The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1915-01-01
"STATE-WIDE" BILL
GIVEN PRECEDENCE
Compulsory School Attendance Leg
islatiOn Discussed by Group
of Advocates.
Wednesdays State.D

First choice-a Statewide compul-
sorry school attendance law; second
choice-a compulsory school attend
ance law to be enforced after the ma
Jority of the electors in the school
district express the wish that it be
made effective.
Above is a summary of the wishes
expressed yesterday by the conferees
on the matter of passing law which
will force children to attend school in
South Carolina. The advocates of
raising the age limit under the child
labor law and the compulsory educa-
tion forces combined at the meeting
yesterday at noon at the Jefferson
hotel.
Child Labor Law.
The child labor committee decided
to draft it's bill to correspond to the
age limit of the compulsory educa-
tion bill, generally accepted as II
years, with the provlSo that children
under that age now employed in the
rlills would not be forced out of chem,
but that after the law goes into effect
no children under the higher age limit
would be given work in the textile
rlants 1t was understood at tho con
ference yesterday that the mill own
'iS were ItdIlIlN III dCCOIu Will li.f
proposal to raise the age limit from
- 70 IA years, provided a compUi sorv
school attendance law with a 1i-ycar
age limit was passed by the general
assembly. Alex Long of Rock I'LL
w. f.. 5cattic Of Grccnville and othCr
mill men attended TN" conference.
The dehatablc question whether
the proponents of compulsory cduca-
tiou should ask the general assembly
to pass Il Statewide or Il local option
law was laid sQUarcly before the rof-
fCrcnur by two bills cmbodyinU these
features. One of the measures, writ
ten hy Frank Evans, superintendent
of the Spartanbur% city schools, VINO
is a tirelcsS worker for the comnui-
Sory education cause, proposed IN"
enactment of Statcwid" system Of
compulsory education which wOU:d
CC-'pcl the attendance at school of all
children between the arcS Of g and
ID years. The other bill considered
by the conference was written by !.
F.. Swearingen, who has hcen Stat
superintendent of education since
1909. The Swearingen measure pre-.
posed that all the children between
9 and IA years of age in school dis
trict be forced to attend the publ
schools after a majority of the cleo
tors living in the district signed 4
petition to this effect.
Cleavage is Defined.
The division of opinion among thr
confereeS on the Statewide or option
al feature of the bill to be introduced
in the general assembly was marked
Advocates of the optional feature
h1s"d their arguments on the ground
that it was econimically expedienr az
present not to go to the length Of
passing ap,put and out Statewide law.
't:---s> and a half hours of lis
rrs"ion, the conference passed the FOL
lowing resolutions, moved by HrUrY
Nelson Snyder, president of WoFord
college:
"Resolved, That this conference 90
on record as indorsing the compulsory
education bill offered by Frank Evans
or similar bill.
"Resolved, That, if view Of con
ditions it seems unwise to enact the
said bill into law as it stands, this
meeting favors the local option fea
turc offered by Mr.. Swearingent or a
similar feature"
Joseph A. Mccullough of Green
vile presided over the conference.
After the resolutions were passed.
the South Carolina Child Lahor com
m;ttce met. Present were: Joseph
\. Mccullough. George B. CTomcr,
William A. Guerry, Henry n. Syrdcr
and w. II. Hand. The committee
quickly decided to make the child
labor bill conform to the compulsory
education bill in the matter OF III
age limit. but to include a proviso
that children under the age limit now
working in the mills would NOT be
forced out.