The age-herald., 1897-10-01
Joint Conference to Be Held This
 Afternoon.
A MASS MEETING PROBABLE
If the White Shield Committee Fails to Get Sat- isfacilon -Ullman Says Free Schools
 Are Impossible Now.

question and the board of education.
 The leaders of the Inasp meeting d. clare that in the event they do not get satisfaction another meeting will be called carly next week at which fuither steps wiA be taken to have the schools absolutely free.
 President Samuel Ullman. of the board of education. has dssued the following sta atement:
 To the Patrons of the Birmingham Pub
 lie Schoals.
 If there was ever a time when the peorle of Birmingham should cooperate and work in harmony, 1t is now, when the best thought and energy of ths city are so essential to a successful op- eration of our public schools. To the school beard has been intrustsd the man. agement of the schools, and it is for this community to say whether it will uphold the hands of its constituted au- thorities, who have given the vexed ques- tions now confronting them years of earnest thought and study, or will our people be led off by prejudice in the steps of man. who says he has studied the question for week."
 I regard it as a misfortune that pub lie meeting should be called at this time and statements made with a perversion of facts, to stir up strife and discontent and thereby destroy the work of years. It is, in this connection, well to remen1- bsr that whem the board of education was established tuition was charged in all tha public schools. The board never rested until they we're made absolutely free Would it not be strange that they who iabored for this should now undo. without necessity, what they had accomplished? It was with a pang of sorrow when we r@alized that the f1nan- ciad condition was such as to compel us to make the high school a pay school, and much more later on when we were compelled to require tuition in every grade.
 The Juggling of tha color question into this controversy is so manifestly a ause to play upon the prejudices of the un- imfd'med, and is SO utterly without foundation in fact, that perhaps I ought to ignore 1t, but feeling it sense of duty to throw some light upon this ques- tion, I will briefly call attention to a few facts:
 The law corltemplates that negro chil- dren shall share in the public school funds just as white children and any sworn officer who purpossay and know ingly overrides the law, violates his oath. The b5aid of education hay- all along tried to foster and advance both the white and colored schools by employing the best teachers fir both schools. Conditions were such tha the board deenld 1t proper to pay the. white teachers more than the colored teachers, taking into consideration their efficiency and expense of living. The white tsach- CTS and superintendent receive salaries aggregating $22,000, while the colored teach ITS r5c9ive salaries aggregatlng only $4,000. The white children num- Der about two+thirds and the colored children about one-third of the whole school attendance. So it may be seen ths colored teachers receive about one- fifth as much as the white teachers. Therefore coming down 10 abstract right where would be the justice of collecting from the colored pupils as much as f1,om the white pupils, wh:n the expenses in cldent to the conducting of the colored schools is about one-fifth of the expense of our school system? It seems to me, no just man with a knowledge of these facts would desire it.
 Again, under the general school law of the state, of the approxlmated re- ceipts of $11,2 ,22e from state and county funds coming to our public schools equftably distributed among the whiba and ccloasd children would give the colored children with the poll tax re- ceived from coloiEed people and the tui- tion required an amount considerably in excess of the amount received for their education. Then why should complaint be mads that the colored children pay only about one-half the tuition paid by white children, when in fact we might excuse them from paying any tuition if the receipts from the state, county and poll tax were in hand or promptly received. It is fact well known that the city of Birmingham has tried at various. times to increase it's revenue. First, 8 constitutional amendment was submit, ted, called the Birmingham Amend ment," which was defeated. Next, the "Hundiey school amendment" met the same fate. Then the board of educatioh- secured the passage of the ''OBrien bill." which we believed would help us out of our financial diculties, but this too, was destined for short life If the O'Brien act had been particularly accepted by the people at large, the present conditions would have been avoided, but its short life was en- compassed by number of taxpayers by securing a decision from the supreme court that 1t was unconstitutional. The board of education deemed the resist ance to collect the taxes under the O'Brien bill as the last method by which our schools could be kept open as free schools. So, that, when in last year we began to charge tuition for the months of March. April and May, it had the effect of driving out of the schools