Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1883-03-30
THIRD EDITION,
OUR DOVER LETTER,
The Appropriation for Schools
Passage 81 the Local Option bill
Both Houses 10 Adjourn April ~

BOth Houses 10 AdjOurn April ~
SPECIAL Correspondence OF tn. REPUBLICAN.
DOVER, Del, March ~, 1888 Near
ly the entire morning ana part of the af
ternoOn session of the House was devo,
ted TO discussing Mr.. Messick's educa,
uOnal bill, and endeavoring to decide
on all amount to be- appropriated for
school purposes. Mr.. Bales occupied
the floor il a toscible speech and sub
United an amendment to the bill
which lis up the blank in the first see
ton with the words Twenty-Five
thousand d,llars." Various sugge,.
tons were thrown out rs t. the best
mode Of raising this money and tue di-
vision of the same. X, II and Sussex
who, combined, only pay about one half
of the tax 81 the State, " lille New Castle
pays the other half, want the apprOpri-
alton equally divided among the three
Counties, which would be gross injus-
tice to New Castle County.
The sum suggested by Speaker Bates
appropriate about one dollar to each
enrolled sruds nt III the free schools OF
the Stale, but tn" New Castle members
do not propose t. have HE sum equally
divided II they can prevent il. After
offering various amendments to the bill
il WAS final Y decided TO tiN the sum at
so, 900, t. be distributed between the
Counties upon the basis Of the number
of children attending school in each, as
;tscertained from the enrolment of the
preceding year, the quota of each Coun-
ty 10 be divided pro rata in New Castle,
and according to the existing ~ stem in
Kent and Sussex Counties, and nc
School District to ne entitled to u share
in the appropriation until ii has raised
by taxation all amount equal to its
share OF the appropriation. The bill
was then reported back to he House,
where II will remain until taken ny tul
its final passage. As il now stands, at
ter being discussed nearly all day, il is
very incomplete and in very crude
shape Considering the Time that has
been spent on this important question
by the committee, it was thought hat d
more complete bill would have bee,
forthcoming.
Briefly stated. the bill is as follows:
SECTION provides for the raising a
sc, 1000 annually out of any funds il
the State Treasury not otherW ise ap
propriared, 10 lc divided between rh,
Counties according to the number Of
children attending school in each, a.
ascerraiued by the Superintendent from
the enrolment OF the preceding year
including many new districts made 10y
the Legislature and Levy Court. New
Castles quota to be according t. IN,
number OF children in the schools. New
Districts 70 share pro rata according I,
the nunIherot schools when first started
SECTION = provides that no Distric
shall share Ill this appropriation until i
has raised an amount equal to this ap
preparation.
SECTION 3 provides that none of tn,
school fund derived from the State shall
be expended i'll the erection Of new
school houses, alteration Or furnishing
of any school house, but shall be- uSeG
for educational purposes in the mainte
nance Of the schools.
Sc, TIoN provide, that all schools
shall be op,n,L hy1 " 10Th of October
and kept open until the money APP
prOpriat.d is exhausted This applies
to country schools and not to Sc!ouis
where the Commissioners are unable tt
procure teachers. II any school shall
be closed before the money is eXhaustc,
the commissioners shall be charge,
interest At the rate Of II per cent. tol
all money remaining uneXpendru.
SECTION > relates 10 the sale OF books
and authorizes the State Superintel
dent 10 deliver the books TO ten persons
ineach County, who shall act as agents
and supply the books to parents o.
guardians 1T cost price, with i've pei
ceu'. commission added. These agent
to make monthly returns OF all book
sod, rclnittins the money to the Super
intcndcnt less their commission. Tn,
Superintendent to turn the money uve>
quarterly /" the State Treasurer
SECTION i provides that the teachers
shall undergo an annual examination
before the State Board Of Education
and that body may issue life certificates
to those holding first grade certificate
and having spent ten years in thu
capacity II teacher
SEtllu% I repeats all acts or part
ii ais inconsistent with this act.
Sh,IIpE =. II shall be the duty o
the sup rlntendrnt TO ascertain TIN
:'IuuHlrts IN, ~ each District and con
.onuaiu,. DISTRICTS, under the prov isioN
At ti1. ,HIt, dl.I to furnish syhtdui
Thereon - thy STATE TREASURER on or be
fore jA. i.,' ut june III each year. lii
:tnlrlru .,u .t-'nrtiiutu shaI. be paid b.
iii" :sja'r lrcls'tr"r, uppn the order 0
he ScHu"l commissioners or Board .
tNac tr"n 81 tho r. Sptrtivc Districts
TN SIN ATE FOR LOCAL OPTION.
tn" rrr1' I'r ,In', op!o>rrs uI' he Lo"a
Option .lu.m"A l'cnuing 0elurr the Lee
ialatUre, AZ atIl az III" friends Of IN
bill were taken completely 10y surpri,
this afternoon when senator Belts
champion of the bill, and Chairman u
the Committee, arose in his s"Ll, an'
reported fAv0rably on the same, au'
moved ii BE- taken up for consideration
At the tim" tn" bill was reported, tn
members were busiiy engaged in talk
ing over legislative matters, but whe
HE tide OF the bill was cited, they wer
all attention and appeared much SUI
prised. Mr.. Belts seeing n look &
astonishm ent pictured on each mem
ber's countenance, said that in view q
full Senate he thought it prudent T.
dispose OF the bill and have il don
with, little dreaming Of the glorious re
suit that would follow, rs it was gen
orally conceded that tile bill would b
lost by close vote Of 5 to 1. Mr.. A. Il
Cooper thinking the bill bad but littI
SHOW, said but few words against il
whicn were substantially as follows;
:" While | am in favor Of Suppressin!
intemp-rancc, | cannot see that thi
bill vii Tend to lessen tn" evil as it la
been asserted by strong advocates q
loral option in Maryland that thcr
was more liquor drank IN N"untie
where local option was in vogue than be
fore the measure was adopted. That
had q t"udnnry 10 drive young me-
from the towns 10 places beyond tn
line. where they would get full SUI
tT'HF' 1 '"' "'r- '"1' law" \" m