 correct some mis-statements made by
s'HowARD3,' and for no other reason
than to satisfy hepeople, I will state as
briefly as possible my actions in regard
| to the office Of School Commissioner since
entering upon the duties thereof Also
/ the condition 'of' the School Finance, as
fa7 as am eoglisant, and SO far as am
concerned, as School Commissioner. /
will at first say that if "HowARD," or
any other gentleman, would have taken
the trouble.to come to my office, and re-
quest that he should see any. book, OF
Edesire any information of; which I may
be possessed, in relation to the Free
Schools, would have certainly acqui-
esced, with pleasure. But 4HowARD"
says that be- !" has not been able to see
any books, if,any there be kept" I do
not dispute this; there are several thou
sandpeoplein Edgefeld County who have
not seen the books, and they have not
complained, because they do not expect
the School -Conan,i.-io.aer.io er. 70 shoulder his
books and parade them all over the
County in order that they might get a
sight at them. ;.
When I first entered upon the duties
of the Office, which was on the LIST Jan.
1871, was compelled to start out as it
we're without guide or compass. AL
! though the Free School system had been
in operation for. two years, these was
nothing turned overto me to show where
there was a single Free School in the
County,-no books or other record. In
anticipation Of the new School Law the
"Board Of Examiners" awaited the ac-
ton of the General Assembly before pro-
.ceeding too far under the old law. We
did however appoint some Trusteeswhere
Schools were in operation; in some p;accs
they served; other Districts they were
careless; but it was not until after the
passage of the Act regulating the Free
School system that we could proceed
with propriety to the formation OF Dis
tricts, and the fuller organization of the
system. So there ,fds, and is now a
Board of Examiners; there 'cere Trus-
tees appointed before the time stated by
"HowARD,'' Notwithstanding his state
ments to the contrary: The Board OF
Examiners, as soon as practicable after
the late School Act, which was passed
during last March, and became. a law,
appointed Trustees in all. the School Dis
tricts, regardless Of politics or color; ap-
pointed such men whom we thought
would best satisfy the people at large;
Notwithstanding, in a few Of the Fown-
ships, some of Trustees refused to serve
for MO other reason than that there was a.
"colored MAN appointed on'the Board"
with them. 8's- 81:
.. lido, however, with pleasure, state the
fact that tho Trustees appointed general
ly throughoutthe County have accepted
the .trllst-have returned words Of en-i
couragement, and have expressed their
entire willingness to do everything IN
their power towards aiding the Free.
Schools, and educating the people, re-
gardless of color. - ,.1,e -
Passing by the mistake Of ".HowARD,"
that "the salaries, of Teachers ranges
from sS5 to s5O,' while, in fact, the pay
ranges from S20to $50, l will revert to-
another error (by this time hchas become
proverbially erraticD that =" in one-third
Of the Districts at least, there were no
Free Schools" Ny books will show to
the contrary. Indeed there are several
Districts. which have no Free Schools.
why Because. no one made an applica!
ton for a Free School in those Districts.
Due and timely notice was given to the
whole County. In every case where the
people wanted q Teacher, and where they
made application for certificate, said
Teacher being examined, was authorized
to teach and received his or her order
from this office for the services rendered
According to statement which have
lust received, dated Aug. 9th, 1871, Edge
field County receives S,63O,O 90 OF the ap-
preparation made for the State at large
for the benefit of the Free Schools. Be-
sides this we have the Poll Tax. Every
School District is entitled to the Poll Tax
collected in that District. 1t isthe duty
&c +b.e County Treasurer to collect the