The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1916-05-11
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II in Iick ems so1t,st So
9sA candidate for membership III the
I house of REPRESENTATIVES in Pickef,s c6un.
( t&ppposes th child labor law aud com
vi pujsofy sch6pi attent dance. Proportion
I'll ataiy the number Of white people to
negroes is tgEeater ih Pickens than Il,
8 any other south Carolina county and It
is a county In: (Which the proportion Of
1illiter8cY among the whites is highest.
\ |Ife the littla children could BE kept at
work in the mills and compulsory school
attendance could be prevented illiteracy
in; Pickens might be perpetuated indef-
nitely. In Pickens the per capita wealth
lot the people-iS very low. If great
proportion Of the population Of Pickens
l,remaiR in Ignorance 1t is safe to say
that in simila proportion they VIII re-
main poor. g.
The above article is from the Colum-
bia State, the generally accepted mouth
piece Of the socalled elimination confer
ence, which two years ago eliminated
from the governors race the only can
didate, who favored statewide colnpul-
sorry school attendance, in favor of other
candidates who did not stand for state
wide compulsory school attendance.
To casual reader the article is mis-
leading.
Certainly, if little children could be
kept in the mills and compulsory school
attendance could be prevented, litter
acy in ANY county might be perpetu-
ated infinitely. No one denies that if
great proportion of the population of
ANY county remain in ignorance it is
safe to say that in similar proportion
they will remain poor. Why does the
State single out Pickens county?
If the State knew the conditions in
Pickens county and knew the awaken
ing to!theI need of education in this
county its editorial would probably have
been different, for we believe the State
is anthonest newspaper.. Z. ) j, n
We feelsafe in saying that in no other
county in the state with the same pop
ulation is there greater interest being
taken in education than in Pickens
county today, and no county has made
more rapid strides during the past ten
years than has Pickens county, accord
ing to its means.
Ten years ago there were two modern
school buildings in Pickens county. To-
day there are twenty-four modern school
buildings in the county, built by archi-
tects' plans, and many other good one
and two-room buildings built during
that time.
During the past year $14, 900 have
been spent in building six new school
buildings in Pickens county.
Pickens county stands twentieth
among tho counties of the state in per
capita expenditure per pupil according
to enrolment, which means that twenty
four counties do not spend as much pei
pupil as does Pickens. We consider
this pretty good for 'poor" county
Only fifteen counties in the state pay
their county superintendents of educa
ton" more, than Pickens county pays its
superintendent.
There are fifty-three school districts
in Pickens county and forty Eight Of
them. have special tax levies for school
purposes. When people levy taxes di.
rectly upon themselves for any purpose
you may know they are very much in
: terested in that purpose. And the
greater part of the county has no rail.
roads or cotton mills to help pay this
tax, but the people themselves pay it
:, The district in which Pickens town i:
= located has levied as much special ta,
. for school purposes as the state will
. allow it. We believe there is only on,
other district in the state which ha
!. done this.
e In his last report to the state super
=. intcndent Of education the superintcnd
v cnt of education of Pickens county says
70 The school year 1914-15 has been
~ successful one for Pickens county, tn
'e total enrolment for the county bein,
n G, 6,908-5, SOB whites and ,4O5 negroes
y or 80 per cent white and 20 per cen
negroes. Public sentiment in favor o
better schools is steadily growing. Their
N are So districts in the county and d
=, have special tax. Twelve districts vote
~ to increase their special levy, while tw
It voted special levies. The special ta
r. income of the county about doubles tina