The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-04
Smith and FRITZ Bills
Have Been ReSurrectcd in the House
of Representatives.
THE FIGHT FOR SUPREMACY
City Members Are Arraycd Aga inst the
Changers ON School Fund Dis.
tribution-P Pcmrosc Labor
Bill Defeated.
Special to the Scranton Tribune

Special to the Scranton Tribune.
Harrisburg. May 3.-The rural men,
bers of the house are determined to
change the present system of
distributing the school appropri-
alton If it can be done. They
want to enrich the country dis
tricts at the expense of the cities. SO
far they have not been getting such leg
islation at this session, although they
have on the house calendar two such
measures. One of these is the Smith
bill. which was killed by the city mem
bers two weeks ago and then resurrect-
ed and replaced on the calendar. The
other is the Fritz bill. Both will come
up next week for third reading.
The Smith bill distributes the school
funds by scattering one-third accord
ing to the number of teachers regular
ly employed for % full term and the
balance according to the number of
taXables. The Fritz scheme fixes the
basis of distribution of the appropria-
tion on the number of children attend
ing school. The bill also provides that
districts shall not be required to hold
six consecutive months of school in
order to receive their share of the APP
preparation, but must hold six months
in all.
Should either of these bills become
law the country districts will get con-
siderably more than they now receive.
The Philadelphia and Allegheny MEM
bers are dead set against any such
change in the appropriation and are
prepared to battle with the farmers to
the end
The present system Is bred on the
number of taxables in the respective
school districts. The farmers have
shown that large numbers of persons
are returned as taxables in many places
who are merely "hoaters'' and tramps,
yet they are counted in making the dis
tribution of the school funds. In many
agricultural communities there are
none of this class and the result is
they receive considerably less money
than they are really entitled to con-
duct their schools properly. The re-
suits of this system are surprising The
average per school according to the
$5,000,000 appropriation in 1894 was $2O3.
Yet many district received from $500 to
$500 school, while hundreds of others
received less than $780,
The countrymen desire to aid the dis
tricts that they claim do not receive
fair share of the appropriation by add
ing a small amount to this, which
would necessarily reduce the appropria--
ton to the districts that now receive
more than their share. According to
the appropriation of 1894 there We're
fifty-six districts that averaged only
. ipt,v hot
received an average of S3S2.3l Under
the system proposed by Representative
Smith these fifty-six districts would re-
ceive an average of 500 a school and
the thirty-nine an average of $3.50.
Pcnrosc Labor Bill Defeated.
The Penrose bill, raising the age of
child labor from 10 to IA years has been
indefinitely postponed by the house,
which means it was defeated. The
Philadelphia members attacked the bill
as working a hardship on poor people.
Farmer" Moore, the Grange leader,
held that if the children We're sent to
school and the idle men that are now
wandering through the country given
work that it would reduce ignorance
and crime. Mr.. Harrison, of the Ger
mantown district, wanted to know If
men would do the work performed by
children. Mr. Moore replied that many
men would be glad to do it at present.
Representative Fow' declared when
the age of child labor had been raised
from II to 13 years the legislature was
assured that it would be the limit. The
good people now want it raised to IA
years, and later they will be asking It
increased to Is and 16. He believes in
teaching children to work. Such law
would prevent the employment of chill
dren in large stores of Scranton during
the holiday season. BY doing light
work. which does not injure their
health, Mr. Few said the youngsters of
poor people are able to make many a
penny at Christmas time, and It enables
them to enjoy pleasures which would be
denied them if not permitted to work.
Speaker Walton will not order an
election for the successor of Represent
ative Lemon, whose death occurred
last Monday. The law requires the
speaker to do this within thirty days.
AS the session is nearly over it is not
considered worth while to hold special
election.