The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-02-24
A FOR THE SCHOOLS.
Ga1 County Delegation Appears at
polls and Makes a Strong
4fgument for State Aid.

&fgument for State Aid.
Send y. Ravenscroft's bill, intro
duee4 fhe Senate last week, asking
for ~ propriation of $4,000 for two
yeztl'e I'm. the State treasury to aid
the I|iE schools of Garrett county,
has ID its first reading and is now
in the 4nds of the Senate finance
com11liitee. Last Thursday the dele
gatidi which went from here to An
napQ To look after the interests of
Garretf county in the Normal School
matter, appeared before the finance
comn1ittee:in a body. Prof. U. g.
Palmer acted as spokesman of the
delegation and in strong plea for
State aid laid the financial condition
Of Garrett county before the commit
S.S t'rof Palmer's speech is given
below:
"Our schools opened October 18th
and must close February 2Sth, at the
end of a four and one-half months
term unless we receive a special ap-
preparation from the State
ave are trying to make progress in
Garrett but the conditions are very
discouraging Education costs money
and we are poor. Our school tax be-
ing the highest in the State we cannot
ask our people to do more for educa-
tion and we see no alternative but to
face the inevitable four or five
months school year for years to come.
"Our county is crossed by several
ranges Of the Alleghanies, viz: Negro,
| Meadow, Savage and Backbone noun
tains, and traversed by the Yough-
iogheny, Savage and Gastleman riv-
ers and bounded by the Potomac
The valleys are deep and the noun
tains high and abrupt. The popula-
tion is scattering.
"While we are paying the lowest
salaries in the State still the cost per
month per pupil is the highest.
Oakland is the only school employ
ing more than one assistant and we
| have only ten schools above the ordi-
nary country school employing one
teacher. Allowing a school to every
four square miles of territory we
should have one hundred and seventy
schools, while we have only about
one hundred and twenty-five. The
pressure for new schools is enormous,
inasmuch as we have scores of chill
dren entirely out of the reach of any
scho1s. We have seven more rooms in
session this year than last, which in
creases sourexpenses fully five per cent.
Last year we built six county
houses and this year four county
houses. We have fully twenty
five houses entirely unfit for use
and about as many are becoming
worthless each year as we feel it
possible to replace. 1t is great un-
solved question with the school board
whether it is wise to build new houses
at the expense of the school term,
when they are needed so badly
School houses without school are like
faith without works-dead-and oul
teachers and children are endanger-
ing their health and shortening theil
lives in many that we have. We
can't do both, build houses and have
school with our present resources.
1.-THE equipment Of our schools is
most meagre. A few of our houses
still have the old dstyle bench-no desks
with shelf running around the house
for writing; and some lack even the
shelf. Probably one-half of them
have the board desk, the product oi
the local carpenter, and among oul
patent desks we find one hundred
cast off desks from the colored schools
of city in an adjoining county. We
have absolutely no apparatus-no
money to buy any-and teachers
earning $125 to $3.50 per year could
not buy any even if they would de.
| oHo w w so'
''It is true that free books have
been of great benefit to our schools
and the large increase in attendance
can no doubt be traced largely to
this cause, but we are much cramped
for funds from this source and have
been able so far to buy only the most
elementary books, not able even tC
reach such books as the Complete
geography and United States history
Our book fund of about $3.50 divided
among our 1900 enrolled pupils last
year gave less than As cents each fol
books-a very slender allowance fol
the great commonwealth of Maryland
to apportion to her most destitute
county.
while we have many experienced
successful and well qualified teachers
the short terms and low salaries are a
barrier to the professional training OF
the mass of them. Among our one
hundred and fifty teachers we find
| but ono Stota Normal Jip1ouo opa