Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-02-04

SlOu Ol CnlluTeu 10 Inc puDllC sCuOOlS
so as to make it from to 16. Mr..
Hoffmeyer said that there were more
big Negroes going to school than there
were whites, and be thought the school
money should be devoted more largely
to the benefit of the smaller children.
The house refused to pass the resolu-
ton.
The following was adopted after dis
cussion.
"Section l. That on and after the
approval of this act, the county board
of commissioners shall have power and
authority, in their discretion, to utilize
the county changing in whole or in
part in any kind of work calculated to
promote or conserve public health in
the county or in any community there
of in which the sentences of the con-
victs on such gang were pronounced"
Several hours of Wednesday were
devoted to discussion of the privilege
tax question, and finally there was
adopted bill which provides that the
fee shall remain at 25 cents and that
the proceeds shall 60 direct into the
state treasury. This is in order to
comply with certain requirements of
the constitution of the United States.
Hereafter the Clemson appropriation
will have to be direct from the state
treasury, and fixed amount. The
result, however, will be that hereafter
the Clemson trustees will not be
tempted with more funds than they
know what to do with.
Governor Ellerbe had heen quite
sick for several days. 1t was reported
on Tuesday that he was suffering from
hemorrhage from the lungs. This,
however, proved to be mistake. The
hemorrhage was from the governors
throat; but still the governor is quite
sick. On motion of Mr.. Werner, the
house, on Wednesday, by unanimous
rising vote, adopted a resolution of
sympathy with the governor in his af-
Fiction.
Mr.. Gruber's county court bill was
given its final reading in the senate on
Wednesday, after a few more amend.
ments had been made to it. AS the
bill goes to the house, it requires that
on a petition presented by one-third of
the electors of county TO the county
commissioner, he may order an elec-
ton to determine whether or not coun-
ty courts shall he established. Of the
40 counties in the state, 80 were ex-
empted from the provisions of the bill.
The 10 remaining counties that are
willing to leave the question for the
electors to determine, in the way set
forth above, are the following: Aiken,
Barnwell, Berkely, Colleton, Darling
ton, Greenville, Horny, Marlboro, New
berry and Union.
One of the most interesting matters
considered by the house during the
session of Wednesday night, was Mr..
Winkler's bill relating to the terms OF
free schools. The question, says the
Columbia States report involved the
matter of distribution of profits accru-
ing from the state dispensary. Up to
December 31st of the year just ended,
these profits were, by law, distributed
among those counties in which the per
capita school tax did not amount to
So. As the duration of that law had
expired, Mr.. Winkler had introduced
bill to make the length of the terms
of the public schools five months, and
those counties where the funds were
not ample were to be aided out of the
profits in the dispensary.
Mr.. Simpkins offered an amendment
that the profits be distributed per cap
ita of school population among all the
counties, irrespective of the amount
raised for school purposes. This led
to a discussion of the justice of those
counties in which there were no dis
pensaries receiving any part of the
profits wrought from the liquor traffic
in other counties.
Mr.. Winkler defended his original
bill, conceding too, that his county, had
suffered under the former law of giving
the profits to such counties as had q
deficiency in the amount of the school
tax received from ordinary purposes.
However, he thought that the schools
all over the state should be run for
term of five months, if it were pos
sible.
Mr.. Rogers spoke at length in favor
of the original bill. He based bis ar
guments upon the fact that Mr.. Sim
kins had lost sight of the condition
that the dispensary was state and not
a county institution, and that the state
had care for the education of every
child within its borders. The burden
of education rests upon the entire
state.
Mr.. Sawyer, of Union, introduced
an amendment to Mr.. Simkins' amend
ment, providing that the surplus in the
state dispensary profits be divided
among the respective counties in pro-
portion to the amount of profits de-
rived from the sale of alcoholic liquors
in the said respective counties. The
force of this amendment is that such
counties as have dispensaries will OBJ
tain a pro rata share of the profits in
the state dispensary, while those coun-
ties having no dispensaries will get
none of the profits.
Mr.. Sawyer said that last year the
dispensary in his county had made
profit of $4,000 for the state and had
received from the apportionment of
funds but $500. A sister county hav-
ing no dispensary had received several
times that amount from the distribu-
tion. He thought that it was but fair
that each county have its own profits