The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-11-23
The PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Normal College for Males Suggested
Increased Taxes Advised,

|
Increased Taxes Advised,
COLUMBIA, S. c., Nov. 13.--Super.
intendent of Education Maylield has com
pleted his annual report to the Leyisla.
ture, from which the following IS made:
Tho enrolment Of the public schools Of
the State has increased from 3O,448 In
1870 to 223 l49 in 1893. For this wear
the enrolment exceeds That of any for
mer year by 13 500, aud the enrolment
OF the colored children largely exceeds
that OF the whites: The expense of op.
Grating the public schools has steadily in.
creased with the growth of the schools
but most of the increase has come from
special taxes.
The schools in the towns and cities
are, in the man, supplying the needs of
the people, but this is because of the
tact that they have voted to lew an adj.
dltlonal tax for The purposes of opeart-
Ing them. AS a rule such is not the
case with the county schools, few of
them only having voted an extra take
These schools are inadequate, many of
them inferior and some of them wolth
iess. ltls impossible to improve them
to any appreciable extent without more
money. The graded schools run about
nlne month In year, while the country
schoOls Will not average more than
three. This is a burning shame and
cruel wrong to the boys and girls of the
State who live in the country and are
lllnlted, principally, to the country
schools tor their education,
Ihere is annually spent in the support
OF the four institutions tor highor learn
ing Tor whites nearly half as much as is
spent iOr the ninety odd thousands chill.
dren who depend on the public schools.
1he superintendent recommends an en-
iarEement IN the limit Of the aye of
liability to poll tax to increase the pub
| nc school fund, and recommends that
the County Commissioners be empow-
ered TO levy more than two mills con.
stltutlonal school tax upon consent of
the voters. The cost operating scbaols
Tor the year is not given bee luse the
CollectlOn or taxes ls one year behind.
the school claims are not presented be
cause they are not payable aud The
School Commissioners do not know the
amount. II is recommended that the
school year shall colse June 30 instead
OF August 80, 80 as to give the School
commissioners time to get up all The
data for their reports. The private col
leges ali have large atten lance and do
not seem TO have been aliec ed By the
strlnCency of the tunes, some OF them
have larger attendance than last wear.
The Citadel Academy is reported in
nourlshing condition, there being sixty,
six beneficiary students these; and hber.
al appropriations fer this institution are
recommended.
The attendance a. Cedar Syringe ia
greater than any previous wear. The
superintendent recommends that
sewerage system he put in the buildings
and shat they be lighted by electricity,
Whl ;h would be much safer for The blind
pupils confined there. The Clemson
Agricultural and Mechanical Collese
opened its first session in July last, with
an enrolment far in excess of the ex-
pectatlon OF Its strongest friends. II
now has an attendance of 42O students.
with more than that number of addi-
tlonal applicants for admission at the
opening of its mex! session IN February,
rms college is now an established n-
stltutlon, and confirms the truth of the
claims OF its founders and its promoters,
mat The people Of the State demanded
such college. Their wisdom in its
conception, their heroic efforts to secure
lts completion have been crowned with
success, and the sons of Carolina will,
Tor generations to come, rise up to praise
them as benefactors greater sthan thew
knew" The superintendent advises
mat, as there is a great deal of room at
the South Carolina College that is not
needed tor its present purposes, a Nor
NAL College for Males be established
there with scholarships. This Normal
College could be operated without ad-
ditional cost.
The report OF the superintendent in
Guides the specials Of the presidents
OF the different institutions and tabulated
statements Of the attendance on the
public schools Of The State. Superlnten-
dent Mayfield also gives an account of
the work already done on the Iadustrial
and Winthrop Normal Callege at Rock
Hill.-Register.