Evening journal., 1919-09-25

going TO be arrested and heavily flned
and they and their children were TO be
thrown into the county jail II they
didn't send heir children TO school for
ten months,-from August TO June T.
This class OF persons had been worked
up into suchsa frenzy that they talked
about gciling down rifles and shotguns
TO defend their liberties against the
tyranny Of the new School Code. OF
course, the demagogic politicians who
stirred up this sentiment knew there
would be no attempt made by anyone
TO arrest farmers and throw them into
Jail, but il served their purpose to en-
courage such a belief among those who
knew no better.
Deprived OF this argument against
the new School Code those fighting il
are now falling back upon two other
arguments,-high taxes and destruction
OF local elf-goyernment.
AZ first glance Il might appear that
an organized protest against higher
taxes for school purposes would prove
popular because IL is human nature TO
protest against higher taxes. But there
are two sides 10 the tax question
Under the old school law each school
district fixed its own tax rate and raised
It's own taxes. In some school districts
the rate was high i'm some 10 was low.
Under the new code the same school
tax rate Is fixed by the county Levy
Court for the whole county, outside
the special school districts
Under the new school Code this year
the school tax rate for all schools in
Sussex county outside the special dis
tricts is fixed at 80 cents. The four
special NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., Laurel,
Lewes and Seaford-will each have
separate tax rates, fixed by the county
Levy Court.
A tax rate OF 80 cents is high COM
pared with the rate which some dis
tricts have been paying. But IL is low
compared with the rate others have
been paying. There were % school
districts in Sussex county under the
old law In which the school tax rate
was 80 cents or more. In none Of these
districts will the new law raise their
rate, and in many Of them IL Will lower
their rate. In these districts the enc
mics OF the new law are going TO ind
fighting the law an uphill and unpopu-
lar job.
Averaging all the school districts OF
Sussex county, their school tax rate
under the old law was 36 cents. Con-
sequently a Nat county rate of 80 cents
is an average increase OF only "a cents
An average increase Of only "a cents
In the tax rate in order TO give the
children OF Sussex county better
schools. better teachers, better educa-
tion all around. Is not likely TO raise
enough OF a protest TO make the |
espousal OF that protest a winning is
sue for any politician or set OF poll !
ticians
Your correspondent has talked with
some very heavy taxpayers whose
school taxes have been increased very
much. They are enthusiastic support
ers Of the School Code. They all agree
that school taxes are not too high now.
The trouble has been that taxes were
too low in the past. so low that schools
were strangled. Some OF these tax
payers gave your correspondent figures
for publication, which will appear in
a subsequent article Business men.
professional men and successful far
mers, as a rule, do not think the new
school taxes are too high. As one OF
them expressed it. we are simply pay
ing of debt we have owed our public
schools for years"
Fhese men agreed that with
odt vastly better system OF
schools their community cannot keep