The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1922-07-07

the total of the State and County
school taxes for 1921 collected ins
Obion County was $132,984.3S. OF
this amount $1O7,099.5S is used in
Obion County for county school pur-
poses, and $25,SS2.SO, less than one
fifth, goes to the State.
Rather a radical difference from
the statement made last week that
all of the county school funds are sent
to the State officials and only two
fifths of the same is returned.
We apologize for the statement
made without investigation, and ask
that this statement made as near as
possible to represent the facts be sub
stituted.
Now, it seems from the above that
Obion County pays approximately
$4,000 a year, which goes to the
Department of Education, the State
normal schools and other branches
of State school work, outside OF the
University of Tennessee. How much
of this goes to the State normal
schools l don't know, and how much
the State pays to the State normal
schools from all sources and for all
purposes | don't know. Mr.. Austin
Peay may be right in his statement
that the money required to run the
State normal schools one whole term
would not run the elementary schools
of the State a whole week. Be that
as it may, there are too many schools
In Tennessee to train teachers. Pea
body College is training teachers;
the University of Tennessee is train
ing teachers. The subject of Educa-
ton is taught in both these schools,
designed expressly as subject for
the training of teachers. Then we
have four State normal schools train
| ing teachers.
It is said that Tennessee is train
ing two thousand or more teachers
and less than five hundred teachers
trained in the State schools are at
Work teaching in the elementary |
| schools of Tennessee. The worst part
of it is that the elementary school |
system of Tennessee is disgrace. AS
General Hannah states, Tennessee has
fine record for illiteracy, She stands
fourth from the bottom as one OF the
States in illiteracy.
While we have all this elaborate
college and State normal work the
children of Tennessee are cropping in
darkness for the lack OF common
school advantages. In some counties
there are elementary schools which
run not more than five months in
the year, maybe less. The teachers
are in many cases probably not COM
petent to train the children. The
school funds in such cases are not
sufficient to pay competent teachers |
Now, the disgraceful feature of
the State school system is the school
lobby and it's interlocking interests |
with the State University and the
State fairs, which this paper has
heretofore designated as the politi- |
cal triangle which controls the politi-
cal fortunes of the people of Ten
nessee. If a State Senator or Rep
resentative outside of the charmed
circle or triangle wants anything he
must perforce seek the good graces of
that body, and the price is sometimes
very expensive. 1t may mean the
support of the University tax, the
State fair tax and the State normal
tax, or perhaps an additional State
normal to accommodate a retiring
State Superintendent at something
like salary of ten thousand dollars
year and the cost of a new normal
school If nothing of this kind is re-
quired the school book trust may
need his support. 1t now takes quite
lot to get local bill to pass mus
ter.
1t would be a Godsend to the peo-
pie of Tennessee if the constitution
were amended to provide that no
bonds of any kind or character could
be issued without referendum of
the voters and that all local legisla
tion should be committed to the SOW
ereign county courts of the State.
This would mean democracy, true
democracy, the wiping out of the
shameful barter of the peoples pub
lie interests.
The Cemeteries.
| On AInndn,r ninht Of u M notinn of