The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-24

The School Trustees come to the rescue OF
the School Commissioner, and defend him for
having appointed ali the Trustees from the
same locality, and say
1--WE were not aware, nor are We % yet that the
School Law required the School Districts t" be sub.
divided and tho trustees to be appointed with an eye
| to ocul representation"
This whole Government is constituted on
the principle of "ocal representation" 1T Is
the very foundation principle of all Rcpubli-
can Governments. Politically, the country is
divided into States, the States into Counties,
and when we come to schools, even the colln'
ties are subdividcd into townships-this coun-
ty having siXteen-each entitled to rcpreSen'
tation, but it seems that the township repre-
Sentation shall be confined to the narrOweSt
limit possible in White Hall township. II
these trustees were not Immediately interest,"
ed in the White Hall school is it not likely
they would become convinced that other To-
caiticS within the township needed school?
Does not this very crowding of trustees to.
gether account for the extreme sparscneSs OF
school accommodations for white children In
that township? We thint so.
If the Trustees will wait until the campaign
opens VIC think 1t likely that they may, by
close tina" hSee Is mHsh to
gest that there are very few persons IN Aobe-
Vile County, outside the trustees of the
White Hall school, who are ignorant OF
ton" The friends of the New School are
sure of "local representation when the tax
es are collected to support the public schools.
When the public rUadS are to be worked
the white "rcnters' of the East side Of Hard
Labor have never, SO far US we are info: med,
been denied "local representation" We are
real ~ of the opinion that the white "renters'
of the East side of Hard Labor have local
representation" in everything except the ben
etits OF the public schools. They seem to have
been engineered out only in this respect.
TIE GREATEST GOOD TO THE GREATEST
NUMBER.
The Trustees, in their final and last shot at
us, say:
"We submit that is debarrcd from attending
school by our acti"n."
We have no doubt Of the sincerely Of these
words, and we discaim any intention of cast.
ing any imputation whatever upon these
gentlemen. They are good men,. But human
nature is frail anu sometimes blinded by per-
sonal interest They have en- Dyed school at
their own door so long, and have become SO
accustomed TO require the children OF the
the way to their door, and the injustice Of
continuing this thing being so plain to us
leads us to fear that our children are wanted
in their school only that they may be ena-
bled to draw the maximum monthly pay
from the school furd.
The official reports show that the average al
tendance at that school last year, including all
thc chi dren that may have crossed Hard La
Dor, was not over sixteen in any month. The
attendance at our school last month Was twen-
| ty. If the crossing Of Hard Labor IS such an
easy matter, and If the distance Is SO short,
why not let the few children ut White Hall
cross roads come to the school on our side of
the creek, where q much greater number of
children reside. They Will then have to walk
no further than our children would have to
walk. BY going through his own farm Mr.
Smiths children, who are estimated at mile
from White Hall, would not have, perhaps,
more than about a mile to walk. Without
"iocal representation" on our school Boards
of Trustees, even the best OF us are too apt to
believe that we are acting for the greatest
goou to the greatest number, and are also too
apt to fall into the error of thinking that the
greatest number is No. l.