Evening journal., 1920-03-17

SCHOOL taxes udu Deen increased JOt
per cent. but that their teacher was
getting 50 a month less than under the
old system, and the children were not
getting any better education, II as
good He attacked County Superlnten-
dent Hardesty, saying he refused to
give the people information
Octogenarian Asks Fair Play.
{ Mrs. Richardson, 81 years old. asked
TO be heard. She made a plea FOR Civ
ing the School Code q fair trial She
said the most awful sin which could
be committed was sin against the chill
dren, against the little ones. and IL
they were not given the best oppor-
tunties IL would be sin against
them Her plea was short and very
simple, and II touched a responsive
chord with many OF the audience, but
Chairman Landreth Layton promptly
f0restalled any one following Mrs.
Richardson along the same line by he
himself launching into a reply TO Mrs
Richardson He said the School Code
Is bad law from its inception to
rs finish and ts damnable lniquities
cannot be covered up by the wealth
OF DUPONT 10 Is a farce 10 attempt
to defend the Code, because It is inde-
fenslble."
He then opened the fl0odgates of his
abuse and vltuperatlon upon the head
OF DR.. Joseph Odell, OF the Service
Citizens. making a very personal de-
nunciatl0n Of him and his motives and
work. lie contlnued-"And this man
Odell Is only a sample Of the rest OF the
al
around Mr.. dupont, who wait upon his
smiles and fear his frowns, but Mr..
dupont cannot frame a law by the aid
OF such men and force IL on the people
Of Delaware They are going to fight
for their rights. They are not going to
De misled by any sop OF throwing a
part OF the money brought into the
state by corporations from the general
fund to the school fund The people
don't want TO be let alone TO run their
own affairs. The school code must not
be permitted 90 be kept alive by a 1T
tie milk taken from a bottle which be /
longs 60 another baby"
w !. Jones, OF the Phillips Hill dis |
trict. said IS out OF the 10 voters Of his f.
district were opposed to the code. He
had been In that district % years and
the new code Is giving the people no
better schools or teachers than they
had q years ago, but taxes are multi ,
piled many times.
Makes Plea for Code.
r. j. Winder OF Seaford, made a !
strong plea for the code. He said the .
laws OF Delaware which make the as I
. 4
equal and they must be modified be-
fore any progress can be made. lie said
the code offered opportunity to the
poorest boy equal to that enjoyed by
the richest and under II the child in
the most remote and Isolated section OF
the state could have as good education !
as those in the towns. He spoke OF his
early struggles without such Oppor-
mnities and asked that nothing be done
against the code that VIII take away
from the children OF Delaware their
opportunities. He said the SeafOrd News
had an editorial attack upon the school
code nearly every week, but that 10 had
specified no particular wrongs in the
code and given no light. lie said what /
the people needed was light, not de-
DR.. prettyman. Of Milford. denounced
the code as autocratlc, run by a crowd &
OF men appointed by the governor. He
said 70 made taxes con1scatory, and
gave the people no better schools than
they had under the old laws.
Ex-sheriff Kirby, Of Kent county. was
called on. He said he didn't under
stand the Code and was glad he didn't,
because II he understood 1t he would 4,
have a much poorer opinion Of his
rellowmen. He said there Is too much
aducation. and most Of the wrongs 4
and troubles come from men who are
educated. rather than from the people I
who are ignorant. Mistakes OF edu- /
,ated men were responsible for most
lf the crimes and misery Of history. lie {
said one Of the men who had been out (
over Delaware speaking for The School
code had In his speeches referred re- /
peatedly 10 Dear old Germany with
rs fine system OF education" yet that
same educated Germany was respOns- !
blc for the misery which now en-
yulfs the world and the loss OF the !
lives OF millions Of people. In con-
,uslon he said the School Code took
,way all home rule. sliled self govern
neni and impoverished the people by
ligh taxes. tie said II those who
framed It had deliberately tried 10 !
write a bad law they couldn't have
written a worse one.
Senator John Carey Palmer, OF Mil !
on, then asked that Daniel J. Layton !
'e heard Daniel ]. Layton came for
ward without urging and started In on ,
MS attack on the code and those back !
Il Il, as quoted at length above
Following Mr. Layton, o. p. Jeifer- \
on, n teacher In the Glendale schools. :
each a speech he had prepared. In
which he rambled around critclsing ,
he state Board, the county supcrin- =
endont saying he was not paid q
nough, and announced that II anybody
tempted to keep him from getting ,
hearing before the special session cd 4.
Icalional committees, he would de- ],
lare war and stump the state against e
he State Board. lie got so tangled :,
p that the crowd yelled for him to :
hut up and sit down.
A representative from the Blackwater
istrlct reported they had had meet !.
~ OF tho voters OF their dlstrlc ~
londay, March 10, and they had unanl Y
lously voted for the repeal OF III y
chool Code. against woman suffrage y
nd for prohibition A representative y
rom the Union Chapel district re- z
orted they had had q meeting Monday u
I the voters in their school district >
nd they had unanimously voted for a
repeal OF the school Code. against y
uffrage and FOR an amendment OF the y
late's liquor laws. The meeting was L