The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-05-26
LEyYING THE TEN-MILL TAX

year. AS The pSOp1S VI 1ndIioA SOOA6y /
voted heavily against that tax last |
the board says it is bashful
about levying it.
The boards reason is that Duval
and other counties, the people of which
didn't have as good sense as the people
of Marion, and wished this tax on the
state, can now tax their people to the
limit and give their teachers high sal
aries, thereby taking them away FROM
Marion. Back in the recesses of our
mind is a suspicion that after Duval,
Hillsborough, etc., have been supplied,
there will be quite few teachers left,
but our school board can't see it thar
way.
The Star has been adjured by the
of the tax to reverse the
position it took last autumn, and adj
vocate the board levying the full tax.
The Star can't comply with the re-
quest. Its position on the question
was matter of principle, and there
is no use in taking stand for prin-
ciple if you are going to abandon it
for convenience.
Leave 1t to the People
The Star has made the following
proposition to Mr.. w. l.. Colbert,
chairman of the board of public in
struction, who by the way was
against the ten-mill amendment in
the last election:
That the matter be left to the pat
rons of the public schools. That a
meeting be held at each schoolhouse
in the county and the question sub
mitted to the people whose children
attend that school. If a majority of
these school patrons favor levying
the ten-mill tax, to do so. If ma
jority is against it, to levy only eight,
which Superintendent Brinson, in his
advocacy of the amendment, said
during the campaign, would be suffic-
lent.
Mr.. Colbert said he thought the
Stars proposition was a fair one, and
that he would submit it to his col
leagues.
We have no argument to make
either way. The people should get
together and decide what they want
done, and the school board should OBJ
serve their wishes. We notice that a
number of citizens who voted against
the ten-rnill tax, and whose burdens
will be considerably augmented by it,
say they prefer to pay it rather than
see the schools crippled.
A Raw Deal
The ten-mill amendment was a raw
deal for the people all around. At
the time the legislature of 1917 was
considering it, there was nearly a
million dollars of public money in the
state banks. It could not be used for
the county schools because of "con-
ness sense and honesty on the part
of the legislature would have caused
that body to have either submitted an
amendment that would allow such
funds to be used to help the county
schools, or if not that to use them in
such way as to reduce the state
millage. The legislature did neither.
Why it didn't, some of the banks In
which the money was on deposit might
tell. Some banks have great influ-
epce with some legislators. At any
rate, the legislature submitted a
"holdup" amendment to the people. 1t
was "holdup," because it virtually
said, Increase your taxes or de-
crease your schools" If the people
had been fully informed, they would
have defeated the amendment and
sent to the next legislature men who
would have taken better care of their
interests. However, they had nc
chance. They were kept in ignorance
as far as possible, and where the adj
vocates of the amendment couldn't
help their finding out about it, they
were deceived by propaganda on
which Prussianism had little. The
severe defeat the amendment had in
this county shows what would have
happened to it in the other counties
had the people been informed As il
is, it was adopted by vote cast by
less than third of the voters in the
state. There is good reason to be-
lieve that most of these votes were
cast by men with children to educate
but little taxes to pay. 1t makes no
difference to man who pays no tax
but his polltax how heavily his neigh
Dor is taxed. Men in the cities, with
nc real estate, and exempt from pay
ing on personal property by the slack
tax laws, voted for the amendment
of course. Why shouldn't they? II
cost them nothing. In most of the
counties, the farmers, who have to
pay taxes on almost everything they
have, stayed away from the polls. Sc
the amendment won.
The entire state is suffering from q
topheavy and lopsided school system
and dishonest methods of taxation
As long as the people put up with
these evils, they will have to suffer
from them. They have the remedy in
their votes. If they win not use it
it is their own fault.
Representative Mathis of Holmes
has introduced a bill asking for q