Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-06
OUR SCHOOLS.
The Present General Assembly and Com
msn Scbeals lH TeBnBSsss.


sistent have been these efforts and so un'
hiushing have been the statements SEM
broadcast over the country, in this re-
gard that thousands, no doubt, not only
in Tennessee but throughout the ma,
ton are honestly Of the opinion thai
the Democratic legislature Of Tsnnesssg
is hostile 90 the cause of educatiOn, and
that through ils action 4" the doors Of the
school houses hsve been closed sgsinsl
the children OF the State" The fac5 that
educgIion has languished and still Ian.
guishes iu Tennessee, is taken as cOrrO-
b0rative of the charge that it has thus
suffered. by re9s0n Of the accession Of the
Conservatives TO power. But let the
honest voter, for moment, consider the
truth, and then determine whose fault il
is that, Cariug the year just closing, the
children of the State have had so few
educational advantages.
At-sr I've yesrs Of rioting in the most
wsuton extravaganza and plunder, The
Radicals Bs q party in Tennessee. were
driven from power, in August, 1863, by
the OverW EelmiuE voice Of an indignant
people. Their successors came into the
vacated seats Of Office very much as a
victorious force enters a dismsntled
and abandoned fortress, or, TO change
the figure, they found the State
much In the same condition as that in
which an administrator hnds the estate of
an ius0lY6Ht spendthrift The treasury
was literally empty, and worse than
empty. The ate WBs OVarW helmed by
an appalling dsbs. which had been main
ly am sssed through bad limprOvidence
and extravaganza. No means had been
provided for the payment Of either its
principal or ln-eresL-indesd, the idea of
payment seems to hsv6 been 8 mEttsr OF
little or no con -ern TO those who crested
it. A very large R0rtion Of the original
" sacred school fund the "sUolen fund, -
II YOU pIease-hsd been returned tO the
Radical uth0rires with q view of having
&c restored 10 the children Of the State,
10 whom j. belonged; but this-amount-
ing 10 over 500. G00-wss gone, dissipated
and squanG9re1 In many Unlawful ways,
known and unknown. Several hundred
thousand dollars more had been collected
by the Radical UsE-gst herers, exclusively
Tor the uss Of common schools, vet. the
most satisfactory and comprehensive eX-
nIbi-s thst could be- found for ali this
fund, were yOluuinous receipts and
vouchers for the expenditures Of worse
than worthless militia force, whose ser
vices had been esteemed as Of far higher
value than the education OF the youth OF
the State. True, there was found in eX-
isreuCa and iu the full tide of destructive
operation. the much Landed " Magnificent
Common School Systed, 4" with Eaton at
its head magnificent % indeed, but only
IN its own eEt-avsganCe, au1 in the ruin
OF the school interests Of the State. The
array OF CficErs-leecbes upon the treas
ury-Was truly grand, and the report
OF ih=lr achievements was written by
John Eaton, j-., a. q cost Of 5000 to the
people of the state.
One Of the very first things demanded
by the peoD-e was the removal of this
County Superintendent System, which
had shown itself % be only profitable 10
the officers whose sEisrie- absorbed in a
great degree, -he money, and which was
source OF bUrdensOme tax upon the
State. This The Legislature proceeded
promptly 70 accomplish, by repssliUg the
law creating 10, and restoring, IN the main.
the laws as they existed prior To It's sdup-
ton, except tt0it The assessment and c0Lec-
ton Of The school ter 5gGs Ieft nth the
Courts Of the several counties This re-
p6alIuE and reFiviuE act was never inten-
ded % be d permanent law. To stop the
Drainage Of the treasury. or Of what was
expected 10 be in the treasury-was the
El1ledi1te and special Oh ject, Is the sequel
proved. But, no sooner bad the Act
passed than an almost universal
Radical howl was raised, from one
end Of the State 70 the other. The
columns OF uE5 Northern press were bur
th5us1 with Tie most d0leful accounts Of
tbs depl1rsbIe condition into which the
children OF The state: and. from that time
. The present, there has been no csssa- I
tlOu Ct the Clsn0r. The " closed school
houses arc pointed 10 as monuments Of
o. Democratic" barbsrism and illiberalitv, ]
and we do not wonder that citizens Of
other States, reading and believing Radi- /
caI pauers. should c1nciHde that Tenues-
see had dedicated herself for all time, 70
ignorance and vice.
Most Of this Misrepresentation, as be-
fore stat Cd proceeds from the designs Of
political deuaEOgBes, while much OF it is
due 20 real ignorance of the facts; for I
IL any Radical journal In Tennessee or I
elsewhere, has ever given notice of the
passage, by tho present General Assem-
bly,, Of any other act on the subject Of I
common schools, than the one shove re- I
isrred 10 (which passed DeCsm Der IA I
l515I such notice certainly escaped our a. I
tendon. That, 80 far as we have Oh |
served, has been treated as the 6nal legis- /
lztlJu on the subject. whereas the truth Is I
the E1ucs-iJual Committees of b0tn I
Houses, after its passage, continued their /
laJOrs In maturing x a comprehensive bill |
On he sulI HcLr which uDallv passed on I
the s-h Of July, $50, and became a law I
the next day, with the approval of the 1
Governor This law isNUi5s v0luminous /
and elaborate lu its details, and covers |
fourteen pages 01 the Published Acts for |
$50. IL defines and provides for " The
Common School Fund Of the State Of
Tennessee, ~ and, IN addition thereto, DO ]
prDVidss for She levy and col lection bV the ]
County Court uf each county, OF an snnu- ]
al tax, " uaL 20 exceed the entire State
tax, f0T the support and maintenance Of
Common Schools " in such county. The
law Is, in fact, a combination Of the State
and county systems, and has been the
law Of the state since the ssh OF July, 1870, !
~ above stated.
On the l4-h Of this month. as ourEgesd- /
ers are already aware, the "staJa Teach /
ers' Association" .1f which the senior /
proprietor of the Chronicle Of this city Is a !
Vice President and was present. held q ]
Convention IN Lhe capitol, which was nu-
msr0usly attended 1v delegates from al .
paris Of tho State, To was the av0wsd
object Of the Association 70 consider the
educational wants Of the State and 10
point out % the Legislature such defects
a. might be found in our present law on
the subject. 4 large number Of these !
delegates Ind ueUer read nor heard Of the
aei Of Jug s't. slgaJ me CJuUeati0u had
assembled. The Convention comprised
a number Of teachers, Of prominence in I
their profession. Aflsr a session Of two
days suu nights iu which the whole sub
isct was calmly and thoroughly discussed.
IJ was decided thsJ me present JGig is tu
tite man, as good lar a. could BE- de-
SIRED, under the circumstances. that IS. ia
liet1 Of The financial condition Of the STATE
4 memorial, stating this fact among
other things and suggesting some
amendments, not affecting materially
the substance Of the law, was adopted
and presented to the Legislature. The
Chairman of the Memorial Committee
we believe, was Hon. Vim. BOssou, who
is the rsputgd author Of the law that was
repealed.
This memorial was received and OF
dersd 20 BE- spread upon the journal Of
the House. where 10 viii remain an en-
during rsfulstion of the misr5prssenta-
tiOu referred 70 in the beginning Of this
article.
We have written this much. not with
view Of vindioaiiBg the General Assem-
bly, a. a body That, each member can
do for himself in bis own way. But it has
been our purpose 70 point out 70 The p6O-
ole where should rest the blame that our
educational affairs are IN no better condi-
ri1u That he state Is not able 20 pro-
vide more munihcently, az this time. is
due % tho deplOrable condition ia which
the feck less extravaganza Of a prOtracted
Radical administration left it. But that
we have no schools Is n0D he fQuit Of the
ge0UIe tbemseiteS The Law Is ample and IL
fns County Courts viii but do their duty
and this they will DO If the people require
it, there win soon be no further cause Of
complaint that the children must grow
up IN Ignorance. The responsibility
rests now where "a ought % be felt-l0ih
zhe people HsHselUes
-a--a--z--
Hsre Arms for France.
ryryg YoRK, January 5.-The steamer
ConeordiN cleared yesterday fcr Fal-