The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-02-11
The Citadel.

M
The G~reenyilIe Mountaineer sounds
q warming to the friends of the cita-
del.-"And It will devolve upon its
friends to show that there is q neces-
sity for its existence or else the voters
will send men to the Legislature whose
instructions would be explicit and UNI
mistakaSle on this point" In our hum
bic view, and we have urged IL before
this, the friendsof the citadel cannot
show a necessity" for its existence.
In the meanwhile, this is no argument
for its non-existence or Destruction
The same '.necessity" exists for its cx-
istence as for public schools, or other
colleges. Public schools are good
things and so are institutions of "high-
er education," las they say but THE
ADVERTISER still thinks that mother
wit, and '"wise without the schools"
go a great way.
"Gie me anc spark of natures fire,
It's all the learning L DESIRE"
All this is good. But the question of
necessity" is not involved. The State,
for EXPEDIENCY, and only for exped-
iency, and not as q matter of right,
takes money out Of the tax payers
pocket, and appropriates it to the sup
port of colleges and schools. There are
numbers of men in aGreenville county
who pay $50 90 and $4,000 for the
support Of the public schools, md this
ia tQlnn hu tho Sfofn Tho n a, inv
payer contributes about one fifth of
this amount to the support of higher
education in the State, that is to say at
Clemson, the South Carolina College,
Citadel and Winthrop. Now the State,
taking this money, from willing and
unwilling contributors, disposes of
1t, as is most expedient for the we'll
being of the whole. "Why should
South Carolina give 5000 per year to
the education of one young man and
contribute less han SO 90 per capita
for the primary education of the chill
dren in the public schools?" The an
swer is: she does not do it. She sim
ply appropriates taxes to the support Of
the ''public schools" socalled, as a
matter of expediency and for the same
reason to the support of certain schools
Of "higher education" 1t is a point OF
wisdom, simply. The doors Of the
State Colleges are wide open to every
boy and girl in the State. We are sim
ply answering the logic of our co.em.
porary, that it misstates or mistakes
tha rnint { tho NTNnntotnoor l., ~,
posed to the higher education feature
OF the States system, lot the Noun
taineer so state llatly and the ground
thereof. We might agree with him.
But as q matter of right, no; as q
matter OF necessity, no. AS to giving
one boy or girl more than another, no.;
no such absurdity. To the schools all
over the land we give of the taxpayers
money, half q million, to certain
schools, of the Taxpayers money, one
fifth as much. 1t is best always to
settle the facts.
The question of expediency is an
other matter entirely. Incidentally,
however, we will take occasion to say
that we believe that the Citadel school
is a school where the military feature,
should be predominant. Tho time will
come, circumstanced socially as this
State is. that military men will be
found in the right place, and the Cita-
del is located precisely at the ''point Of
vantage" for possible needs. OF course,
the system of higher education in this
Sfnt~ ,s~lt H. lNtt1, l,4 - H.. Il
velopcd into its present features with
circumstances and we must make the
best we a Of it, not tear it down.