The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1899-02-03

ate met ShlS morning ri l = oSioSS>
Senator Hays Iill to liz the term
of the free public schools, to provide
for the support Of the same aud to
regulate tho disbursement Of moneys
arising from the sale of liquors, camo
up for consideration. Senator Hay
gave succinct explanation of tho
objects Of the bill.
Senator Scarborough moved to
adopt the following substitute:
Strike out all after tho cnucting
words and insert tho following:
"Section |. That from and after
the approval Of this Act all revenue
derived from the sale Of alcoholic
liquors in tins State, under the dis.
pensary law, shall be apportioucd
among the various counties Of the
State for the benefit Of tho common
schools, in proportion to the enroll
ment Of pupils in such schools in tho
respective counties; and all funds de
rived from said dispensary law, not
already disburscd, shall be nppor-
toned in the same way.
"Sect,on =. Such apportionment
shall be made 10y tho Comptroller
General, and he shall draw his war.
rant upon the State Treasurer in
favor OF the county trrasnrcrs Of the
respective counties for tho amounts
apportioncd to such counties respect,
ivcly."
Senator Brown, of Marion, offered
an amendment to make the term not
less than six mouths instead Of three
months. He made an cxccllcnt pro
sentiment OF tho merits OF his amend
ment.
He said that ono cf the first things
that confronts us is tho expense TO
the State Of carrying & on tho school
for six months. Our first impression
would naturally bc that tho under.
taking would bo too great, bnt on II
careful inv' s'lgation il IS moro uupu
rent than rnul. moro OF Il mOio hill
than mountain. We must rrinrm
bcr that there arc numbers Of high
schools and graded schools, and slr
cial school districts al over tho
State. that are already carried on for
six, seven, light aud some uino aud
ten mouths in the year, and thcs"
would not nave to be supplemented
by this additional levy. Then there
are ten counties that have an average
of six months already. Chester has
eight months, several hhvr seven
months. There arc eight that have
five months and over, and will, by
their own effort, bo brought up to
six by tho cl'so Of the prcscnt your.
These eight counties, then, would
not be entitled to any, ccrtalnly, if
nny, very small additional aid.
There arc, then, uu}y twenty two
counties to bc brought up to tho six
months rcquired-only ono Of tEcso
falls below four mouths The great
ajority Of them extend from fonr
aud ono half upward. The average
for tho whole State being four and
ono-half months, leaving only one
and one half months to bring uv,
and that, too, fo' only Il portion of
the counties Of the State shown.
South CuroIina pays less per capita
of total population and of school pop
ulation and Of enrolment than almost
any other State In comparison with
other States we console ourselves
that they arc rich and have large and !
permanent school funds with which !
to carry on their schools. The most
liberal States are those that have ,
little or no permanent fund, but sup
port their schools by direct taxation.
1t would require permanent fund .
Of 100000 to carry on tho :
schools Of either New York or Penn
sylvania. Massachusetts, that pays
about Is mills per capita, has little
or no permanent income for her
schools. Texas has probably tho
largest annuity, about ono and ono
fourth million dollars per year, and
it is dobatable even among them
selves if it does not result in as much
harm as good, upon the presumption
that people arc not apt to appreciate