The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1891-03-12
NO ELECTION HELD.
A RECENT SUPREME COURT DE.
CISION
Renders our Free School Bill InOper.
alive.

The last Legislature passed an
Act, to create system of Public
Schools tor the city of Marietta, Civ
Ing the right to levy a tax and pro-
vide a support for the same. The
city council ordered and advertised
an election to take place on Friday,
March 9th, 1891 Every arrange
ment bad been made, to hold the
election, but few days before the
election, Col. D. W. Blair called
Mayor Glover's attention to a re-
cent decision OF the Supreme Court,
which clearly set forth the uncon-
stitutionality of certain features of
the act, and this was in regard to
the exaction of an incidental fee"
for children who should attend the
school, therefore it was deemed best
to allow said election to 60 by de-
fault. Section five of our free
school act reads as follows:
SECTION V. Be it further enacted, That
said Board shall prescribe incidental fees
for the children of said city who NAV attend
said schools as follows: for primary grade
fifty cents per scholastic month for grams
mar grade. not less than seventy.fve cents
per scholastic n onth; for high school grade
thor Ill ID
month. Said fees shall be paid monthly
to whom they shall be paid. All the chill
dren between the ages OF six and eighteen
years whose parents guardians or natural
protectors reside within the corporate limits;
of said city shall be entitled to the benefits,
of said Schoo. upon paying the incidental
fees of the grade to which said child be-.
longs. Said Board shall also provide for.
the admission into said Schools of persons
over eighteen years of age residing in said
city, and of any persons residing out Of
said corporate limits upon the payment Of
such rates of tuition as may seem to them
reasonable and just; provided, however,
that said Board of School Commissioners
shall have power and it shall be their duty
to remit the payment of said incidental
fees in the cases of any children who may
not be able and whose parents or guardians
may not be able in the judgment of the
Board to pay the same.
IL an injunction from Stewart
county, Irwin ct al. vs.. Gregory ct
al, in the adoption of local school
law, Judge Bleckley, OF the Supreme
Court, rendered the following decis-
ion:
In so far as municipal public schools
perform the functions of common schools,
they must be free to all the children of the
municipality just as the common schools
in general are free to all children of the
State. This results from the scheme of
the constitution in regard to public schools.
1t follows that the exaction of an incidental
fee to be paid by each and every pupil as
condition of admission into the public
schools of a town, though constitutional as
applied to non resident pupils, would be
unconstitutional if applied to resident pu>
pills, also.
Thus it will be seen that in the
face of this decision it would have
been useless to have held an cleo.
ton under the act to- establish tree
schools for Marietta, as the lnciden-
tai fee, to aid in making it self-sus-
tanning, places the bill if adopted,
where it could not be constitution
ally operative.
The bill will have to be amended
ty the Legislature in July and the
schools made absolutely free.
This decision will effect the free
schools in Cedartown, Newman and
other towns in Georgia, that have
already established free schools,
under similar acts that provide for
this incidental fee. These towns
have their school buildings erected
and their bonds issued under local
acts /; but the decision is made just
in time to save Mari eta from at
tempting to do an unconstitutional
thing.
The bill will be amended and the
people given an opportunity to say
whether they want absolutely free
schools, or not.
Albany, Ca, had ordered an cleo
ton to be held on the Goth of Feb
uary, to determine whether Albany
should have free schools or not,
with an incidental fee, but owing to
the Supreme court decision tae
Mayor and Council rescinded the
order for the election.