Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1871-05-04
Depal tmeut of Public Instruction.
OFFICE Sup'r PUBLIC IsTRUcT1oN,
Richmond, "a, Aprtl LIST, 1871. !

Richm6nd, "a, dpra LIST, 1871.
THE County School TAx-The May
election will form au epoch in the history
Of public schools i'll Virginia. The law
requires vote to be taken then az to
whether the people in each county will
odd anything to the State appropriation
ior the payment Of teachers aud the coun-
ty supeinteDdcnts. The amount asked
should be large or small, not according
to the wants Of the school interest so much
as according to the willingness of thepeo-
pie to contribute. We do not take the
matter of ability into the question, for
there is not county in Virginia which
has not the ability TO add whatever may
be necessary in order to place the means
of primary education within the reach of
all its neig hborhoods, where there are
children enough to form schools Oh
course they cannot do this and everything
else they would like to DO. But next to
bread and religion comes education. The
presen generation had better 60 into
bankruptcy than let their children grow
up in ignorance. But there is no need
o this. The ornaments of women, the
whiskey and tobacco of men, and the ar
mics of dogs, show that there is still a
quantity of surplus means left in the
country. At any rate, there is more than
enough to buy bread and books, aud to
do several other things besides. Though
the trouble is at least partly in the mind,
vet that is often as hard to overcome as
the reality.
When an old farmer takes a notion
that bis timber will soon be exhausted,
you need not ask b in to haul many loads
of wood to the school house, although he
may really have timber enough to last
ten generations So it is vain to ask the
people to add much to the school funds if
they think they are too poor do it. But
still they must be asked to DO something
and the question, how much ? is one which
should be determined after careful ex-
animation into the state of the public
mind. After this is fixed there should
be active efforts to excite general inter-
est in the subject. In order to do this
the following points should be presen-
ted:
/. The State money not being sufi-
cient to provide schools for all, it must
be supp lemented by some means, or there
will be portion Of the people more high
ly favored than the rest !; which is of
course to be deprecated when it can be
avoided.
g. Taxation is preferable to private
subscription, because every member of
society is thus made to bear his share of
the burden. Moreover the business can
be carrie ON much more Systematically
through the regular financial channels
than by private management. Assessors
and collectors are only agents of the peo-
pie, and they save great deal of trouble
and expense to individuals.
3. If the people of "a county are to be
educated at all, this is not My the cheap
es, way to do it, but the ouly wayl To
| oppose then county tax Of education
when it is needed is simply to oppose uni
versal education at present. There are
men who tn ink tina. whilst educa ton is a
good thing for some people it is not SC
good for others OF whilst education is q
| good thing railroads are bettor-as il il
literate communities could take advantage
ofrailroads after they had got them
That which is good for one mans child
| is good for anothcrs. and as for railroads
! there are sections of the country which
hive had railroads for irty years, and
/ the lind Is just as po9r, the villages art
snd lI.s pespIs u thsilsless new Il