Milford chronicle., 1919-12-05
MILTON NEWS


school house, north of Milton. to dis
cuss, pro and con, the new school law.
The school room was packed with
farmers and their wives, who paid
. courteous attention to the speakers
as they expounded their views OF the
7 code. The meeting was presided over
: by Willard 5. Ellingsworth, who stat
ed the purpose of the meeting and then
introduced State Senator ]. c. Palmer.
Mr.. Palmer told of the methods en-
ployed by the exponents of the bill to
railroad it through the General As
sembly. He stated that but one mem
Der OF the Senate knew of the pro-
visions of the bill when suddenly pre-
sented, in its complete form, for pass
age. That member was Senator Rob
ertson of Wilmington. who introduced
it. Senator Palmer, who led the fight
against the bill, said that the bill, be-
ing corporation act, required a two
third vote to pass. II was killed. Then
the exponents OF the bill so amended
1t that a majority vote was all that
was required to pass IT, 1t was then
passed by the Senate by a majority of
one, and by the House by one vote
He claims, despite the opinion of the
court. that strictly speaking the law
is unconstitutional, because it was
passed many hours after the Assem-
bly, was 10 have adjourned. by the
simple eXpediency of turning the
hands Of the clock back ten hours or
more. Senator Palmer also stated
that the people should bear in mind
that this code is the beginning OF an
entire revolution in our present form
Of government and that the acceptance
of the code by the people OF this State
would mean that in the very near fu-
ture other autocratic changes in our
State government. Therefore, they
should stamp their disapprOval of this
autocratic law in no uncertain man
ner and show to those autOcratic ex-
pOnents Of the code that the people OF
Delaware are not going to submit to
an autocratic government in any
form
The next speaker was Dr.. Robert
b. Hopkins, who pointed out the fact
that a greatly increased tax rate
would be required to maintain the new
code He warned against autocracy,
declaring that this was "a government
OF the people, for the people. by the
people" was being endangered by a
feet, declare that the people are not
fit TO govern themselves. He stated
that by the provisions of the new
shcoOl code the government of the
schools passes from the hands of the
people into the hands of the State
Board of Education, who employ the
teacher without the consent of the
people of the district, and that we are |
20. oh
ed for the election of a representative
from this district who would support
Senator Palmer in a fight at the next I
session of the legislature to so amend /
the code as to give the people a voice /
in the matter of government. In re-
lation to the ten months school term,
DR.. Hopkins said: Viewing the sub /
ject from a physicians standpoint,
when you consider that a small child
should be compelled to be confined
in a school room, where the ventila-
ton at best is poor, its eyes glued on
a book and its back bent over a bench
for practically 8 or 10 months, add
to this its study at home, making pos
sibly ten hours a day at work, is too
much of a mental strain for the ordin-
airy boy or girl. Men are not required
to work over hours. Why then COM
pei the child to labor 10 hours or
more? Is it not cruelty to Children
Postmaster GOode Of Glendale said
that his sole object in favoring the
new code was that he wanted the
children Of Delaware to have the best
opportunity to get a thorough educa-
tion. He admitted that the present
code was far from perfect and needed.
amending, but asked that the code be
given a fair trial. Prof. Otis Jeffer-
son of Ellendeale seemed to be "be-
tween the devil and the sea-" He did +.
not know whether to favor the code
or oppose it.
George w. Jones in a short but
forceful address, stated that the plan
to tax all districts alike, despite the
fact that some were in debt while
others were free, was very unjust.
He advocated the repeal of the present
code and the adoption of an entirely
new one. He said, "TO be perfectly
frank with you, l would not know
where to begin to amend this code"
This was the first of a series of
meeting to be held this winter in the
rural school districts in an effort to
give the people an understanding Of
the provisions of the code. No one is
barred from speaking, whether favor
able or opposed to the code
The meeting of the Milton Gun Club
on Thanksgiving Day was attended
BY marksmen from Seaford, Harring-
ton and Wilmington. The events were
closely contested; in fact it was nee
assary for a shoot off in several cases
to decide the winners. There were
about 300 present and all praise Field
Manager Fithian for the speedy man
ner in which the shoot was conducted
and for his courteous treatment Of all
The club has decided on a Christmas
Day meet and it is proposed to pua-
chase another trap in order TO speed
up the contests.
On Saturday night a very serious
accident occurred on the road leading
from Milton to Harbeson. An auto
mobile driven by Theodore Jarvis and
a team driven by Joshua Hastings coll
.ided, demolishing the carriage and
throwing Mrs Hastings out, severely
niuring her. A wheel was torn off
.he automobile, and otherwise dam
aging it. Neither vehicle was show :
ng light, so it is said
Mrs. C. W. Cook OF Wilmington was
he guest of her mother, Mrs. J. B.
Welch. on Thanksgiving Day.
Mr.. and Mrs. J. b. Welch spent the
weekend in Wilmington and Phila-
ielphia.
Revival services began in the NJ. E.
Church on Sunday evening. Rev.
Clarence True Wilson preached a very I
loo Nna