The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-02-18

excluding from its operations all
towns of $500 and over. Why such
exception should be made is not clear
/ to most people. There is no apparent
reason why residence in small towns
should exclude such inhabitants from
the benefits that are expected from
the workings of such measure.
The purpose of the bill is to pro-
vide greater revenue for the sparsely
settled and poor communities to en-
able children of those districts to
have virtually equal educational ad-
vantages with the children in the
more populous and more wealthy dis
tricts. On the theory that the entire
State is vitally interested in the edu-
cation of all the children in the State,
the Governor made the county unit
bill one of his administration meas
ures, and is now preparing to get be-
hind it with the power of the admin
lSLratloI, IL necessary
One of the principal causes for
backwardness of Missouri schools is
that in the State there are hundreds
of districts so sparsely settled and in
which real estate is of such low val
ue that taxation within the constitu-
tional limits does not provide suffi-
cient revenue to maintain proper
schools, even with the State financial
aid, which is distributed on the basis
of school enrolment of the districts.
Under the county unit bill the coun-
ty would be the unit for school taxa
tion, and the more wealthy portions
of the county would contribute to the
schools of the poorer portions.
Now, to get back to the apparent
injustice of excluding from the bene-
fits of this proposed bill towns Cf
$500 population and more, st. Fran
co.'s county affords somewhat strik-
ing example. In the Lead Belt, where
is perhaps rs per cent of the assessed
valuation of the county, there are at
least two towns that would not come
under the workings of such proposed
law, and there the school moneys is
far in excess of actual needs for
school purposes. On the ether hand.
in Pennington, the county seat, the
inhabitants are now compelled to pay
exhorbitant school taxes, and yet
have hardly enough money to sustain
the splendid schools of this place.
This condition is brought about by
conditions that are a credit, rather
than a discredit, to Pennington. For
instance: Pennington is now educat-
ing the hundred or more inmates of
the orphanage, at least rs per cent of
which inmates come from the lead
belt. Practically none of them come
from this city. Does it appear right
that our people should be so heavily
burdened with school taxes to edu-
cate children from the lead belt, while
that district has far more money than
is necessary to conduct the highest
grade of schools. Another fact is ;'at
Pennington furnishes perhaps rs per
cent of the necessary expense for the
upkeep of the orphanage, without
which those human atoms, that are
being equipped as good citizens of
tomorrow, would perhaps be scattered
and blown about the lead belt, with
little in view for them but to become
human barnacles in future life.
So far as ST. Francois county is
concerned, the proposed county schoo+
unit bill should be so amended as to
include all our people, if equal and ex-
act justice to all our people is to be
obtained.