Daily Republican., 1879-08-07
THIRD EDITION.
SCHOOLS IN DELA.
WAR.

WAR.
Mo Educational Fund for ths
Blacks Provided by The Leg
ture OF Senator Btyard's state.
From the Phila. Times.
WILMINGTON, Del, July 30.---It may
excite some surprise that in Senator
Bay ards State-A Commonwealth sc
neatly small as to b. conveniently and
easily brought to ideal perfection
there is no public provision whatever
tor the sdu cation OF the colored people
sxceIt in this city. appealed to agair
aud again, tn. Democratic Legislator,
has. refused to make any but this almos
deipicable conos ID ,on--that a tax sh0nlG
be levied on the colored people, which
'being collectsd by the county officers
should be handed over to the "Treas
user OF the Delawar, Association" and
he by him distributed TO the colored
sohSY,s. In other words, the Lpgisla
.tur graciously permitted the colored
(prople to tax themselves for their own
education. The law was passed four
y ars ago, and since then efforts have
br-n made to obtain more substantial
assistance, ii not the full measure Of
justio-, but without avail The large
school fund belonging to the State. a
gr, at part of which was the gift of the
General Government several years ago,
when the surplus revenues we're dis
,ributen, goes to the white schools ex-
olusively, the colored people, notwith-
standing their "equal rights before the
law, getting not cent outside Of Will
null z o.. The State Superintendent Of
sc i, OILS attends only to the white folks,
t',e oolored schools receiving none Of his
;ettention. At the last session of the
Legislature petitions were presented, j,
asking that an appropriation from the
State fund be made for them. These
petitions we're signed by 1900 citizens,
but nothing was done in response, and
the fagrant injustice is maintained.
The" Delaware Association" already
referred to, is volunteer organization,
which has been in existence for about
II years, its purpose being the moral
improvement and education Of the col
ored people," 1t has collected funds
from benevolent persons, assisted in the
erection of school houses, selected COM
pet-nt teachers, and contributed few
dollars per month in each case to their
salaries, seeing the colored people made
up the remainder and provided board
The association has always been large
ay composed Of the Friends in this end
of the State, their steadfast efforts for
the enfranchisement and elevation of
the negroes being proverbial, and its
Presi ent has been for several years the
venerable Bishop Alfred Lee, of the
Protestant Episcopal Church. Aided
at 6rst by the Freedmen's Bureau which
helped build a number of the school
houses, it has been since tina. was dis
continued, dependent upon private
help and the income from the funds of
an ante bellum organic alton, called the
"African School Society"
To these is now added the poor reve.
nue. squeezed out of the colored
people under the absurd tax system
above described. They pay the tax
first, and then make, up by dint Of hard
scraping large sum by private sub
scription, iu order to keep their schools
going while the association, out of its
collections from interested friends of the
work and its income from the African /,
Society, pays an executive officer, the
"Actuary," small salary to visit the
schools occasionally and give them aid
and advice as far as possible.
With this inadequate systematic
best that can be got, under he pro
scriptive and harsh legislation of Sena-
tor Bayard's State-a great deal Of good
is done. The report of Mr.. Conrad,
Actuary, just issued, shows that there
were, during the school year recently
closed, 50 schools open in the State.
Three years ago the number was only
25. The schools are divided thus. New
Castle County, exclusive of Wilmington
II, with GSS pupils; Kent County, 20.
with 906 pupils; Sussex County, Is,
with 655 pupils. The total namber of
pupils enrolled in the State was 2, ,249,
d slight increase over the number re-
ported in 1878. The term of school
was very short in some cases-only two
and two and halfmonths-but in some
of the larger tow MS and villages it -x
tended to six, seven land eight months.
The teachers receive moderate salaries,
beside their board, and are all coored
persons, mostly females. Many Of
them show marked aptitude and capa-
city for their work, some having had
training as teachersin a good Philadel-
ihia school for coored youths conduc-
ted by a Miss Jackson, and in other