The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-01-15

the INrELL1aENcER of'two weeks ago,
says:
The INTELLIGENcER seems determined
to believe the Observer. eherishes malice
towards it. We shall not further attempt
to conyinceit to the contrary. Let that
pass, and let us see what there is in the
tNTELLIGENCER's argument about "local
politicians, "local feeling" and "local
.papers". Did it never occur to the IN
TELLIaENcER that tho very fact that the
County politicians who come from
Counties with opposing colleges" oppose
free tuition in the South Carolina College,
is the strongest evidence that free tuition
is wrong and an injustice to the ''local"
colleges Z They are in q position to see
how. free tuition in the South Carolina
College Injuries the "local" colleges.
They see that it deprives them of stu
dents they would otherwise get-students
able to pay tuition-and thus lessons their
income and their efficiency. If the "free
tuition feature in the States college
does not lessen the paying patronage OF
the alocaln colleges, whyis it that the
representatives of localities having col
leges are almost to man opposed to free
tuition?
The INTEIIIeENcER speaks Of the
.locan colleges as Opposing colleges
perhaps inadvertently-as if they were
the actors in the opposition existing be-
tween the States college and the other
colleges. The opposition comes from the
State institution.
The Observers objection to the South
Carolina College is now and has always
been confined to opposition to its "free
tuition, which gives it an unfair advan-
tage over the other institutions of similar
grade. Require tuition of pupils who
are able to pay, and the Observer and the
''local politicians" will be satisfied.
The Observer is becoming more reason
able, and there is yet q possibility of it
and the INTELL1GENcER agreeing upon
some of the questions touching the Uni
versity. We answer our contemporaries
question, that it never did occur to the
INTELMeENcER that the fact that Coun-
ty politicians who come from Counties
with opposing colleges oppose free tuition
in the South Carolina University is the
strongest evidence that free tuition in the
South Carolina University is wrong, and
an Injustice to the local colleges. 1t is
no more evidence Of such thing than
the fact that one school teacher in a
town might oppose the opening of an
other school iu the same town would be
an evidence that such new school would
be wrong and an injustice. We would
say here, however, that we do not favor
free tuition in the State University. In
our opinion those able to send their sons
or wards to the University should pay
their tuition fees, but there should be an
unlimited number of beneficiary scholar
ships for distribution among the young
men Of the State. who have not the means
of defraying all their educational expen.
ses. IF those who have heretofore made
their fight upon the South Carolina Uni
versity would cease their opposition to
the University and a proper appropria-
ton to it, and introduce bill to require
the payment of tuition fees by those who
are able to do so, they would find very
many of those who are strong friends of
the University agreeing with them. We
would rather have the University as it is
than none at all, but we would at the
same time rather see the standard raised
and q higher grade institution establish
ed. We do not mean by this to .criticise
the present institution, for we think it
has made very satisfactory progress, but
we want the good work carried on until
it is the peer of the University of Vir-
ginia, of Yale, or of Johns Hopkins
University. The O6seruer and the In.
TELL1aENcER, are nearer together than
any reader could have imagined at t.99
beginning of the present controversy.
If our contemporary had begun as he has
wound up, there would have been no
battle with pens between us.