Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-04-19
ReasJusters and the Public Schools.

Readjusters and the Public Schools.
r The Readjusters so-called, claim to |
, special friends and advocates of the puI
lie free schools of Virginia. They hay
, made record. or . pretended recor,
} and by that record they must stand (
! fall. It is easy to investigate and ex
pose this record, since the Richmon
Wing, their central organ, confines 1t
very narrow limits.
The Whtg says: "Our school syste1
went into operation In 1871; from tbs
year I'LL and including 1879, the Boul
bon-funders had practical control of th
State but the result Of the election i
1879 was, that, on the 1st day of Janus
~, 1880, the Readjusters entered upol
the administration of the government.
This statement Of the Whig is the exac
truth but 1t is IN admission fatal to tn
preposterous claims of the Readjusters
so-called. It denies, and justly denies
that Its party has any claim to the esta
blishment and support of our public fre
January, 1880. The splendid record o
O0A O<AAO<SA ~ USOAkAs 44VN4 x0G1 W 1o0V
was made exclusively by the party
which the WAi1 calls Bourbon Fund
efs." THIS record Il one to which til,
s0called Bourbon Fuudefs" may Just.
ly point with pride. In all that lone
period. they proved by their acts, which
speak louder than words, that they were
true and earnest tsupporters Of the public
free schools. They established, nurtur-
ed, fostered and placed upon q solid
foundation our school system-made 1t
the best in the Southland the success
full rival of the improved and long esta.
blished systems of the North. It has
not been many years since the WhiQ
rebuked the Virginia Radicals Its pre-
sent allies-for their pretended zeal In
behalf of the public schools, and, after
reciting the condition Of the public
schools, In those Southern States in
which the Radicals had the ascendency,
and in which the school money was
wasted or stolen, 1t said:
"NOw turn to Virginia under Conser.
vative rule and see the contrast. Every
dollar of the school fund Is cherished as
sacred trust-nota cent has been vast
ed or stolen"
What sort of school record have the
so-called Readjusters made? Below will
be found the false and preposterous claim
which they set up. We quote from the
recent Malone ELAN address:
by the statistics of the State Super
intendent of Public institution for 1880
the year of Readjuster management of
the School Fund-we had ,S54 schools
as against 2, ,491 for the year 1879. The
number of pupils which decreased in 10
to los, ,074, was increased in 1880 to 22O,
1856 or SO .648 in excess of the highest
number for any year since the establish
ment of the system In 1871. The teach
ers, who numbered 2.5O4 in 1879, were
increased to 4,873 In 1880, and generally
received their pay Notwithstanding the
large sums required to discharge debts
which had been contracted to maintain
9 pretence of the support of our schools.
The expenditures on school account,
which were $50 389 Is from all sources
in 1879, were $948, 100 SO in 1880. And
all this was simply due to the fact that
the Readjusters gave to the support of
the schools the money which had been
collected from the Taxpayers on State,
county, and district levy for that specific
purpose, supplemented by $l65. 900
diverted School Fund"
1t is true that the school year 1880 was
tne mos. RaIsnh 3n% nar school system has been
99l1rs s.1uE. = H5S. Are the so-called Read
justers entitled, as they claim. to all the
credit for this? Nay, are they entitled
to any of the credit? They effected no
legislation which added to the school
revenues; they made no change In the
school laws; they did not even touch
more than a very small fraction, If any,
of the funds used In the school year 1880.
That year began in August, 1879, and
ended July 81, 1880 Half Of it ended
before they entered upon the 'subordi-
nate offices" Of which they have had the
control "but little over q year." Anoth-
fore these "subOrdinate officers" had
made themselves familiar with the duties
of their offices. The increased State
school funds for the year were due to the
operation of the Henkei bill-passed by
a Conservative Legislature, approved
by Conservative Governor, and ad.
ministered by Conservative officers
Auditor Tayl0r-not Auditor Massey
made the estimates and issued the war
rants required by that bill for the school
year 1880. The funds, State, County,
and District, were collected and paid to
the teachers by Conservative Treasurers.
Not dollar paid to the teachers passed
through the hands of Auditor Massey,
or any other of "the subordinate Of.
ficers," who went into office on the 1st
of January, 1880. Where, then, is there
any just ground for giving the so-called
Readjusters all, or any, of the credit for
the operations of our school system for
the school year 1880?
But Auditor Massey paid back $685.
600 to the school fund! Yes, but the
McCulloch hill diminished the interest
on the State debt about $24O. .OOO-of
which $50. 600 came into the State Trea-
sury as ready cash, The other $85, 900.
of the $165, 900 paid back to the school
fund. was the result of the measures of
retrenchment effected by recent Con-
servative legislation. The Conservatives
accomplished the difficult task of bring-
ing the money into the Treasury-Mr.
Massey the easy one of paying it out,
after it was collected.-HdlJd1 Record