Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1881-09-07
The Henkel School Bill.
Rron Shenandoah valley.l

tnal Wouiu give you tOI puOllca-
ton a history Of the School Bill,
and at the same time information
in regard to the circumstances at
tending its passage, that the people
might know who were really the
friends Of the measure.
AS the Richmond Wing has cor
rected the statement made by it,
that Hon. H. H. Riddleberger had
written the bill, and as Mr.. Riddle
berger in his speech, at New Mar
ket on the 22d inst. disclaimed
having anything to do with the
bill. it is useless tor me to intro
duce testimony to prove the asser-
tons made in my card of last week.
In the preparation of the bill, |
am glad to acknowledge the invalu-
able services of Judge Geo, r.
Calvert, a gentleman of fine legal
culture, whose opinions l haye al
ways respected /; and a gentleman
who would not claim an honor
that did not Of right belong to him.
But the preparation Of the bill
was not the only difficult feature OF
the measure. 1t was thought, that
the readjusters, who hsd all the
while been clamorous for the
,cho!s, would give the measure
their earnest approval and support.
The bill was sent to the committee
on the 9th day of December, 1878.
and there slept until late in Feb
ruary of the following year. 1t will
be rememberek that the finance
committee was decidedly readjuster.
But Notwithstanding this the bill
was not reported. Nor did the
Committee ever report it. After
learning that it was the purpose
and intention to bury the bill in
committee, as patron of the bill. l
tack copy into the Senate Cham
Der, and meeting Hon. Jno, w.
Daniel, Maj. Grimsldy, c. T. Smith
and others, l told them of the fate
which my bill had met in the House
committee; and asked them if they
could not get the bill through the
Senate, which would bring the bill
before the House direct and in that
way l thought we could beat the
opposition party, as l was of the
opinion that majority on the floor
of the House were in sympathy
with the measure. These gentle
men at once promised their sup
port and told me that it could be
gotten through the Senate in very
few days. The bill came up, and
was put in competition with two OF
three other propositions, and. was
finally adopted unanimously. But
while it was adopted unanimously,
reference to the records will show
that the names of John f. Massle
Abram Fulkerson, John Paul, and
others Of the same faith are not re-
corded as voting for the bill. They
were, for some reason. absent-but
had been present but short while
before. That they were in Mozart
| Hall at the time will not explain
their absence satisfactorily. W hen
the bill came to the House l made
motion to take the bill up, under
suspension of the rules, that il
might be put upon its passage al
once. Mr.. Harvie, of Amelia, {
rampant readjuster, opposed the
motion i'll speech which he fol-
lowed with a motion to send the
bill to the Committee-the same
/ Committee of which he was mem
Der, and in which the bill had beer
buried for more than than tive
months. When his motion was
: lost and mine prevailed, and The
question came up en- its adoption, he
nor any of his friends had TIT
courage to vote against it. Hence
the journal reports one hundred ana
r eiqM vOtes for the bill-Mozar
Hall will explain the whereabouts
of many who did not vote for the
bill.
Having given you briet histOry
Of the bill and Of the circumstance
attending its passage, | will allud'
to some Of the results growing on
i it as a law upon our statute
',noks
Tie Richmond Wig of Oct. 81
$40, after giving a tabulatet
tatement of funds appropriated
school purposes, says: Thus
under the Brokers' Bill and thu
.enkel Bill, the schools are to &c
II Gao1 rtQII n ,,oor