The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1884-02-14
THe PROPAGATION TO Distribute
the school Eund Derived From
whisky E.iccn-es ia the Coun-
lies aloue Where Collected.

=
ouoht to know better. namely, the
Aberdeen Examiner, the Natche2
Democrat, V:cksburg Herald, Ray
mond Gazette, etc. 1t secms-to be
a Characteristic, however, Of other
vie very sensible men, whenever
they take up the cudgcl against
temperance ,o get "URdly off" and
our resi- ected contemporaries have
clearly demonstrated that in this
respect they are @ exception to the
general rule.
These journals. in their efforts &c
magnify what we are a'm"St tempted
to term n meek sentiment on the
subject # honesty, utterly igaore the
foundation principle upon which
The public school system is eslab-
Esh ii. This principle is set forth
bv our State Constitution itself,
4 rticle s, section |, in these words;
AS the stability of a republican
iolm Of government depend. mainly
upon the intelligence and virtue oi
the people, it shall be The duty oi
the Lcgjsla'H.e To encourage by al
suitable means. the Promotion o.
intellectual, sci ntitic, moral and
agricultural Improvement, by cs'ab
fishing q Hnitorm system f.tret
pUblic Sch0oiS, by iaxatlon or other
wise" ctr. The italics are ours
but it will tie seen that the correc'
principle concerning puIhc educa-
ZION is fully comprehendrd anC
clearly enunciated by the trainers
thrmsc. yes If our organic law.
In the next place, no man or SCI
of men have the constitutional au
thoritv TO waive coun'y's right t.
division of the funds arising iron
the license system in other counties
The Constitution provides in section
6, article 8, that there shall be cstab
lished a COMMON SCHOOL FUND .
which all moneys raised by the Ii
ceusing of dram shops is constituted
part--and in section 10 OF article
s, it is further provided that al
school funds shall he divided pr
rata among the children of schoo
ages" without any regard whatevei
as to how or where collected.
1t has been argued by som,
/ a. l,n nj nt
provides that there shall b'
established a common schoo
fund of which "all money
received for Iicenses granted unde
the general laws of the State for tn
sale of Intoxicating liquors or keep
ing of dram-shpI g snail constltut
q part; therefore, the obligation i
laid on TIL. counties 10 tolerat
whisky in ord,r to conform to tn
Constellation and thus keep up IT,
school fund. 1t might be argue,
with equal force and logic that be
cause the constitution provides i
this same section that all money
realized on lands forfeited to tn
State for non-payment of taxes an,
| fines for violation of the penal laws
that therefore any county who
does not furnish her quota of for
feitei lands aud crime for the pro
duction of fines is diSloyal to lie
sister counties and fails to meet tn
demands of the supreme law of tn
II, oh 4 ~,
out more closely and hearken sti
further to this la for fair and hon
est dealing, by what right ca.
COUNTY which has no delinQuen
land list and no fines, expect pr
rata from the common school fund
or What right has A.. who is poo
man in whisky selling county an'
a tce-to,taler, to send his half dozc.
children to the public schools whicl
are partly supported by b., hi
drinking ncighbor. who ha
no children? The truth is, the,
would be p e;ious lutte PUBLIC EDU
CATION at all, in the proper sense
if only those who pay for it, reap it
benefit.
If the liquor traffi; is an evil t
any county that tolerate, it, as i
frankly admitted. this is first rat
argument why it should be gGtte
rid of, not that the counties whicI
do not tolerate it should be denic,
what little mav accrue to then
through pro rata distribution c
the public school fund provided o
the broad rinciple of public educa
ton which W. have point d ont. ]
addition, such a policy would onl
tend to more firmly fortify the trafli
in the couhties where it now mos
fl Iuri, shes, by the intrinslcally veal,
but with the many, ncverthele po
teat argument that the whisky busi
ness is educating the children and i
therefore a good thing. In this way
the revenue which is now so hea"til
begrudged the few counties whic
have the power to rid themselves o
whisky, might in the emf be bite
curse to the ones where it is raise'
and retained. This, on the admis
sions alone Of those who advocat
the policy.
Prohibitionists are really oppose
TO the policy of raising funds 70
school purposes by the licensin;
# whisky anywhere, but as long a