The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-11-05

"4OA @OosA 1858 AAC04 "AAO1 P@SU
him from the insolenoe of the unde
serving rich, and which at Little
Round Top and up Snodgrass Hill
upon Chickamauga's bloody field
made the rebel yell so terrible-this
something may be taken away. He
may become a Cleopatra without her
beauty, a Samson without his looks,
a Jupiter without his power to thun-
der Shall it be?~ Shall it beP Any
man who secs and appreciates these
dangers and who opens not his mouth
to avert them, is no man. 1t is none
too o to sound the alarm. Create
this spirit, arouse the people as they
were aroused in 1898 and again in
1900, and they will, in their social
meetings, at their churches, in their
homes and in their conventions, see
TO it that the next Legislature passes
an act in harmony with the organic
law, yet which will provide a four
months's school term for the public
schools OF the State.
NOT THE LAW.
In the light of our Constitutional
Amendment, Barksdale against the
Commissioners of Sampson county
is not the law and if not the law it
must be overturned and wiped from
the books. It was gravely doubted
when announced it had the sanction
of a divided court, and it's fallacy
was fully pointed out by Merrimon,
to whom from 1872 to the time of it's
death we all looked for guidance and
looked not in vain,
The Act of 1885 thus declared not
to be in harmony with the COnstitu-
ton was passed by a Legislature of
which 1 was a component part and
while youth and inexperienoe would
then have excused me from such
pride of opinion, it may not be invid-
ious to say that, measured by the
highest ideals, that Legislature has
not been excelled by any. Such an
act now passed, separate and apart
from any general school law, for the
special purpose of preparing the
youth of the State for the duties of
citizenship, and permitting them to
continue to exercise the elective fran
ohise, would meet all of the require
ments of the Constitution it would
be for a special purpose and with the
special approval of the Legislature.
1t is conceded that under certain oon-
ditions, to wit, sustaining the honor
and credit of the, State, providing
for the e~xigencies of government, and
advancing the best interest of tho
people" the Legislature may exceed
the constitutional limitations OF
taxation. What more can advance
such interest and sustain such honor
than to ft the youth of our land for
the dubies-aye, the sine qua nOn-Of
good oitizeRsh1p-indeed, for citizen
ship at all. Who can doubt that if
those good and great judges, Smith
and Ashe, in the light of our consti-
tutiOnal amendment, had again to
oonstrue the act of 1885, they would
stand with their more constructive
brother, A. S. Merrimon?
PUBLIC SCHOOLS NEED A STEADY
FIGHTER.
The public schools of North Caro-
lima stand much in need of a steady,
sense fighter man with
no K to grind, no purpose TO serve
but to arouse the people to stir
them and move them and show them
that the public schools are not get
ting what they ought to have, and
are not what they ere in 1860 when
North Carolina had a four months
school term and the best school sys-
tenn in the Southern States and to
get upon the h~ouse-top and proclaim
that the liberties of the ~illfterate
white children after 1908 may be in
AoA5O4 OA4O5S A1O4O SOhOO4 "OuSOS dI0
o teachers engaged, and a
school term provided. The
universities, the colleges, the high
schools and the graded schools have
their champion, but who is the eff
cient champions, who is the endow-
ment raiser of the common schools
schools of the masses? Who
will be the man? If the State will
yield but "three" we may have a
new Thermopylae. This matter rests
with the courts of final resort. There
is fearful wisdom in the declaration
of an English lawyer that he could