The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-15

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has by unjust and ,nwise laws discrirn-
mated against the public free Schools
In the counties and IN favor Of the elites
Is equally ,ihfounded and Unjust. The
General Assembly levies a Uniform one
Mill 4 school tux OIL all real aid per-
sonai property In the State. and dis.
tributes itttln proportion to 5stlio school
population III each school diYisions 1t
further makes nj, appropriatlonSof 500 oCO
out Of tho general tax fund. which is hp.
portioned In d similar manner. Every.
body who will study the tax sta tistlcs
OF the State will see TINT the counties Of
the Commonwealth get far more from
these two finds thnn they pay for State!
school taxes. Vi 4 Il !, II
rs In 1904 the amount assessed for schools
on account Of real and personal prop
erty and capitntlon tax was 81, 0s7, 3i7.s1.
OF this sum the counties md towns were
assessed $774,3a3 u.s. and the cities $293. Of AGA.
or course MI Of this was not collected.
but tho amount actually dsb,,rscd was
$3.50. 255.7o, Of which the cotlntiesand towns
received S74e.574s7 and the cities s1to,-
671.33. This does not include the general
appropriation OF SOC, 900. v, "A 55l 5 @ *
1t is manifest from this exhibit that
the counties and towns receive Y con-
slderably, more than they pay into tho
general school fund, willie the cities re-
ceive much less than they pay iii. The
idea that the Legislature should dlscrlt1l-
Mate against the counties when the
Overwhelming majority ofBthei members
ore from the rural districtsssis absurd
OIL Its face a 8335 Il e
II 4th. The 4th count that the, Legislature
has failed utterly to discharge tho1n1oral
obligation that It 4under;5to foster
and support the free school "a system Is
fully answered in what we have said
about the I'd count. H
9Th. That last count Is not sustained
by any record In the case. We defy
the production Of any proof that the
Legislature has ever failed to permit
the local authorities to levy a, school
tax UP to the extreme req ulrements Of the
constitution, whether under this consti-
tuition or the old; 10 show theHsext tent
Ito which the General Assembly was will
ing to go In this matter; It is. .onl y33nec-s
essary to mention the fact that in 1876
the General Assembly passed q bill per-
uniting the people Of the county Of Alex
undria, BY a direct vote, to impose q tax
not exceeding 20 cents on the ono hun
have no doubt whatever that the General
Assembly would have done the same
for any county III the Commonwealth
that demanded this privilege. The fact
that Virginia has always required tho
counties. and school districts TO levy O.
Etax8in support OF their schools is some-
thing that was unknown in bther South
ern States until q veryjrecent period, and
nothing has given more surprise to tho
men who are engaged In educn tional cam
paigns in the Southern States than the
discovery ofthe fact that iVirgina has
required this local taxation from the
inception OF our school system. In fact,
the Legislature has moved as rapidly in
this matter as fpublic sentiment would
permit hnnd ethe healthY"developmcnt OF
the school system required. W.. might
mention the further fact that in this
year OF grace, 1905, there arc, accord
ing to accurate statistics recently OBJ
tanned, about 100 public high schools in
the State OF Virginia fitting boys and
girls for college and the higher pur-.
suits OF life Ina memora BILE address,
which the Hon. Seth Low, former mayor
OF New York, delivered In this city last
spring, he called attention to the fact
that It had taken about one hundred
900 years to evolve the complete sys-
TEN OF public schools IN the great city
of New York. Under far more unfavor-
able conditions VIC have about done this
in Virginia in g little mores than ono
third u-3)5 Of the 3tIne.5
These nre facts from tho records. and
the Republicans are at liberty to make
the most of them.