The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-10-01
OUR NEIGHBORS.

cripple an industry in the neighbor
ing city of Greenwood, certainly moi
an institution which is filling an i'm.
perative necessity like the Bailey
Military Institute.
On the other hand, we do not be-
ieve that either Maj. Bailey or the
business men of Greenwood have any
thing. against the town of Abbeville.
They are interested, of course, in the
development of their own enterprises
and institutions, and it is but natural
andt right that they should seek first
the welfare Of their own enterprises
and institutions.
We regret that the suggestion has
come from Greenwood that to estab-
lish the Baptist Military School in
Abbeville would to some extent Grip
pie Bailey. We think the people who
have advanced the idea are i'll ad-
vised in matters pertaining\to pre-
paratory schools. Maj. Bailey natur-
ally does not want his school in any,
way crippled, and to do so would
mean not only a loss to him but loss
to us, because if there is room for
only one school of this kind in this
section, and two are built, the likeli-
hod is that both will prove failures.
But what of the facts? According
to our understanding Maj. Bailey the
present session has turned away more
than a hundred and fifty students
who applied for entrance into his in
stitution. If this is fact, and such
is our information as stated where are
these one hundred and fifty, applicants
going? We know of no institution in
this good section into which they may
be admitted nor where they may Sc
cure the necessary preparation for
entering college unconditional.
We assume that these young men
whose applications for entrance to
Bailey and who were turned away
have as. much right to. be properly
prepared for college as have the three
hundred and fifty who have been ad-
mitted. We think nobody will deny
this. We are further of the opinion
that another school with one hundred
and fifty preparatory students can be
made self-supporting. 1t can be so
made by charging enough to make it
so, and people these days are asking
for preparation and not for cheap
schools. 1t is the best schools IN the
land that are being filled with stu
dents, and which are turning away
applicants for admission just as Maj.
Bailey has been forced this year to do.
Of course by enlarging his plant Maj.
Bailey might another year take care
of these students. But his school is
prospering, we are told, and it is the
experience of the best teachers, we
believe, that school with three hun
dred pupils will do better work for
the individual than one with twice
this number. We have not heard this
denied. Then instead of enlarging
Bailey, why not establish another
school in Abbeville, where the friend
ly rivalry between the two, would
enhance the interest of the friends of
each in the respective schools, and
where this rivalry would furnish an
impetus for more and better things
in each institution. Besides there are
those in Abbeville able to attend
local school who cannot afford to go
elsewhere for what these schools
offer. 4
We must have in Abbeville some
place to care for the students in the
high. school department. The enroll
ment this year as told by Maj. Fulp
warns us that another year it will
have outgrown our capacity to care
for these pupils. Where shall we
send our young boys? Is it better to
have a good school at home to which
we may send them, and where they
may be better prepared for college,
or is it better that they be sent to
Bailey at Greenwood, or to Wofford
Fitting School, or to Carlisle Fitting
School, or to some of the preparatory
schools in Georgia? All of US would