The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1873-03-27
FREE SCHOOLS III DANGER.


School System the Gaming year or account Of
funds. The General Assembly has been
f'Atering its tiG-e away uselesslv ti;saering at
tie State aeS!, taking care of wealthy rail
roads, forming new corporations, making fen
ees Of rivers, aud other special Legislation
either OF very trivial Importance OF Of no val
ue 10 the people at large, unti now in the
last days Of the session comes a note Of warn
ing from the Superintendent Of Public In
stFuction we'll calculated to strike alarm to
every good citizen. In his letter to the Sen
ate, dated March 18th, he shows that there
ia falling off in receipts from taxes and 9TH
er sources which promises to make defieH
ei ever S400 900, or nearly half 2 million,
compared with last year. The very serious
pa.ure Of this condition of siffTairS can oniy be
understood when It is known that this deficit
equals half lie total current expenses Of last
yeor ! And last year there was no. money
enough TO make the schools hat they were
intended to be-ffee 10 every child in the
SFalo-ss that in very large number OF
schools, feariui;y large proportion Of them
bafore theichiid could share in the advantages
CT the system q monthly bill for tuition had
80 be paid to exc out the public funds. Ii
such was the case last year, the condition u
the school finances this year will ecessita'e
either the closing OF the schools on half time
or their support fer the balance Of the time
IN the same way us private schools are sup
ported. Either of these alternatives wou'd
lie most DISASTROUS Mr.. Huifner very prop
eriy characterizes it as dire caanaly" which
must be averted Immediately. II the system
which promises so much for the future good
of our State, the system so very successfully
inaugurated, though in tae midst OF macy
discouragemcnts, should be stricken down on
The Threshold oi its existence aud just AS II
+, about 70 enter Oh Il career of real usciu!-
ness, it would iodeed be a dire calamity. no'
second to any which could be Inflicted upon
the State.
/
amour. received for this purpose from the
State taxes is diminishing every year-ihe
taxes raid 10 coupons are not available as
funds the General Assembly has enacted
laws restricting ocal taxation for school pur
poses to a prescribed amount.
The first of these causes is one We are not
now prepared to discuss. Ii the taxes Tor
otler causes diminish proportiouately, it in-
acates only general, aud not a special, dc
feet
The second Ct these causes is only an in
ei,en.al result Of the utter Incompetence
shown by every Legislature the State has had
since the war il the management Of financial
affairs.
The third canse cannot be put off with The
answer that it is only an incidental result OF
q general plan. Last year the General As
Een,bl7 deliberately aad rurpose!y provided
that counties and school districts should not
tax themselves for school purposes at more
than a specified rate, BY this meaus they
prehihit districts from raising money TO int
prove the q',ality Of their schools or lcn@lhen
the sessions. This law permits The raising
this year only about two thirds as much as
was raised last year in this way. The Le-s-
Jature takes the ground that counties and dF-
tric:s do not understand their own wants and
that they are not ccmpctene to tax themselves
for schools. It is a most outra geous assault
1non local self-yovernment, and must have
en- object. That Object could only be the
starvation Of the free school system; lar tho
State Superintendent knew last year and told
them shat NOR. fluids were needed for the
proper management Of the schools. They
knew 1t, too, of their own knowledge F.; for ~
more than half the counties OF the State the
public funds we're compicgnented BY private
subscription. This prohibition might have
been we'll enough if they had made up by
State taxation the deficiency it caused in the
local funds. But they did not increase tie
rate Of the State taxation one ioa on the
other hand they left it to dwioale dow" from
various causes arising from their own sh r.
sighted stupidity until the existence Of the
system is endangered.
The State Constitution says that the Cen
eraI Assembly shall apply to public free
school purposes an annual tax upon the prop
erty OF the State Of not less than one mill nor
more than FIVE mills on the dollar. They
have never applied any more Of tie taxes to
school purposes than the Cousiisulan mper
atively cosn.nanis them that they must.
These facts make strong case against the
Legislature, and show conclusive ) that it is
hostile to the system. They show, too, that
they do not dare act boldly in the matter, but
seek to starve The schools by indirect meas
ares. They neither furnish, the support re-
euired, nor will they allow the persons direct
" aud immediately interested to tax them
selves fo- school purposes they prohibit the
rais;ny Of Sufficient funds for the support of
the system.
We are glad that the issue has oecn made