Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1909-05-08


to ever since, and has been sanctioned by
this court as correct (Halbert VS. Sparks
9 Bush 529.)
The constitution of 1885, article XI, Section l. con
tinued the school system, and rededicated tn
Common School Fund" and the interest and dividend
Of said funds were to be used for the benefit of com
mon schools and no others.
Prior to the year 1874, the common school meant 9
school for white children with it's white teachers anC
officers a matter of course and nothing else un
derstood by that term but the General Assembly by
act approved, February 24th 1874, entitled IAN Ac
to establish uniform system of common schools fol
the coored children of this commonwealth added an
other meaning to the term common schools But Sc
much of this Act excluded coored children from the
pro rata of the general fund collected by the state
the property of white people was held to be repugnan
to the constitution of the United States. Dawson VI
Lee &C., 83 KY, 40.
The act unconstitutional because it does not pro
vide Efficient, uniform system of schools
every part Ofthe state for both white and colored
This Act is unconstitutional because it does not com
ply with section 1872 of the present constitution which
reads as follows:
The General Assembly SHALL by appropriate legis
ation provide an efficient system of common schools
throughout the state"
The eGeneraAssembly is here commanded to provide an
efficient system of schools throughout the state
and if it fails to provide an equally efficient system Of
schools for the school children either white
cOored in part of the state or fails provide any
common school for either white or colored children in
portion of the territory of the state it fails to
up to this section of the Constitution Of course
cities and towns have by general laws and by specia
acts of the General Assembly, been permitted to organ
ze graded and high schools for one or both races r
place Of the common schools and to receive their pre-
rata of the state school fund This act does not afec
these schools and only applies to the territory outside o
such cities and towns
This court knows judicialy that the White Graded
and High School system of the city of Hopknsvie ws
organized under special act prior to the adoption o
the present constitution and the school law of 1893 The
Pembroke Graded Schools and possibly those of LaFay
cite and of Fairview were organized under genera
laws. The White Graded Schools of the city of Maids
onvle organized under the general laws applying
to cities of the Fourth class beside many others Nov
inside the boundaries of each of these was coored dis
trict Under this Act the only district is the county
outside these cities and towns and it cannot ncud,
any territory inside for taxation any other purpose
the result being that the coored children within the
limits of the city of Hopkinsve about twelve hundred
in number not in any school district what
not subject to this tax which the Fiscal Court
is asked to levy and receive none of it's benefits
The state Of facts exists in many of the cities and
towns of the state for which this Act provides no
non school whatever. Certainly law which so sig
lay fails to provide for existing conditions and thus
excludes large portion of our school population from
my school district ALL does not comply with
he Constitution and should not be upheld by this court
This Act unconstitutional because it authorizes
election of white trustees schools and col
pred trustees for white schools
In tracing the history of the common school sys-
em in this state have seen that the term from the
beginning has had definite meaning by express terms
Or by necessary implication Under the Constitution of
1850 and under the Revised Statutes common school"
Tor white children, which all there was at that time
was school taught in district laid out by authority of
The school laws under the control of trustees elected
under those laws by teacher qualified according to
to teach and free to every white child of school age
'esiding in the district. In this definition it was not
stated that the teacher and the trustees should be white
out that was unnecessary, no one else was qualified
lnder the laws at that time and the implication that
hey should be white, was never questioned When the
present Constitution adopted it provided in the
irst section concerning education Section 1S2 that tb