The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-24
ARE SCHOOL OFFICERS MASTERS OF THE
PEOPLE, OR ARE THEY PUBLIC
SERVANTS ?
A. FEW REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED
WITH THE CONDUCT OF THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Some Matters. in Which the Public
May be incidentally lnteres'e"'
and on Which the School Commas
sioner and the Board of Trustees
nay be Able to Throw Some Light
STATEMENT.


The people on the East side of Hard Labor
creek being long way from any school, con-
cluded this winter to ask the School Trustees
of the township 10 open school on their own
side of the creek. which should be more acces-
sible to them. This they thought rcasona-
BILE request and received such encouragement
us caused them to organize the desired school,
but upon reflection the Trustees concluded to
decline to pay the teacher. The patrons OF
the New school then came to the School Com
missioner with their supposed grievance.
They were directed to return home, and make
out their appeal in writing, which was done.
and deposited with the Schoo. Commissioner.
Afterward they were notified to serve q writ
ten copy OF their appeal the Trustees.
This necesSitated another trip to Abbeville.
bat it was promptly complied with. All this
time the School Commissioner expressly de-
cared that he would make NO intimation as
10 what his ruling would be, but as hope
springs eternal in the human breast, some Of
the patrons of the New School, who talked to
the Schoo! Commissioner, had no doubt of a
favorable decision. They knew their cause
was just and they thought the School Com
missioner would not deny them what seemed
so plain to them to be a fair claim. In the
meantime rumors of unkindness on the part
of The Trustees reached the ears of the pa
irons Of the New School. and it may be that
the opponents of the New School were re-
& lied by flying rutnors which may have come
10 their ears, but Of this we know nothing
Some of the friends Of the New School had
seen the letter OF Captain Carwile, but so far
rs we know, none OF them ever saw or
knew the import of the answer of the Trus.
tees until the day when the question was to
be decided. They were dazed with some of
the statements in that paper and were for the
moment unable TO answer them, and previ-
ously feeling SO certain OF receiving justice
they had neglected to employ lawyer to pre-
sent their case.
We will here state on behalf of the patrons
of the New School that we believe they attach
no blame whatever to the Board Of EXamln-
crs for their decision. Being unacquant-
ed with anything connected with the appeal
except the written statements. and assuming
that all the trustees said was q fair impartial
statement, any disin nterested person, without
Investigation, may have made the same de-
cision that the Board gave. We are So fami-
inr with many OF the facts, and can read so
much between the lines. that We distrust our
own ability to give fair judgment as to the
merits of the respective papers. What we
complain Of is:
/. That the Trustees, in their official CO.
paclty, should have used offensive language.
Whether our appeal was well founded or not,
even white 'renters' are entitled to respect
full official consideration.
.. That the refusal to grant the school de-
niles us a right to which we think we are
clearly entitled.
8. That the action of the School Commits
sioner put us to great unnecessary trouble
and incon venience in conducting this appeal
4. But We complain most grievousy that
the School Commissioner has put himself to
so little trouble to Inform himself as to the
real merits of q claim in which We are SO Vi
tally interested.
Having said this much by way of explana-
tion, we proceed to give the official papers.
After them will follow some statements of
facts, which may open the eyes of the people
as to the manner In which the public schools
have been conducted in White Hall town.
ship, and which may also go to show that the
School Commissioner has turned deaf ear
TO our just complaint.