The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-03-05

the ul.DlcGlll Ql~lIlCl lllS Hno NV
hundred children going to school?
The CHAIRMAN. admit that our thepry
Is all right where the facilities already GNis..
n the people will not improve their ftcil'tieS
let them 20. II we give ten Years or reason
able time SO that Il | the people o! this country
will have had the opportunity TO understand
and appreciate the common SCHOOLS. ana IL at
the end OF ten years tlit y do not support mem
let them 20. / would rather take the 'Eicnlh-
IN Chlnce'' instead Of them ; let the country
MI up with ragahondS anu heather II amy
community. will not take care OF us sc.ioniS
.it"r once they have had a fair opportunity
and d tnir STAR. II you had me iirili!leS a!-
/ ready ! think Your t"epry would be all rlsnt.
Mr.. COWARD. That Is The plan fiN"'t, as Elr
us II sense Of justice and Interest, krchly Hllve
10 the true needs OF The population, could
guide, direct. and enable MS To- pursue IL Ger.
! tuin cuulSr. OF course. you WILL understand
that there are certain dark corners in nearly
every county thai it Is almost impossible |"
provide with full scll'n,l privileges, where
half n dozen scholars only can D." broGShl 10
gclhrr. II will !.ot pay to employ Il teacher
Tor t.,rre or four months for tina, ha:f n doG"n.
We Try to stretch them over in other neiSn.
horhouhS, SO that our schools a'c not NJ all
distributed with Il View to equality vi area,
but with "A view I" meeting IN: hc,.;!i iGtt,
sites of tho case, according to the population
of the Stale.
The CHAIRMAN. l know ynur State ha,
made extraordinary rxcrllOIS. ana Is. thiilK,
doing as much, u not more, than almost any
other State i'll proportion to It's ability at The
Mr.. COwARD In regard to the matter of CT
hcirncy of schools, | would say that the cltit>
arc tnirIy we'll supplied. SOM q: them admir-.
ably well supplied. Tho large cities. for IN,
stance. charleston ana Columbia. have GOOD
school buildings, bnt out In the rural sections
Is the real great want. The policy has been III
use up all COST entirely, or rs lar ns possible,
! the whole income OF our sclOOl-fund Tor The
purpose of actual teaching. The mere pro
viding OF the sclluol-room mas been Il subordi
mite consideration so that the Sint. docs not
own all the srhuOl buildings that are in use
as school-hnuS"s 1T the present time. some oi
them are church buildings; many OF thenIur
exceedingly inferior in CON -trlictIOn, uilc0!n'
Portable, iil.lrovidcd with furniture Of amy
sort; but 1t has been though, best to keep The
schools open us long rs IT. was possible 10 kcer
| them open and the money would LAST, rather
than to spend one dollar upon the furniture
and such matters that might possibly Oe dis
penscd with.
school commissioners l sec that thiss subject Is
generally commented up0n. The desire now
Is to get better school buildings all through
the State, for there is an educating elect IN a
nished, and comfortable. 1t interests the
whole community In the neignbnrhoo it is
attractive to the Children, and they are
the forbidden buildings that we have fire.
quently TO make use Of and scllool-tilne Is q
moment OF terror loa very large portion oI
our pupils. colored us well aS while. 81
Representative AIKEN. What months Of
the year do the free schools keep open In
south Carolina? .
mir. COWARD. There Is no uniformity for 1t
You zee the up-cOuntry habits are quite dif
fcrent from the low-country habits, along The
sca.sllore. Most Of the schools open In No
venlber and December and continue, II plSSi
biz, until cotton planting time. Then they
are suspended until cotton picking Is over
In some communities there Is an lnterreSnutn
brtwecn laying-by time and contemplating
time, In which the schools are open again l.
they have any funds left 10 their credit.
Representative AIKEN. The reason why
asked the question WIS to get from you what
| thought would he II satisfactory answer t.
the cliairman's inquiry rs To ten against
ninety You schools open In winter the
10 xeS are collected and the funds are disIrlb-
ulcd ut that same time. so that the chlculi
ton that you make upon the number OF Mt
tendance in the fall Is paid for ~ The very
time you make the calculation.
Mr.. COwARD. II Is paid for ut the time Tho
calculation Is made.
Rrp%reSe NATIVE A1KEN. SO that 1t Is mol
paying this year for last years attendance
but 1t is paying In November Tor the children
Of Thai very year, because the taxes are col
lertcd In the fall.
The CHAIRMAN. 1t was the basis of dis.
tribution | had III mind. Tie money, J see
comes In ndvnnce, and Is In readiness when
ever the expenditure Is needed.
Representative TAYLOR. 10 you think the
fund should lie applied In pnrt I" the erection
Of sclioUl-hnuseS or shOuid all lie applied FOL
the purpose OF paying tehcherS?
Mr.. COWARD. You refer TO the proposed
Congressional aid:
Representative TAYLOR. refer to any hp
preparation the Government may make.
MIR. COWARD. That Is not at all material,
IF the limitation should be put In the nplro
p~riatIUn that no part OF IT, should he applied
10 school-houseS, We would simply Use our
State funds to put the school houses In good
order nnd would use the congressional fund.
for pnyin. teachers. We would get around
the difficulty very easily In that why.
Senator CALL. What would be the average
cost uf Il good sch00l.hou>r for all ordinary
country melgnborhnod In your State?
Mr.. COWARD. Fora school with m average
attendance of forty pupils. Think the school
house could he butt for from $500 To Sl.WD
Senator MI or what sort or material?
Mr.. COWARD. Wood.
Senator CALL. Would IT cost that much
MIR. COWARD. Including furniture and rv.
erything else. We usually build them TIVE
stories high.
Representative WILLIS. Do you mean that
your country scllool-lIouscs cost from So tt
Sl,nO0 IN South Carolina?
Mr.. COWARD. am only making an esti'
mate.
Representative WILLIS. What IL the actuaj
fact now?
Mr.. COWARD. I Gu" give you the total. hut
! beg you to bear In mind that many of these
buildings belonged tnr,ucrIy 10 private schools
or private corPornt;ons or towns, or some
thing OF that lind, aud their value WAS very
great. will give you the tota! value OF The
school property In the State and how much II
was increased last year.
Representative WILLIS. The reason why
asked you the question was that | understand
from Judge Dibble, OF your Stale. The other
day that most OF ynur scl0ol-hOuscs woulL
not exceed III value SO.
Mr.. COWARD. / WIS endcavorins to nm
swcr the question as to what good schno!
houses could be erected for. Sumo Of the
SchOol-hOuses are nothing but old ,lOg.caO
bins: some of them has been Abandoned at
residences; have no flooring nj all but Il dir
floor, NO benchlng but Il slab of wom rounded
| St3skG and nnn lfIDntv krlinnl nIll mi SSII1Ipl
informed me that lag. year III his visits he
found one of his schools upon some Tugs roll
ed up together In the woods under IL tree:
Representative AIKEN. That only shows
their desire to get education.
Mr.. COWARD. Not the desire Of the .trrs
tees, however. Of that particular school dis
Mr.. BIcHNELL. About $3.50 is the Average
valuation in South Carolina. There are 2,sG;
school-lI0uses and the valuation Is Sl07 go, nc
curding to the census OF 1850.
Mr.. COWARD. The SchOol-houses previous
~ erected have m estimated value OF Sl34, 3G6
The number OF School-llouses rented durin.
the last year were rented at n cost rf SAB
There were one or two counties for which NJ
report was made In that last Item: but e>ti
mating thai there wore as many rs 19 school
buildings rented for school purposes, theIc re-
main l0) school buildings not needed In the
State.
The CHAIRMAN. You are better off than in
any Northern State that ! know Of
Mr.. COWARD. | have given you those thai
were rented. There are some buildings thai
have been used that do not belong to the
Suite. and they were really not rented, but
simply lent and nsed for school purposes.
The CIIArRMAN: You mean that with lr
additional school houses you would have nc
combinations for the schools OF the whole
state?
Mr.. COWARD. For all the schools that arc
now existing.
than half the school population, however, /
understand YOU to say,
Mr.. COWARD. The number OF school houses
erected during the past year was l0i at COST
for c~overall styles ofsrrool buildings. In town
some handsome building have been erected
Ak at lickens Court House, and in some
townships only q log Cabin ut II cost 0: forty
fifty, or sixty dollars inls been erected.
Senator CALI" Would you not rather have a
good log cabin Tor 4 school house ut $50 in a
nci@ hborlood where the people live I'm log
cabins, and have more money to give tlit
teachers and To otherwise uSt than 10 put i
ull In n better building?
Mr.. COWARD. We have preferred that plan
to expeiding much Of our money upon the
school buildings.
senator CALL. Would you not still prefer ii
In this appropriations
MIR. COWARD. If you would look into soine
Of those log cabins I think you would find
everything 10 condemn them for sclool
buildings. from the TACT that many OF those
We call log cabins IN the State are nothing
but log renS, with one hole cut for Il door III
one sue, VIII no proper lSnllup, Vnu Will
u small aperture for a window.
Senator CALL. Cannot Il good log house be
built IN your State for SlUu?
Mr.. CAwARD. ! think so, but / think that
we should erect in every district n handsome
building; when | say handsome, l mean
handsome for that locality, IN attractive
building that the people In that neighbour
hood will Take some pride In. tl,ot the chill
diem Will like 10 90 to, and that they Will he
kept comfortable In. Next Ia the impnrtancC
OF having Il GOOD teacher in a community, |
certainly would rank the importance Of a
g0Od school llnuse.
Senator GALL. That Is the question I ask cd
you, whellieryou rank 1t first or second; wletll-
er you had not better eXpend the money In
paying the teacher than in the sclonl house ?
Mr. CAWARp. or course | would rather give
IL to the teacher.
Representative AIKEN. I shOuld like 10 ask
you one question. You suy that the State tax
IL 2 mills OH the real md personal property OF
the State for the benefit OF the free schools.
How ia this money distributed?
Mr.. CAwARD. 1t Is left IN the county. not
brought out III all.
Representative AIKEN. That Is a fact |
wanted 10 call the attention of the chairman