Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-08-31
The pistriel. School. Tax Upeonsli-

The District School Tax. Uneonsti-..
tutiOnal.
We understand elections have been
held in some of the School, Districts in
this County, and are to belield in each
and every School, District, to- take the
senses sof, the, q inhabitants qualified to
vote, as to the propriety:of levying an
additional tax in95said Districs for the.
support of the public schools. ! Nowtw7e,
are very. much sfavorsof education.
and!of giving the massesa Il beral 'educas:
ton. But we are not in javo'' of the
lexying of tax after tax upon an already
Impoverished people for the purpose OF
advancing the educational or any other
interest. The damnahle system. OF. taxa:
ton forced upon us by the Radical Leg
islature-as infan1ous9 body with a few
honorable exceptions) of uncenscionabl
vultures and plunderers as ever accursed
ANY land ror peop1e@is already Beyond
endurance, and now to talk of levying
.still "atother tax" ostensibly - forthe
support. of the public schools, but in
realitysto panper still further'to the pc
cuniary cravings, of . worthless officials
and sap-head negro teachers, is an infer
nal oppression on the taxpayer, and one
that our dutyto ourselves and those for
whom we love to labor and provide for,
should prompt US to resist to; the last ex,
tremity. .i4;9 rt;.e.s.. 4
Just and equitable laws we delight in
seeing duly executed, Just, and equita-
Bile taxation we are willing to. pay. to the
last .farthing,-but the base manner in
which we have been plundered by Radi-
cal taxation for the last; two or three
years, is an outrage objectionable in its
perpetrators, and an- oppression that
should not be longer tolerated.
Had the enormous. sum appropriated
by the Legislature for school purposes
been .judiciously expended, and the poll
tax faithfully collected and likewise ju-
diciously expended, there would now be
very little need for further taxation for
public schools And as this additional
school tax,n in the manner Of levying,
and of time, and by whom, is not in ac-
accord with the Constitution of the State,
(as framed by this same Radical party, }
we unheritatingly pronounce the taxa
ton section of the School Law as passed
by the last Legislature Unconstitutional,
and would therefore urge upon the tax
payers of Edgeield to resist the pay
ment of any tax that may be levied
against them by @the Inhabitants quail
fled to vote" in any School District.
To the following article on this District
School tax subject, W, ich we copy from
the Marion Star, we direct the particular
attention of our readers:
That we may not be misunderstood,
we will say just here, that we beliye in
the wisdom Of educating the poor-that
we are advocates Of well directed sys-
tenn Of free schools. But while our peo-
ple are burdened with taxes, we shallnot
remain silent and see additional taxes
wrung from them by Legislature, that
L
and through it's ignorance enacts laws
oppressive to our citizens and totally at
variance with that instrument, which
the members swear to protect and defend.
The inhabitants of the variousSchool
Districts in this County have held meet
ings and levied additional tax varying
from one-half to one mill on the dollar
of all taxable property; and one School
District has gone so far as to levy an
adtional poll tax of one dollar on each
poll, all Of which, as we propose to show,
is unconstitutional, and can not be'eoE-
lected. This is done in accordance. with
an act or rather threat Of the Legisla.
ture, to deprive the poor children of the
county of the benefit of the State appro-
priation, in the event this tax is not
levied and collected.
In Section 81 of can act to amend an
act entitled an act to establish and main
tain a system of Free Common Schools
for the State of South Carolina" So The
inhabitants qualified to vote at school
meeting, lawfully assembled, shall have
power: asa JIG
"4th. To raise by tax, in addition to
the amount apportioned by the State to
their use, such further sums Of money rs
| they may deem proper for the support OF
the public schools, said sum not TO be
| moro than three dollars for every child
! in the District between the ages Of six
and sixteen" =
| This section simply gives. the inhapi-
tants the power to raise this tax, if in
their better judgment it is necessary
but tits not compulsory. They need not
| levy one cent under this section. And
1--we are OF the opinion that every meeting
of the different School Districts which
Iihaye met and levied q tax is premature,
flor the inhabitants could not have been
informed how much they were entitled
to from the State appropriation, and
therefore they could not know whether
that was sufficient TO carry Oh. the schools
or not.
But in Section 90 of the same act, we
find a Legislative threat, in the following
language:
"And if the inhabitants of any School
District, at their annual meeting, shall
fail to provide for the raising of suchtaX,
then the County School Commissioner
of the county in which such District is
situated, shall be required to withhold
from tho said District that part of the
State appropriation derived from the
revenue of the State, and to apportion
and distribute the same to the other dis
tricts Of the County which complied with
the requirements of this Act"
Now, we consider this nothing more
nor less than threat Of an ignorant Leg
islature to wiring money from our people
to force them to pay more money or
forfeit the appropriation provided for in
the Constitution, without a clear viola
ton of which the State appropriation
cannot be withheld from the several
School Districts.
Section of Article X Of the Constitu-
ton provides:
1.-The General Assembly shall levy at
each regular Session after the adoption Of
this Constitution, an annual tdE on all
taxable property throughout the State
Tor the support of public schools, which
tax shall be collected at the same time
and by the same agents as tho General
State levy, and shall be paid into the
Treasury Of the State"
"The school tax shall be distributed
among the several School Districts Of the
State in proportion to the respective num-
Der of pupils attending Public Schools
II the Constitution is sovereign, and no
one will gainsay it, then the threatening
language of the Legislature contained i'll
Section 20 of the Act referred to, is UNI
constitutional.
The Constitution requires that the Leg
islature, and not the inhabitants OF each
School District, shall lovy san annual
tax" and further requires that "ai,.llal
taxi ShaN be distributed among the sew