The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-05-01
THE SENATE EDUCATIONAL BILL.

misunderstanding Of the scope and pro
visions of the Senate Educational Biz
than of any important measure that La-
claimed public attention lately. The
bill merely appropria,es sum o! money
TO aid the States III the work of common
school education There is nothing
compulsory about the measure, and !.
has no machinery. The >wfn j. avpor.
toned among the States on the basis Of
| iiiteracy, as aeccrtained from the cen.u-
Of l3sI. The General Gorernmcn:
ha- 10 rigL, 20 interfere with tie school
sy.tem of any Sta.c. ~eiara." .choo!,
for white and cclorci children are au-
thorzed by expres, terms. The money
| is paid into the state school treasury
| and spcn. under the directions Of the
Legislature Of each state. The d!-bursc.
ment Of The schoo. furi and the man
| agement Of the .chooi- i, entirely in Tie
hand- Of the State authorities tie only
provision being tha, i. shall be fairly
and imfaF.ial!y expended There is no
requirement in the bii! nccc>-ilaling The
expenditure Of tic money among the
seyeral Counties according 10 their iii!
eracy. |; is to be fairly expended ur.dcr
the state School Law This, in South
Carolina by analogy 70 the division "i
County funds. would probably be appor,
toned according 10 the attendance on
tie public schooi-. The dread tina,
-nmc.hing disastrous i, to grow out Of
this measure arYcars 20 us utterly Chi
mer.caI. The presen. bill is q good one.
Even lis opponents admit that if evil
come, out of it there must be ,ubse-
qucn, amendment Of the Law. This
-uproscs tha, there will be Republican
President, Republican Senate. and "a
Republican House Of Representatives.
Therefore, if they could amend this bill!
they could pas, a new one. By defeating
this bill they do not lessen Tie possibility
pf trouble. In our opinion they increase
it. II the present bill is passed it will
probably be the end Of Educational
legislation by Congress. If it is not
passed, the subject will continue to be
agi,ated, and II bad bill may be passed
The Republican party j. determined to
try the experiment OF educating the
negro. They now propose to do it
through the common gchools Of the State.
If This is defeated they may come up
next with bill for schools controlled by
Federal machinery sent here
from abroad and controlled by Federal
| officers. For our part, we think it safcr
TO take the present law, which is n good
one, rather than risk legislation by new
Congress, which may give us very
Objectionable measure. When We go to
the real source Of opposition TO this bill
in South Carolina it will be found in
most cases 10 be based on al opposition
TO the present tax in this State for the
aid Of common schools. That question
is not !nvolved in the present discussion.
The two mills :ax for common schools is
& Constitutional provision. We cannot
get rid Of it ut present. Therefore, the
common schools will go on for some time
TO come under the present law. The
revenue re raise is not sufficient to give
US good schools. They are only kept
open from four to five months in the
year, where they should be open for nine
or ten. The aid proposed from the Fed
eral treasury will give us an average of
about S5j0, 800 per year for eight years
This would nearly double our school
revenues, and enable the schools to run
eight or nine months in the year, which
| would be quite all efficient school term.
II seems to us, therefore, that as we are
compelled to have the common schools
that We ought to have efficient schools.
We can do this if the General Govern.
ment helps us. We cannot do 80 indie.
pendent of such help without imposing
greater burdens of taxation than our
people can afford.
This money a appropriated from q
surplus in the treasury. 1t is true that
it ought not TO be there. 1t is wrong for
the government to collect greater reve.
nues than it needs, but unfortunately
tho revenue is greatly in excess .f the
needs Of the government. That excess
will be spent by Congress in some way.
1t will 60 for rivers and harbors, and be
distributed, in the n;sin, North and
West, if it is not taken for education.
1t seems to US, therefore, just, rs we'll as
polite, for the South to get her share OF
it for education. 1t will improve our
Stale in the culture of our citizens, and
it will add nearly five millions of dollars
to the material interests Of tho State.
The North has grown rich off cf the
cold flag and an appropriation" while
the South has stood OF discussing fine
lspun theories of constitutional powers
The money in the Federal Treasury be.
longs to the South as much as to the
North and West, and while Congress is
dividing it out we think tho South should
tsGe her share Of 1t, CT 81 near that share
as she can get.
A PATENT MEDICINE COMBINATION
| -