BJ E. B. MURRAY .& CO. ANDERSON, S. C., THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 4, 1879. ?. VOLUME XV.---N?75I'~~ Oui Schools and Our Constitution. Histor; of Pabilo' Education la South Carolina-Our Public Schools Bot the "Jirce Schools" of the Coustltu t Ion-School rees. Local Taxa tibs, Normal Schools and High Schools Discussed. An Address on tb? Pabilo School System of South Carolina, Delivered at Ander son, Before Uio Anderson ^Educational Association, on ?7tb September, 1870, by W. O, Benet, Esq., of AbbevUle. [rUBLIBHKO BY BEQUKST 07 TUB ASSOCIATION.] Afr. President and Ladies and Gentle men of the Anderson Educational Associa' Hon : Wheo, some two months ago, I addressed the Abbeville Teachers' Asso ciation on the subject cf our public schools, I did not expect that the opin ions I advanced would be received so pleasantly then and published so widely afterwards. It seemed to mo that be yond the intelligent and indulger ? au dience who listened to me, my words would fall like seed-by the hard-trodden wayside of educational discussion. It was, therefore, gratifying to me person ally, and satisfactory and cheering to me ns a citizen of South Carolina, to find that my address was to some extent in strumental in stirring up a lively and prolonged discussion on our public schools, in which the newspapers in all corners of the State took part. Still more gratifying to me was your invita tion tu conic hero and address you on the Hame important subject; a high compli ment which I did not look for, but for which. I thank you, I came at your call the moro readily lr ause, since the Ab beville meeting, th State press bas re vealed to mo not only the weak points in my argument, but tho strong points also ; and I gladly embrace this opportunity to consider more at length those divisions of tho subject Which have received most i attention and provoked most discussion.' THE SUBJECT which I was asked to bring before you is uot ?imply education-an inexhaustible topic if considered in its widest sense ; nor even public education, which is edu cation considered in its relation to the State ; but it is the publie school system of South Carolina. A consideration of this subject cavca us the fruitless, though may be pleasant, task of reviewing the boundless expanse of education : or even of surveying the more limited though still wide-extended domain of public ed ucation ; and it enables ns to concentrate our powers of vision and our thoughte, as it were, with a focus, in a thorough ex amination arid close inspection of our own educational Geld-our publie school system. I did not come here to deliver un oration-the field I ask yoi, to survey ? with me contains few flowers of rhetoric I came here to talk, to talk plainly, prac tically, strongly, with clearness and sim plicity. I am not a teacher; I can there fore advocate the teacher's cause without being Charged with doing so lucri causa. I am not a politician, and therefore I need not busy myself to say only such things as may be agreeable to my bearers. I came here at your request to give you the result of some years1 experience and much refiection in connection with our public schools ; a subject of. infinite im portance to us aii ; a subject surrounded with great difficulties ana giving riso to an endless diversity of opinions ; a sub ject which with us in South Carolina is the vital question of the day. On this subject I ha7e much more to say than can well be overtaken in a public ad dress. I therefoio throw myself on your indulgence in case I may trespass on your patience-which I nm anxious noe to do-and without further preliminary remarks I shall first address myself to a brief review of the history of PUBLIC EDUCATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. In this State from tho earliest period of her colonial history, attempts,* more or less successful, biwo been made to estab lish systems of public education more or less liberal, the first State-aided school having been founded in Charleston in 1710. Wo thoo rend of State colleges being established about 1770 at Charles ton, Winnsboro, Alexandria and Cam bridge. Then in 1805 was founded the Knuth Carolina College, with whoso his tory and noble work we are all acquaint ed. Down to this date tho efforts of the State in behalf of education bad all been directed towards higher education, und the beneficent results were auch os tc j u uti fy the proud boast of the South Car olinians of tho eighteenth century' that throughout their Commonwealth high schools, grammar schools and colleges were offering a classical education to all their sons,, and that id addition moro stu-, dents went to the British Universities from this State than from any other nf tho thirteen colonies. . TUB 'teOOB SCHOOLS.'.' Poverty and population increase pari passu. At the beginning of this century tho greatly increased population of thia State included a numerous class of poor peopio who were unable to bear the en tiro burden of tho education of their chil dren. Therefore, in 1811 a State, appro . priation waa made ft:, tho benefit of ''poorscholars." The appropriation was small, but es tho beneficiaries were com paratively few in number, (all being white children,) the class of poor whites reully obtained more substantial sid tben than is now obtained by them from our vast public school fund. For instance, the indigent white people in Abbeville County ne fora tho war nhtninrxl nhnnt $2,000 a year from the poor school fund ; now tho entire white . population receive' from the public school fund only about $7,000 a year. With somo changes and improvements in 1888, this old free sehool (or rather free scholar) system was continued until the war. In thus aiding higher education (which is not remune rative nor self-sustaining), and also pay ing for tho education of the indigent poor South f j.>ro4?!,.? pursued a wise arid enlightened poiicy, and fulfilled towards ber white population her wholo duty as a State in the matter of.education. THE EFFECTS OP TBE WAR was utterly subversive of the ante bellum nystem of education. AU State aid and State-aided educational institutions were ?wept away as by a deluge. When the war was over, the people of South Caro lina saw that all old things had .passed away, sud behold all things had. become new. - Among the new things the most striking was toe enfranchisement of the colorea people, by which the voting Dep utation of tho Mtate was more than dou bled. Universal suffrage and universal education -should go handdtv-hand. Tho Constitution Which ?oh?errcf theau/ftagp waa bound to provide for the education of tho voter. Pity it was that tho myriad flunky .Lands which then for the first time fingered s ballot bad not been required, first of all, to thumb a spelling-boo!; and handlea pen. - We have-nothing to do . . now with tbs wisdom or the rashness of tho policy. The :fact remains that the colored voters wore, with few exceptions, utterly illiterate. No provision for their education had been made while they were slaves : DOW that they were cafran-1 ebbed freedmen, the duty was impera* \ tivo of providing P. - at least their elemen tary instruction, if we did not consider seriously and sensibly the question, "What shall we do with them ?"-left in deplorable ignorance and yet possessed of terrible power, they would soon force us to consider tho startling question, "What will they do with ti* /" The "uui versal voter" is uncanny at his best; the ignorant "universal 7oter" is tobe fenred more than the pestilence. If there is to be a Constitutional Convention in this ?tate," !et it not meddlo with the public school fund. To abolish the t"hool tax would bo blindness and madness. OUR PRESENT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM AND ITS' FUND have a very brief history, to 'which I shall briefly refer : 1. In 1868, when the Constitution waa adopted/it was made the ? dutjr ' of the General Assembly io make provision for a liberal and uniform system of free pub lic schools. (Art. X, SJC. 3.) 2. In the same Article, Section 5, tho General Assembly was instructed to levy an annual tax on all taxable property for the support of public schools. 3. By the same Section tho poll tax was set aside as a permanent fund ' o be applied solely to educational pm-pces; and (General Statutes, Chap. XXXVIII, Sec. 8,) to bo expended for school pur poses in the school district from which it was collected. 4. The power to increase the school fund by local taxation WOB coufVrirod on the inhabitants of the respectivo Behool districts, said tax not to exceed three dollars for every child of scholastic agc (6 to 16 years) in the district. (Gen Stat., Chn;\ XXXIX, Sec. 15, 4th.) 5. By Joint Resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, approved March 26,1875, ? ccnstitutio?arnmend ment was passed amending Article X Sec. 5, and empowering County Commis stoners to levy an annual tax of not lest than two mills on the dollar upon al taxable property in their respective counties for the support of public schools This amendment' was ratified by the vote of the pecplo at tho general election ii 1876. The annual appropriations wen thereby suspended ; and 6. By an Act, approved June 8, 1877 to amend Sec. 15, Chap. XXXIX, Gen Stat., the power to levy a local tax wa wisely revoked. We have therefore now no annual Stat appropriation and no school district loca taxation ; and it is hoped that futur General Assemblies will be on thei guard against reviving either. The abuse attendant on the power to levy a loco tax caused it to be revoked in 1877. 1 is strange that in 1879 we should find i: various parts of the State the desiro ex pressed that it be again put in force, i is Btrange that part of the unfinishe business of our Legislature last session 3 a Bill, which was reported on favorably providing for the revival of the local ta power in cities, towns and incorporate villages. Let our Representatives bc ware of this wolf in sheep's clothing. OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND is derived from two . sources-the tvs mill tax and the poll tax. As a perm: nent f: id it will keep pace with tue pn ?^esa of the Commonwealth, increasic ? amount simultaneously with the ii crease in the value of taxable proper! and the increase of our population. J present it amounts to nearly $340,006, i which ino ina mar tax contributes abui ,$270,000, and the poll tax the rest-: -large part of tho pou tax not being ec lected. When we add to this vast fur the $55,000 raised in Charleston by tl local tax system, which has been esta' lished in that city for many years, \ find that the public scheel fund of Sou Carolina amounts annually to near $400,000-that is, nearly fifty cents year for every man, woman and chil white and black, in this State. Sou Carolina has certainly no reason for se depreciating in this regard. Aa a Sis she contribute*) tc. public education a vi deal thors than any -.ther State in t Union. Such is in brlefa history of public t ucation in South Caroiinn ; such and great is the provision made for the ina! tenance of our present system. I oe not weary y?". by detailed explanation tho official machinery to whose inanai mont the-system ?B confided-the St] Superintendent with his State Board, i County School Commissioners with tb County Beards, tho School Districts w their; Boards of xrusrees. Nor in p ceeding to discuss our school system, it now stands, need I take time to demi Strate CERTAIN ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLE) upon which we are well enough agre and which wo may take for granted, shall only state these and thon pass or certain.others which still ate more or 1 In dispute: 1. It is an established principle w us that the education oj the people i i.nittcr nhich is not tb be left wholly private effort and sense of patentai Si but that it is to a certain extent the ? of the ?Sate. Some may doubt the va ity of this maxim, but the logic of eve at least is against them, and it ia now late in South Carolina to argue the po The duty of tho. State to.care for and I vide in part for the. ?ducation of i all children is part ot* our organic law, dc ly and enduringly imbedded in our C stitution; and ample provision has b made by the lost constitutional ame ment for i. .a performance cf the wi duty of tho State in this regard. 2. It is ?Iso an established pri?c with ns, and is in in fact expressed Ehatically in the Constitution, tbat I.?,. J_J?L .?.- --- ? .----j - -?v? ni*u tuc ccvutor not with the religious'education of children. ? "Wti are thus relieved in 8c Carolina of tho rancorous religious c cully, and the odium theologicum doea intrude itself into the discussion of public school System. Those principles being granted, lc now consider the question, HAB SOUTH CAROLINA DONE31 ER WU DUTY in this matter of publie education? certainly has furnished money enoug her public school fund ; she has ea Habed by constitutional taxation a instinnt and'increasing fand great? proportion to her population-n greater ia proportion to her taxpa population-than has been roviuot public education by any other Sta tlie Union. For each child actual I; tending tho public schools she has g $8.25 a year, and jfor each child of e lastic ago' $1.G5. Massachusetts co butes only 23 cents 4 milts per ea Tho Slat*., ?hool tax of South Caroli two mills on the dollar, exclusive ol poll tax ; that of New York is only ti fourths of a mill ou the dollar. . State tax our .school fund is the liberal provision made for publie sci in tho United States. It supplie much money, indeed, to bo aiatrit indiscriminately and almost uncondi ally. If disbursed under proper re; tioas and relictions, it Is amply clent for tho support of a perfect sj of public school?. But to supply m i? not the bo-all and the end-all o Stato's duty. To furnish a fund oi to furnish locomotives with abm water and fuel, bot without engineers, and, indeed, without a railroad track to I run on. Resides supplying monoy, it is | the duty pf the State FI EST, TO FURNISH GOOD TEACH DBS. Speaking generally, good teachers are I neither born nor do they grow ; they have to be made. They aro made only i when there, is r. deland for them ; the multiplicity of bad teachers is owing to ! there-oeing email demand for good ones. The complaint about bad teachers is a very old one. Roger Ascbnm, tho tutor of Queen Elisabeth, complained in his Schoolmaster that men were moro careful in choosing a groom for their horses than a teacher for their sons. To-day, one of tho most serious obstacles in the way of our school system is tho employment of incompetent teacbors. This is not pecu liar to Sooth Carolina. The common Behool teachers of the i*" rthern States, outside of cities and tc #ns, are generally of a low standard. In many places they are aa bad os our worst. I read that in a French district of Canada a petition from school-teachers was signed by Botne of them with their cross-mark. Wo should have good teachera here, and by propel means we can have have them. I have tho authority of a distinguished English educator for saying that America fur nishes the best material in the world foi the making of good teachers. Ono ol tho worst euecta of tho present disburse ment of the school fund is the discour agment it gives to good teachers, whore by tho best are driven frei" the Held The unconditional distribution of th? fund encourages the unnecessary multi plication of schools, which leads to thi unnecessary multiplication of teachers This causes tbe lowering of the teacher*! pay and a consequent lowering of tb? teacher's standard, for the teacher' standard rises and falls with his salary But tho great desideratum in the train ing of teachers is the NORMAL SCHOOL. Without a Normal Training College m public v-bool system in completo or cai succeed ; ?nd our publio schools, will their army of over turee thousand leach era, will never be able to do work wort! tho money expended upon them nntl I _U |M.C_t_*-.?_ %T-_ eaCu ivowici cuan nu?c ciiuci a rt urmo School certificate or a University ai ploma. Tho Constitution directs th establishment of Normal 3chools (Ari X. Sec. 6,) "within five years after th adoption of the Constitution." Thor should be ono, perhaps two, Normt Schools for each race, situated con vc I niently in Charleston, Columbia an some up-country town of sufficient pepi istion to supply four or five htindre children for the experimental school a tached. Tho Normal Sheels could t established and maintained without an additional tax, aud our General Assen bly should at once attend to this matte It is the duty of the State, SECOND, TO ESTABLISH HIGH SCHOOL While diffusing elementary instruotio -tho three-'lt's-reading, 'riling an 'rithmetic-what I have called the knif fork and spoon of education-it is tl duty of the State to encourago and fosti higher education. At present highi education is practically discourage whicb{ especially to the poor man. ts groat injustice. Under the old "fr scholar" system, the poorest boy in Sou Carolina could enjoy the blessings of High School and University curriculun ana some cf the illustrious men of tl State were such "poor scholars." Und the present system, tho poor man's son I limited to the commonest and coarsi educational fare, and even the beti classes aro discouraged in their efforts j give their sons a good education. T j State shoald establish and partly mai I tain ono or two High Schools or Grad Schools in every county, in which sch01 the pupils might go beyond the narr< bounds of elementary instruction. Su High Schools could be supported wit out additional tax. It is the duty of the State, THIBD, TO TEST THE QUALITY OF TJ VOES. 1 . . ... ? ?'._. ; HUT:" ZU ll" ?MIUMU a v. 1 I VTUI rr-\AJ OVO ll she gets thc worth of her money, It i striking fact that there is not one thi to show the value of the education gis in the public schools-not n thing in < State Superintendent's annual rcpo: nor" in the reports of School Comn aiouora, nor in the monthly reports teachers. Withannnnnsincss-liKeblii ness that is astonishing, the State lavi ly pays ont her money for education i cannot tell nor find out what she is { ting In return, for it. She knowa noth either of the quality or the quantitj instruction given. No doubt .ni upi? ti. uy another set ot mi the Inspectors. Thus'also the pt mouey wonld be wisely expended, according to the number of pupils sin nor their ago, nor studies, nor accor to'the teacher's certificate, nor the lei of session, but chiefly by the retail fained. Payment by ictutla would a a most salutary stimulus on tho teac and parents would soon discover th? this way tbs best teacher weald be cher.pc-?t"s?o thain. No aoii? obj? can be urged against the establish) of a system of inspection. It wonld but little, and it would powerfully tribute to obviate tho df-iects and tc te the value and effectiveness of our lie school sysVm. It is tbe duty of the 8tate; FOURTH, TO HAKE THE PUBLIC I SUPPLEMENTAL and obtainable only on certain' wise dillons; to-exercise a wholesome i cuco on local anti private eacrg] making the KU nt? aid conditional ; t as a central Dower, controlling am cr ^raging local enterprise ; to mak< ?nolle fand a premium or local en tis thc duty of the State to educa parent to educ?le kit child. This t education will be supplied by makin publie fund act as a vivifying stix for a central source-a moral as wei financial aid. At pr?sent the p fond, aa a moral agent, is very burt! destroying tho sense of parental rcsj bilily. It should not be distribute* conditionally. It should bo Condi ti at least, es ?che {RCS, or, as some to prefer, as lo&ai .axution. It should bo borne in mind thi prime object of the State io giving pecu niary -iii to public education ia not to reliove tho pareuU entirely of tho re sponsibility of paying for their children'a education, nor to render the school mas ter entirely independent on payment by tho parents, nor even to furnish the school-master with the greater pirOof bia Bubsbiteice. The prime object is to en? courage rnd help public education by supplying money, which shall serve rs a species of retaining fee or premium, so as to secure the constant services of a tescber able to instruct the young, and influenced by the strongest motives to perfect himself in his business, and to at* tr ct to bis school the greatest number of scholars. THE PERFECT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM is not the ono planned by Plato, by which children were to be taken in -charge by tho 3tate away entirely from parents) control, A-J in which a man could not toll his own father or mother ; nor ic it the Prussian bureaucratic plan, a central department controlling ana di recting all, which is so destructive of in dividuality j nor is it the common local plan by which money and nothing eise is furnished by the government. The per fect system is a combination of the local and tho governmental-it bas an ener getic local authority to get the work of teaching done, and a watchful govern mental authority to superintend the work and test its quality. Tho parents on the one hand and the State government on the other pay their proportionate share of the expense and receive a good return for their money-the parents receive for their money the education of their chil dren, the government receives proof that the education is good. The uncondi tional distribution of the school fund is demoralizing to thc parents and unsatis factory to tho government. But, say some, granting that it is tho duty of tho State (1) to establish Normal Sohcols and (2) County High Schools, and (8) to appoint State School Inspec tors, and (41 to make the school fund supplemental,' Is the way clear and open for the performance of tho-o duties" Where is tho money to come from for thc first three? and is not the Constution in the way cf thc fourth ? This question brings me to discuss THE CONSTITUTION IN ITS RELATION TO THE PUBLIC 8CHOOL8. It is not my desire to "drive an omnibus through an Act of Parliament," nor, foi lowing a historical example, to "camj outside tho Constitution." It is my de Eire, and my honest endeavor Bhall be, t< correct what I believe to be misinterpre tations) of our Constitution, :mrt the con sequent mistakes. In what I shall say oi this bead I shall argue honestly from thi ipsissima verba of the Constitution. It i generally supposed that our publi schools are freo schools. I bel i ovo tba tbe words of our Constitution justify m In saying that OUR PUBLIC BCHOOI? ARE NOT FREI SCHOOLS. This will seem to many to be a bold Btate ment, out I hope to show that a mud bolder man than I am is tho man wh will maintain that the schools are free i tho face of the consequences that flo' from that understanding of the Constitt tion. I fiud in Art. X. Sec. 8, that "the Gei eral Assembly Bhall, os soon ns practica ble, after the adoption of this Constiti lion, provide for a liberal and unifor system of free public schools tbroughoi the State. ?* * There shall bo ke] open at least six months in each year oi or more schools in each school district In Section 4 we read that "it Bhall 1 tho duty cf the General A?a (j iii ul y to pr vide for the compulsory attendance, either pnblic or private schools, of i children between tbe ages of six and si teen years, not physically or'mental disabled, for a term equivalent to tivcnt four months nt least: provided, that i law to that effect shall be passed until system of public schools has bc thoroughly and completely organize and facilities afforded to all the lab's itsnta of tho StHte for the ^vte educa?i of'their children." * These are tho words of tho Constitute referring to our publie Behool syste What do they mean? It is quite pit that-the framers of. the Constitution i tended to effect the organization of &j pnblic school system; in Massachusetts and Connecticut) that State help is given on this among other conditions that the public schools be kept open at least sis months. Are we, then, willing to submit to a law enforcing attendance at school on all children aud youths and maidens be tween six and sixteen years of age? I, for one, would oppose it to tho utmost, and I do not think our people would pass their shoulder under such a burden, and most likely those that are loudest in claiming/re? education would be loudest in denouncing compulsory attendance. Yet, if we insist on it that our schools are free, we must make up our minds to have compulsory attendance insisted on also and rightly. And they that urge that by our Constitution the publia schools are free, must not and cannot subtly shirk from accepting the logical sequences of that freeness-the compul sory attendance, which ia auto in our Constitution. I have tried to show that our public schools aro not, even in the light of tho Constitution, free schools. They aro Eublie schools in the sense of being aided y the publie exchequer. For it is the duty of the State to encourage and help tho education of tho people-not to pay for it entirely, but to defray eorue of tho expense and assume some of tho control and supervision. To such as still have constitutions! objection to this under standing of our Byatem, I would say that the Constitution itself refers to public schools "supported in wholo or tn part by tho public funds.'' I am persuaded, therefore, that the Constitution offers no formidable obstacle to the method I sug gest, namely, that the public school fund should be made simply a supplemental fund, to be obtained OH CERTAIN CONDITIONS. What the conditions should bo in too much a matter of detail to detain us now. Speaking generally they should be, 1. Tbat the school session shall bo nt least nine month? long, 2. That since tho school fund can pay one-third of the expense, tho patron;: ?ball pay the other two-thirds. iThe school fund already pays for a turee months' session.) 8. That tho teacher shall hold n cer tificate from a Normal School, or it; equivalent. And if any fears exist that the people would rather do without schools that pay anything for them, we might borrov from Massachusetts, our great educa tiona' exemplar, her system of penalties by which a community that neglects U open a school is subjected to a heavy fine NO OBSTACLES. But does the Constitution offer no ob stacles to the maintenance of State Not mal School. County High Schools nm State School Inspectors out of the pub!! School Fund? Let us see. As to the two mill tax: By tbedirectio of the constitutional amendment "tb school tax shall be distributed among th several school districts of the counties I proportion to the respective number c ?upilB attending the public echools. bis does not mean that the money shs bo spent, exhausted in these "respectiv Behool districts," else the school law is t fault when it directs that tho salaries e the County School Commissioners sha be paid "ratably out of the funde appoi tioned to the several Behool districts. (School Law, Sec. A? to ibo poll tax : ii ia to bc "appiie .AI.U I? aJn?.!!??.^ -.!) i-. . ?v gili?-?.gi jul? . the two mill tax is levied for"tbo8uppo of public schools." The support of com ty nigh schools, of State normal school of State School Inspectors-would m that b* an "educational purpose?" woul not that be to support public school: And if wo can nay County School Coo niissione/s "ratably out of the fonds a] portioned to the several school districts we can in the same way appropriate "r tably" sufficient to pay for high ecbool normal ochoo's and Inspectors. Ol enormous fond of $400,000 migbt we spare enough for theso purposes and sti leave enough for the common schcol Massachusetts spends ont-haU of h State school fund on high sen cols ai normal schools, wbilo the other moie is attainable onlj on condition of raisii about twenty-five times as much. HOW IS THE MONEY TO BE RAISED ? It is sow time to di*cui# tb? best mo of reining tho necessary amount of mon which, with tho publie fund ss a suppl mont, will be sufficient to pay our teac era adequate salaries, ana to keep t schools open at least nine months in t year. There are three modes: 1. By private voluntary cubscriptioi 2. By focal taxation. 3. By school fee-bills. The first, the voluntary subscript! plan-according to which tho patrons schools contribute to the expenses of t school according to thoir several ability is neither a sure nor a safo one ; and wi this I dismiss it as unworthy of our cc slderation ot of recognition by the Sta LOCAL TAXATION. Tho second-the local taxation ular ts tho ono which is best known and I been pursued in most of the North? States for many years-was adopted, deed, some years ago in this otate. 1 becanso of tho abuses to which it led v rejected in 1877. It behooves us to et sider this local taxation plan with ea' estness, care and honesty, foralthou ono of the first acts of our reformed L islature was to repeat tho statute wbi empowered school districts to increase l school fund by local taxation. I not with regret the gradual growth in varh parts of the State of a sentiment In fa' of restoring local. taxation. The sa circumstances which caused its repeal 1877 still exist, and to tho abuses wh loudly called for its repeal then it stil liable It is highly, proper for us, the fore, to get what light we can on t subject before the next session of i Legislature, when it will undoubtedly brought up for action. I ask you to u elder with roe somo 'OBJECTIONS TO LOCAL TAXATION 1. It is unjust to tho tax-payers of, J State, who, in proportion to our pepi don, aro fewer in numbers than in t Northern State; who already aro sui sufficiently tax-burdened, and who ready contribute $350,000 to public e cation. It is unjust also to that nun oua class bf our fellow-citizens who addition to their school tax, have aire paid rb* their own children's educatl to tax and compel them now topsy tho cducaUon of their neighbors' c dren. 2, It ia dcmornUr.il;-* o Ibo people removing from the fathers tho respo bili ty of caring for and paying for . ? ......_. education cf their children. In this State where mendicants and tramps are almost unknown, and where the laboring class is alu fl ju able to find employment, a healthy public opinion would compel a man to send his children to school and pay moderate fees for them ; especially as tho State has already contributed so liberally.to the expense, and it is ready to holp him to bear the burden. 3. The power to levy a local tax is lia* able to many ".nd great abuses, which I need not euuuerate. The consequences of the exercise of this power a few years ago in this State are still remembered by our people. 4. Local taxation is not suited to an agricultural Stato like thia, where we have few large towns, but where the voa) majority of our people livo in email towna, hamlets and isolated homesteads, It is well adapted to Charleston, bul Charleston is in this no criterion for thc rest of tho State, for this reason : the rub iu local taxation is, where th? tax is larg' est in its rate per child it is smallest in its rat* per dollar. The child ia paid for besl where the dollar is taxed least. That is the burden of local taxation is llghtes where population is densest. This is nc theory ; this is a fact which figures prove For instance, the city of Boston witt iU light local tax of 1.02 mills on th? dollar contributes for the education of it children an average of $1(5 per capita In rural Massachusetts, on the contrary where there is a heavy local tax of 2.71 mills on the dollar, this raiseo only $6 pe capita. A similar disproportion is fount everywhere else. So glaring is the i ne quality that in New York Stato, whil tba cities and towns support their school by local taxation, tho school-fee systec obtains exclusively in the rural district* Before asking our Legislature to pass : local taxation l?w, let us ask ourselves i VA ara uri (liner tjy imnmn nn cur OW! shoulders a burden which we aro unabl to bear. THE COST OE PUBLIC EDUCATION throughout tho United States is about $ per school-child ; e. g., $9 in St. Louii $15 in Baltimore, $16 iu Boston, $9 i Charleston-not to speak of tho $36 pc capita among the Cherokco Indians. Now, our two mill tax, plus our po tax. yields only $3.25 for each child ai tually nttendiug school, or $1.65 for cae chile! of six to sixteen years. AB WC cai nut expect to have public education at cheaper rate than in tho economic! North, wo must bo ready to pay $9 pj capita : e. g., wo must furnish $5.75 u< dilionul for each child actually attendit Behool. If this is to bo raised by loe taxation, a local levy of four or five.mil would have to be made. This added thc existing two mill tax would mako ni school tax not less than six or seven mil on tho dollar. Nor is this all. Win compulsory attendance ia insisted on, as will be and ought to bo if by local tax tion tho public schools shall bo made a aolutely /ree, then the increased atten anco wi!! require an increased fund ; ai the $1.65 already furnished to educe every child in tho State will have to increased to $9. To do this our sehe tax will have to bo raised to nine or t mills on tho dollar. Surely our peet will not ask that so grievous a burden Slaced on their shoulders ; and it is t uty of those that aro in filter of loi taxation to count the cost before th pray for its adoption. Let us now consider what I believe be THE BEST MODE-THE FEE-BILL BYBTI By a system of school fees, tuition fe of rate-bills, os they are variously call money is paid by tho parent directly I the teacher or school manager ; i. e., th ?ay directly who are directly benefit 'ho school fees may bo made paya monthly, quarterly, or for tho scssi ! Thc following are a few of tho ad var ! gea of this sys teni : I 1. It is fair aud just to all, to rich i I poor alike. It enables tho poor mat St State aid from the public fund nm e samo time to help himself. Hi i thus prevented from becoming an edt ! tiona! pauper. 2. It encourages in the peopie a live and healthier interest In education. I pie do not value highly what they get nothing. The man who pays five or dollars a year for his child's oducal takes a higher and better view of edt tion than does the man who vrhose cl is educated wholly ai the publiciexpe A popular sentiment in favor of ?Sdi tion and a popular determination to for education, aro a nobler product i public school system than the more a lty to read and write. 3. It prevents the uncecocsary mi plication of acbools, which is one of many evils of an absolutely free eysl !. When people pay Behool fees they ! cover that to nave fewer schools, : these more numerously attended red tho echool fee. When they pay not! ! except in the interest form of taxai there is a constant clamor for addi ti schools, until in many districts we three or four times too many sebee with tho unavoidable result of lowe the teacher's standard and pay, ac shorteniug the school session. 4. It elevates the standard of tho te er. People who pay fees will see that they employ a teacher who will them tho worth of their money, present the public fund eeems to b garden! by roany as a pension fund I administered not so much for the ed tion of the children as for the benefit reliof of those who, whether compi or not, aro fortunato enough to get filoyment in the public schools.' ? Ish a school fee system and much care will be taken by both school tru and parents in tho employment of t< ?arm VnyApIttam^ *JSpOt~- CV.'l TS?Sp! compassion will thon have no roon there is no affection in business. 5. A school fco system is the che in the end, as it naturally dineou any waste of money. Only that wc paid for which ir. done. It is not so to bo extravagant with private mon with public funds. A facile and 1 generosity is more closely associated the public purse tbsn with tho pi purse. ii-6. It is preferable to local taxatio cause it renders unnecessary tho enl ment of a compulsory attendance which ia the attendant and conc?n of a local trx law. It ia wiser and I to pay out. soma of our private n than to give up some or our pei liberty. IS It PRACTICABLE? . - Many other recommendations st themselves which I need not enum I am persuaded She eehool fee sysl tho ono best suited to our State a onr agricultural population, r?eme critics havo argued strongly, though ly, against tbU method. Tho Wini: Nexos and Herald commends it, but: fs.Mnot practicable," and, therefore fers local taxation. I state no tn? pothosis when I say It Is practicable Elan of supporting schools partly b; o fund and partly by school fees successful operation now in manj of our State. In my town of AW both tho white and, colored echo?: conducted on this pian. They ar open ten months, and th? school fe paid. > In Abbeville County there i or ''seven colored schools vviuntoril ported by school fees for fivo or six o after the public money ie exhausted. The Charleston Neut and Courter says that my preference for school fees la "ap abatact question of superiority/' and that the popular vote would be for local taxa tion. I hope I have eLown that it ls n very concreto matter a?ecUng", very seri ously the popular pocket, which the pop ular vote maybe trusted to protect. This certainly ie & very serious and by no means an abstact question. Are we ready to be taxed heavily enough to pay $8 or #10 ? yoar for every child ia the State? I am glad to And that ray suggestion to LIMIT TBE SCHOLASTIC AGE from 0-16 to 8-14 years baa been so fav orably received and heartilyedvacated by the press. This, I conceive, would be a f;reat and manifest improvement, letting oose fully!ono-thlrd of the publie money, and there increasing largely the State contribution per capita: If time permitted I should discuss other important subdivisions of my subject, but I can only briefly refer ta one or two and then close this address. If we ever shall bave a CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION tn South Carolina, and if icbool matters aro to be discussed and iv?jua\ed therein, it would bo a wiso polit ?> to rot our pab ilo Behool system entirely free from thc Constitution in all but tho levying of th? Behool tax. The system would work bet ter and bo more elastic if placed undei tho control of the General Assembly, The Constitution should create the pub lic school system and provide money foi its support, but it Bhould leave all the details of its working to the General As sombly. It would a?ao bo a wise policj in a Constitutional Convention to : fret tho office of State Superintendent of Ed' ucation and County School Commission' era from the injurious influences of pop Mia.. AiA#iij/?n^ J^?o?? should be a*%rw%^?ste? and not elected to such offices, for ob vions reasons. Tho last thing I shall advert lo is tnt miserable HAND-TO-MOUTH EXISTENCE - which our public schools and their te ich era are having at the present time, be cause the work of the school is done be fore the sohool tax is collected. We an just one.year behind tho taxes. The re suit is, that poor teachers cannot get thel nay certificates cashed at the Count] Treasury, and they have ts submit to tin usurious Binning process, whereby the! poor pay is made still poorer. Let th public consider this question : Would i not be well to stop our public schools fo one year, BO as to get ahead of tho ecboc tax ? I see no other way out of this gras trouble, und no other salvation for th teachers. And now, ladles and gentlemen, ns long address is ended. I thank you fe the close attention with which you hav listened to me-an attention owing mor to your indulgent patience than "to m Cower to interest and entertainyou. ave tried to discuss our public achec system and iis fund in a practical mat ncr, and with the light of our own exp* rienco and Ibo experience of the Nortl ern States, whore exist systemssome wht similar. It is good for us nt this time t study our own and other school system Ours Is not vet thoroughly organise! We must, therefore, try to insure against failure by making it not only ?j good os but better than the other system Defects in tbe Massachusetts system a warnings to South Carolina, and advai tages is tho New York, system are exat pies for our imitation. The coat that fl Connecticut may be too tight for Sou Carolina. We have the raw material make our coat from and shape it cw \ pleaso. South Carolina it paasb through a transit period in education is many other respects. Of the mai sad losses caused by the war, among tl saddest ia tho loss of those education traditions for which this State was d tingolshod. It ?8 ours to try to resto her to her former high placo among t intelligent and educated Com m on weal t of the world. We con do **>, lo ap\U> many difficulties^-- with a good ' pub) school system, we can do so if we n oar enormous school fund BO as todiffu elementary instruction and elevate t masses, and also to encourage higher e ucation, even the highest, and give t r;oor man's son the chance to acquire complete education. ' We can do so wbifo spreading tho genial warmth rudimentary instruction, we are carel to keep alive the lamp of higher lea; lng. We need not ba discouraged if our short life we shall not see tao wc cf our bands completed nor our whi desire ?ttUUJed- Good, solid work always elow. It may not bu onrs build tho beautiful temple of kuowlctl which is. one day to riso In South Ca lina. Concerning tho Temple at Jora Icm, it was sala unto David : "Th shalt not build an house for my nat because thou hast been a man of war? bast shed blood." But it was permit to bim to givo to Solomon, his son, "I pattern." It may be that this goncrat: of oura likewise ie .forbid**? to build j temple of knowledge. But it ts pera ted us too to give to onr sons the pattc It is in our power, it is our duty, it is high privilege to lay deep, broad i enduring the sure foundation, and to j lect and prepare tho material for bu lng the templo that is to bo. Mrs. Sprlggle. Not a week later Mrs. Sprlggle i sentcd herself again at Brlarely. . black dress bad suffered visibly fi contact with-muddy roads on the v The black son bonnet was* limber rustier than ever. The wearer drop jectcdly on her knees. "Reoon yo done heered 'bout roy bein' married," she said, wit boat rali her eyes from the fleer. "Yes, I was ranch surprised to bear the mistress replied. "She must b* > young." "Yes, she is toi'able young, is .?is in'on fifteen. But low, I was nar at thirteen-I waa so." ;, Shs Socked up quickly, but calci an expression of disapproval on the : tress's face, she cast her eyes again t tbe floor. "The wust on it is," continued she, ain't got a cent, nor he can't maka euther." ? v&i?Why'did you let your daughter him thea r "Well, ho como a-dawdlin* rouht and he'd allas a powder-horn a-h in'- on to bim, sol jost flowed he'd? and could keep si? >u coons and 'pees She's a rnsster-hsod at fresh meat, is gal I Ho scraped up two dollars si whartoget tho license with an* to. the preacner, tint I dout reckon hefil am any more." '"Not earn any morel" cries the tress incredulously. '"What is thom that bo can't work, and support daughter properly ?" ?Tn. Sprtgglo pushed back her bo and croped ?ci knee? before she awercd. Then she shook her mournfully. "I never found out," ?he ?aid they was dono married as how he'd gan at all-notuin' but a powder-1 . And," with a gesture of disgust, ' over did oce." 'You rouat feel badly to let you? danghter go ?way with such a man." "Oh law, abe ain't gonol Did ye think he had arv house tb put ber in? Why don't you know? They'? s-livin' to home with me." Tbis amazing piece of intelligence nearly took away the tn"strew', breath. Before abo could reply, Sin. Bpriggle aontiuued : "What's did'a did. Taia'fc no tu? fuss!o', I reckon." "Bot bow could you let har marry bim without knowing moro about him than you didi" ' "Well, it', flytn' In tho face o'. ; Provi dence net . to take up with a husband when he cornea along." ?feo glanced up appealingly as tho epok?. ''Pala can't get a Rood htabaud overy day--they can't 101" "But/J said thc mlstrc?s"it ?ems he ls not a good husband." Mrs. Spriggle's face, which had bright ened slightly, took on a gloomio ntio, and abe pulled tho black bonnet down over it. ."That's so," che assented tearfully. "ITo'u wuss than nm y husband. That's so, I do say. But," as abe roso to go, "mebbo ho can ketch rabbits, if he.kbowed . how to make a trap, nowt I must be get tin' along."-Jhcctnber Atlantic. The Blue Bldg? Railroad. Thti great enterprise, the line of whick was indicated in hin day by Mr. Calhoun, and tho work on which was began near ly twenty years ago, has been suffered to ito dormant for several years. The little work done on It by tho Radical patty af ter the war was more of a speculation . than an honest d&Jro'to complete the road and benefit tho State. The great iiuuvnnuw . in mc tvsu una. uceu ? lose sight of ia the bad maengement of the r>?ty io power and the lino of coonee- . tlon with the Weat marked out by nature, scorns about to be abandoned. Shall our peoplo permit thia without any effort to complete tho road? Shall this line bo superseded by other Bad inor? distant routes, and cur State be 'DO??UX? by roads hording her Western frontier and carry ing trade and travel Sato Georgia sud North Corollas, Wo hopo not. This road should be completed as a conven ience and as a necessary stimulant to the development of our State. We. have at ways contended that its completion was a certainty, marked out by naturo'?nd demanded by our interests, but "all must admit that tho longer it i? delayed tho more injury we sustain. Wo can con ?oive of no more important matter de manding the attention of our-present Legislature than the completion of this road. It may be we aro unable to appro priate money at this time to this end, but cannot some scheoio bo devisedi whereby a private corporation would tako - the work and carry it on? We think if the Logislaturo would pass on set donat ing tho intoreat of tba1 State, if any, in tho road to any company who would un dertakeitscompletion, and further, weuld ^ donate tb such company three hundred or moro convicts without .wages for a proper length of time, tko company to feed, clothen and guard them, that nome one in a year would, with the workdono, undertake tho completion of the road. This would cost the State nothingj for we bellovo there are now about Beveu hun dred convicta on the penitentiary rolls, and many of them areJaaa?dTout.at nominal wages. If crime continues, in flvo years we will have fifteen hundred idling sway their time, while this great enterprise ls neglected. If no coonany XfiiY ??woit?k? tu 6 ?db tu cu i?Sc otc?f? could carry it on at little expense with convict labor and. thus reap (te great bouefiio likely to flow from it. Would the road, ia a pecuniary point of view, bo a paying investment? Wo think it would, as it would be the short est line from tho grain nnd meat produc ing sectioas of the Wfcsi vo the ssa coast and to the cotton belt of tba South. Wo j rcaeou fartucr_irOst?bo irsuo and' r?ravci ? lover tho Air Lino JKoa?, rwhich now ia remunerative, and. which with tho devel opment of the country, will Increase an nually. Wo ?nderst and that fourteen freight and foar passenger trains were engaged on this road ono day last week, and that with Its immense rolling stock and eplendid road bed, It ir barely able' to do the business demanded of itv Would not viireet concoction with tho West ctr even bettor than thia graa* thorough fare, and as the country^ became mere populous and the mineral ned manufac turing resources along th?3 lino wera de vfiIoDcd> wo might safely conclude tho business of the road woutd increase.' In fact, if . comp?oted, thia road would b? como at once a feeder to the Air Lino Bead, tc- a projected road from Walhalla, Seneca Oitv> or Anderson to ?avannah, and also afford a direct connection with tbs tea at Ufhori eaton. Who caa cstimato tho business'of such a'road and who can i?ii ?es ?mmcuK?'inmj?nco bu ino local development of the chantry through which it would pass? It is an enterprise worthy tho consideration of our State. The political ^nflaenos bf tho comple tion of this road ta a matter of no small Importance. The South and Weat, as a? agricaltu ral people, are and sboald bo closely allied ia polities, bat they nra by railroad conneetiona sr,a trade BO remoto from each other as to feel no interest in common. While we buy from t>e West and the Wees from asj all our trade pas ses through the Eastern States, and the Weat feels no interest In us, as their real friends and tho consumer? of their pro ducts. Our cotton, rico and sugar ga North where it ls manufactured at