Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

School Laws I "Uneven distribution of school e'x -'penditures over the State, so that some countios are paying six times more than others is emphaalzed by W. H. Hand, state high school inspector, in his annual report. The chapter reads: "We have a three mill school tax fixed in the State constitution. It is levied throughout the State, but it is collected and disbursed by counties. Hence, it Is only a uniform county tax. The wealth and the children of the State are so far from being corre ::pondingly distributed that the per agpita expenditure, based on enroll mient, is more than six times as much - some counties as in others. No peo lo of any State have ever shown a ner spirit in voting local school tax c s than have the people of this State tluring the past ten years. Out of a total of 1,886 districts 1,614 are levy ing local school taxes ranging from one to 1ll mills. That privilege should be retained for any and all districts. but local taxes can not be relied upon as the foundation of a State school system. except .where wealth and school population are distributed cor respondingly. In the State are entire counties whose wealth and school population are so out of proportion that a reasonable rate of local tax on the properly at a lair valuation would be entirely inadeqjuate to furnish rev fnue to maintain the lient schools for nil the cihildretn of these counties. 'T'here are other counties whose pro perty taxed on a like basis would furnish tmore revenu e than wood he needed to maintain good Schools in them. "The basic theory of a tutodern State Is a territorial and political unit work ing in close Boole rat ion for the growth, prospetri y and happiness of all the smaller units composing the State. 'T'he basis of all material wealth Is raw iaterial. natural resour'ces. Public utilities are most numerous and most valuable in the vicinity of valuable natural resources. Natural resources aid public utilities are not :the exclusive plossessions of the coun ties in which they happen to be. .'p on no other theory could a State he prosperous and its citizens happy. To dIllustrate: Saluda ('ounty has about 10 miles of profitable railroad track. Greenwood ('ounty, adjoining Saluda, TO . A CA As p I and s were I will abou Ken U j of Defects. has over 60 miles of raiload track paying a good tax. Chester county has developed water power worth thous ands of dollars, while IIorry county has nothing of the kind and can not. This disitribition of wealth by coun ties is a matter of accident. The State could easily be so gerrymandered as to add miles of railroad track to Sa luda and to rob Chester of all her de veloped water power. Therefore, ar titrary county lines should not be per mitted to distribute the common bur den of taxation for universal needs un evenly, inequitably and unjustly among the component parts of a common ter ritorial and political unit. "If even the present constitutional three mill tax were made a Staate tax and if the present definition of school onrollment upon which the school revenues are apportioned were im proved, the immediate results in some counties would be conspicuous. Three and four months schools would length en into five and six months. Inferior t teachers would be displaced by better ones, because the schools could offer better salaries to draw better teach ers. This plan of course, would draw funds from the wealthier districts in to ?he poorer ones. The wealthier ones would have to replace what they Would contribute to the poorer dis t:icts by increasing local school tax es slight ly. lHit it should he remem he red that the highest local school taxes now are not, as a rule, Icing levied by the larger and wealthier (is ricts, but by the poorer districts. In short, the burden of the boor would be lightened and that of the wealthy only slightly increased, but the burden woul he equalized. "Several years ago the general as sembly felt that something ought to he done to Ithlp the schools unable to provide properly for the children of the district. State funds were appro priated to supplement local funds. Some of these appropriations wer' made upon certain definite require- I mlents, while others were placed at the A disposal of the+State department of f eduation to be disbursed according toi the judgment of that department. To disburse any amount of money on either basis is an exceedingly difficult task. It requires almost endless in vestigation to determine just where I such funds are most needed and in RRIVE LR OF retty as the uaranteed when cott< also have two weeks tucky what amounts, and it is impossible to disburse such funds to the satisfac tion of even fair minded people. How ever, the real trouble does not lie in the difflicutty of disbursing the funds, but in the evil influences that these appropriations are having upon the people. "Scores of districts are beginning to look to the. State to aid them, not emporarily but regularly. Hundreds )f others are turning their eyes ldng ngly toward the State treasury to help therm with their schools. Not a few listricts have asked for help to get hemselves out of debt, have received he help then contracted a second debt und asked help again. Whenever any )eople become chronic mendicants at he doors of the public treasury they rave lost the best part of their man iood, their self-reliance. A reason Lble State school tax would fall upon tII equitably, would furnish the poor ,st. district with a fair school fund rithout imposing upon wealthier dis ricts, would leave all districts free o levy upon themselves any -local tax hey might need and be -willing to evy, and would remove the temptation o become hangers-on about the pork )arrel." Mrs. J. J. ll unter. * S " " "* e e" * * " 0 God has taken another gentle, loving oul unto -liiself. Ilie has said unto ter, "Well done thou good and faith ul servant, enter thou into the Joys >f thy Lrd". In the death of Mrs. i. .1. Ihunter, the Royal Ploral Society >f Owings has lost. one of its faithful nemhers; therefore he It 'lResolved iirsI, 'ihile heaiding n unbmission to our Father's will we 'annot but miss the presence and villing service of our loved sister. Second, That we extend to the he caved relatives of the deceased, our leepest and most heart-felt synpa hes, and that the tender, watchful 'are of a loving Father rest over her >rphan children. Third, That a iase in our minute ook he inscribed to her mnemuory and copy be sent to the members of her amily and to the county paper for ubli cat ton. "I learn, as the years roll onward, And leave the past behind 'hat much I have counted sorrow lut proves that our God is kind; 'hat many a flower I longed for Had a hidden thorn of pain, ON FR MULI sy grow; al as represer mn was 104 a car loa1 .Come a Hors COUNTS And many a rugged bypath Led to fleds of a1pened gmiDn. "So the heart tmrm the hardest tral Gains the purest joy of aill, And fron lips that have tasted sadnes The sweetest songs nwill fall. For as peace comes after suffering And love is .roward of pain, 5o after death comes heaven, And out of'our loss the'gain." NAVAL .BATTLE RIE)PORTED. Iritish Engage German Light Cruiser Off Helgoland. - London, Nov. 17.-Brittah light fore. es today engaged German light cuys ers of Helgoland, the British admiral ty announced today. The German war ships retired and the British forces are now chasing them. The announcement follows: "British light forces operating In Ielgoland might have been engaged w mi't German light forces this morn 4ng. The only information we have received thus far is that. our vesseli have engaged enemy light cruisers, that the latter have retired at higi speed and that our vessels are in pur suit." * Mrs. Ellen Owings Stoddard. a * * * * * * * S. * * * * 4 lirs. Ellen Owings Stoddard. of Ow ings, bau rens County, died Tueaday evening, Sept. 11, 1917. In her death the Royal Floral Society of Owings, suffered the loss of one of its strong est Supporters. Mrs. Stoddard was one of the charter members of the so ciety, serving faithfully as an oflieer and as a member. It is selfish to grieve for her, never more will her body be racked with weariness and pain, the sorrow is all for those who will so long for her ten der, loving way, her sweet sympathy, her wise counsel; therefore, aie it resolved. first that in the death of .1rs. Ellen Stoddard the )Royal Floral Soedety has suffered an irre parable loss, but we bow in huitnible submission to our Father's will, "Who doeth all things well." Second, That we extend to the sor rowing family our deepest sympathy. Third, That a page in our minute book be Inscribed -to.her memory and a copy of these resolutions be sent to the members of her family and to the county papers for publication. [DAY P 1 sound an ted. No I : per pou of open ar nd see thei e and Mgr. & Thousands of Goo( Are Nei Clerical Hi The government has just wri urg -" andi Cl yea ly the s: 1 anc I by " .:...... call Y*ea~~s.. PERX } t .Wa.ingto,... ri s DRAUGHON'S PRACTICAL EUSIW IL R A*y 1ce.w v-otw'yoa : d at rh N. . Suffered S( Years. PERi MADE ME WELL Mrs. E~lizabeth Reuther, 100$ 11th St., N~., W., Washington, D. C., writes: "I endorse Poruna as a splepdid medicine for catarrh and stomliach trouble, from which I Buffered sev eral. years. I took It for several months, 'found my health was re. stored and have fett splendidly ever since. I now take it when I con. tract a cold, and it soon rids the sys. tem of any catarrhal tendencies." 1EXT: 9 HOF9 4 young, hr iigher than' ad. Ld top buggi n. Prices r [Mule Treas. IStenographers aded elp Wanted tten to this school pointing out their ont need of stenographers, both male female, and asking us to help them in tring the great number needed. The 'intg'salary offeredxite $900. to $1200 m r. Examinations are being held week n 400 cities. esides the demand of the government. conscription is taking thousands of ng men from commercial positions. their positions will have to be filled new employees. Business men are ing on us daily for assistance in secur stenographers and bookkeepers. Vrite for detailed information. Address ISS COLLEGE, Greenville, S. 0. :veral JNA Standby fora Cold. Those who object to liquid medi Inos can procure Perurfl Tablets. ESES. oke, they esin ight. Co.