The age-herald., 1900-12-21
LOCAL TAXATION
 FOR THE SCHOOLS State Superintendent Abercrom-
 bic Talks on SubjeSt WILL INACCURATE CAMPAIGN To Advocate Election of Delegates to Constitutional Convention Who
 Are Friendly to the Cause.
 The Crying Need.
WILL INACCURATE CAMPAIGN

Superintendent of Education John ". Abercrombe was in the city yesterday route to Cedar Bluff, Cherokee County, where he will hold a teachers institute to- day and tomorrow. MT. Abercrombie states that he intends to urge the Democrats of the State to send only good men to the State constitutional convention, and men who are friends of the public schools. He will inaugurate a campaign in which the principle issue will be that of local taxa ton for the public schools of the State. The law he proposes will not make it compul- sorry that every community levy a special tax for the schools, but it will give every community the right to levy the tax if the voters so desire it.
 Superintendent Abercrombie stated that he had completed the apportionment of the increased appropriation made by the Legis- lature recently for the public schools In speaking of this he said
 "The per capita public school fund is now H.42 an increase of nearly 100 per cent in the last four years. Four years ago the per cent was 73 cents. The $1.42 does not in- clude $100,000 of poll taxes which are an- nually collected. Add this, and the per cap ita is increased to $1.65. A bill Is now pend ing in the Legislature which has for its ob- ject better collection of the poll taxes. This law proposes to give the school trus- tees of each township the right to look over the poll, and to assess such persons as have been missed by the assessor. It also provides that where any person is de- linquent, his name shall be published in the newspapers of his community for three ba+ no person who has not paid his poll tax shall vote in any State of national elee- tion or participate in any party primary or convention"
 The Greatest Need.
 Referring to the public school system of the State and its needs, MT. Abercrombie said:
 "The greatest need in Alabama is an eff cient free common school system The bar rers which now stand in the way of the establishment of such a system are the lack of qualified superintendency and the absence of the power of local taxation for educational purposes. No State of like area, population and wealth has been able to meet the educational requirements of it's people without providing a qualified ACStAA ton.
 "A bill is now pending in the General Assembly which, if enacted, would guaran- tee intelligent supervision in every county in the State, but unless Senators and Rep resentatives experience a change of heart during the recess there is little hope of it's becoming law. I refer to the bill which was prepared by the Alabama Bar Asso- citation. It was introduced in the Senate by Gen. George P. Harrison and in the House by Hon. b. II. Screws. l believe that the people of the State favor such bill, patriotic body of men ever served Alabama and I regret that our lawmakers will not support it. However, no abler nor more in legislative capacity.
 Ut is hoped that the forthcoming Con- stitutional Convention will so change the constitution as to allow he people of coun- ties townships and districts to levy tax for school purposes. The State is now do- ing about all it is able to do in the matter of school appropriations. Yet the amount appropriated is far short of what is abso- lutely necessary. To establish and main- tain an efficient free school system on $150 per capita~of school population Is simply a physical impossibility to demon- strate which requires no mysterious ma , nipulation of syllogistic reasoning; 1t proves itself in the every day experience of everybody. The proposition Is not that people be forced to pay such a tax, but that they be given the power to do so. The right of local self-government in edu- cational affairs is what the people want, and if the coming Constitutional Conven- tion shall fail to grant this privilege it will have failed to meet the greatest neces- sity for the holding of such a convention.
 "I trust that the people will nominate for delegate to the convention no man who does not favor qualified school superin- tendency and the power of local taxation for educational purposes. With such pro- visions in the constitution no State would long outstrip Alabama in the matter of intelligent citizenship"