Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-02-13
Riis f,r Sc.sos. Purposes.

Mr.. EDIToR-Please allow me to
say through your paper, in relation
10 the bill have had passed by the
House of Delegates, allowing the
Board of Supervisors of Accomac
county to increase the county and
district levy two and one-half cents
each on the one hundred dollars for
school purposes, that it is not COM
pulsory, and the tax payers of our
county will never have their taxes
increased one cent in consequence of
the passage of that act alone, that is
to say, before any extra tax can be
called for, under this act the School
Trustees of the different districts,
must ascertain and state the need Of
the increase to the County Superin-
tendent, and the County Superin
tendent if he concur must petition
the Board of Supervisors for an in
crease of levy for county or district
school purposes, and the Board of
Supervisors are at liberty to1grant
the request, or refuse, if in their
judgment, the tax is excessive or I'M
necessary. Now, I think it will be
conceded by everybody in Accomack
that they have nothing to fear from
entrusting the privilege or power in
the hands of said officers. If any
interested person will look at the
material OF which our School Trustees
are composed, they will find them to
lie gentlemen Of the highest integrity
end moral worth, gentlemen who
work for the good OF their people
without any compensation, except
very small consideration to the clerks
of their Board, also that they are
citizens who ply considerable taxes
themselves and that consideration
alone if nothing else), would pro-
hibit them from desiring and asking
to be taxed unnecessarily. The same
rule will apply to our County Super
intendent whom we all know 10 be
a conservative gentleman and large
tax payer, and who would not be
benefited cnn cent as to salary by
any increase in taxation, and the
same rule applies to our excellent
Board of Supervisors who are tax
payers themselves, and who would
not likely levy an unnecessary tax
upon themselves just for the priv
lege of taxing ,others. What more
safeguards can the most prudent de-
sire?
As to the District tax, I am in
formed that there is no necessity for
an increase and it is absolutely GER
tain that the Trustees will not call
for it if they don't need it, but should
the County Superintendent ask for
the outside limit of county funds,
and the Board of Supervisors should
decide to grant his request, they
could only levy twenty-f five cents on
the one thousand dollars worth of
property, which I venture to say,
would hardly be noticed by the
average tax payers am glad that
Senator Blackstone has called atten-
ton to the bill in the ENTERPRISE,
as being introduced by myself, which
l hereby acknowledge fully and am
perfectly willing to stand by it, but
I fail to see how he expects to get an
expression of his constituents this
late in the session. 1t may be, that
he can explain his hardness, in the
matter, in the face of the fact, that
he knew of the movement, before it
was offered in the House. His fail
ure to act, and his opposition to this
matter in the Senate, is in nv judg-
lnent serious reflection on the in
tegrity and business sense of our
School Trustees, our County School
Superintendent, and especially upon
our excellent Board of Supervisors
whom we can trust to levy for every
purpose, but who can't be trusted to
lovy for school purposes.
ID. FRANK WHITE.