The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1900-10-06
SCHOOL FUND.
PROPOSED CHANGE IN SYSTErl
OF DISTRIBUTION.
The Present System Gives
Colored Population More
School Funds than the
White Who Pays Most of
the Poll Taxes.
IaoEsofl oorresponaenco n. O. stntes.

Jackson correspondence N. o. States.
The State press of Mississippi
| is devoting little or no attention
whatever to the proposed amend
ment to the State constitution
changing the method of distribu-
ting the common school fund, so
as TO retain the poll taxes in the
counties where collected, and
which is to be submitted to the
people at the general election in
November.
Unless the subject is energeti-
cally taken up by the press and the
people made thoroughly acquaint-
ed with the objects of the amend
ment it is very likely that the
measure will be defeated at the
election, not by reason of the num-
Der of people voting against it,
but because many will fail to vote
mt all, as was the case with the
Noel elective judiciary amendment
The latter amendment, it will be
remembered, received majority
of the votes Of those who voted
on the measure, but did not re-
ceive majority of the votes vo-
ting, as about 30 per cent failed
to vote all on the question. And,
although the vote received
for the amendment was three
times as large as that cast against
it, the supreme court decided that
this did not constitute majority
by the constitution.
1t is safe to assert that not 10
per cent of the qualified voters
|sn Mississippi, or even 10 per
cent of those who will go to the
polls at the November election, are
acquainted with the object of the
proposed amendment, and some
education along this line is very
badly needed. The voters will
neglect the question unless they
are made conversaut with its OBJ
jects, just as they neglected the
Noel amenslment.
Following is copy of section
206 of the constitution, which
shows how tho school fund is dis
tributed at present:
There shall be common school
fund, which shall consist of the
fpoll tax (to be retained in the
counties where the same is collect
ed) and an additional sum from
the general fund in the State
treasury, which together shall be
sufficient to maintain the common
schools for term of four months
IN each scholastic year. But any
county or separate school district
may levy an additional tax to
maintain its schools for longer
term than four months. The
common school fund shall be dis
tributed in proportion to the num-
ber Of cducable children in each,
to be determined from data COL
lected through the Office of the
State superintendent of education,
in the manner prescribed by law"
A careful reading of the section
as amended shows wherein the
author seeks to have the poll tax
collected retained by the county
where collected, and not distri-
buted among the various coun-
ties, as at present. The amended
section closely copies after the
original, and reads as follows:
"There shall be a county COM
mon school fund, which shall con-
sist of the poll tax, to be retained
in the county where the same is
collected, and a State common
school fund, to be taken from the
State treasury, which together
shall be sufficient to maintain the
common schools for. the term of
four months in each scholastic
year. But any county or separate
school district may levy an addi-
tional tax to maintain its schools
for a longer time than the term
of four months. The State COM
mon school fund shall be distri-
buted among the several counties
and separate school districts in
proportion to the number of edu-
cable children in each, to be de-
termined from data collected
through the Office of the State
superintendent of education in
the manner prescribed by Jaw. "
The proposed amendment was
fought quite bitterly in the last
Legislature last winter, especially
by the members from the delta
counties, where a minimum
amount of poll tax is paid in pro-
portion to the population. Not
one negro in five hundred in Mis-
sissipps pays poll tax aud many
white men neglect the obligation.
In brief, the amendment seeks tc
set aside the custom that has here
tofore prevailed of distributing
the poll tax collected on a pre-
rata basis and to establish a new
basis of distribution.
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