Our boys and girls, our richest treasure, 1907

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ISSUED BY
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DAVID C. BARROW.

WARREN A. CANDLER.

HOKE SMITH.

W. B. MERRITT.

W. J. NORTHEN.

M. J_,. DUGGAN.

T.]. WOOFTER.

II

CLEMENT PRINTlNC CO., ATLANTA

II

Our Boys and Girls; Our Richest Treasure.

TEACHERS' SALARIES.
a I think there is but one difficulty about our teachers. Th ~
day we pay them enough and give year's work to them, our schools will rapidly graduate them and fit them for the work, and they will seek it and do it well.
You can find some patriots, some lovers of their fellowmen, who would go out and work in a country school five months for nothing, and do it faithfully, but the necessities of life preclude that a force of that class to the extent of from five to ten thousand could be organized in any State-no not even in the most patriotic State of the Union.
The people of the Western States have shown wisdom by Jot making such an experiment. They had sense enough not to expect it. And whenever you feel that your child is not properly trained, stop for a moment and consider whether the teacher has been properly paid.
V\T e must provide for eight months schools throughout the country. We must raise the money by State contribution and by local assessment. Better school houses can be given, lmilt partly l}y the people in the locality, but aid for their buildinsr furnishes a noble opportunity for those of us who have anvthing to spare.-(Hon. Hoke Smith. Extract from address at University Summer School, Athens, Ga., 1904.)

SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF LOCAL TAX.

J. Y. JOYNER,

Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina.

1. It provides more money for better houses and equip-

ment, longer terms, more teachers, better salaries, better teach-

<:>rs and better schools.

2. More and better teachers and longer terms make possi-

'hle better gradation and classification, more rapid advance-

ment. and more thorough and extensive instruction.

3 Preparation for college, or better preparation for life,

through high school training, may ,thus be obtained for all

children at home under the most favorable env'

ent at

much less expense than such preparation , t~~ d

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ty

LIBRARIES

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tor only a few children of the com!nunity at preparatory boarding-schools out of the community.
4 Good schools provided by local taxation are the best inducement to the best citizens to remain in a community '"here they can get the best advantag-es for the education of their children at home, and the best advertisement for the best class of immigrants from other communities and other States to become residents of such a community. The tide of immigration and of prosperity flows from ignorant communities with poor schools to intelligent communities with good schools.
S Every cent of money, therefore, invested by local taxauon in a better school, bv inviting a better class of immi-grants and preventing- the disastrous drain upon the best blood nf the community by other communities with better facilitie~. enhances the value of every cent of property in the community by increasing the demand for renting and purchasing it by the best people.
6. Every cent of money raised by local taxation for schools by any community remains in the community for the improvement of the community schools, and is invested, through better schools, in the minds, souls and characters of the rising generation, thereby increasing the general intelligence and efficiency of the entire community, and elevating its character intellectually and morally.
7 It stimulates local pride and self-help; it cultivates self-reliance, independence, public spirit and co-operative effort; it makes the community feel that the school is distinctly the community's school as well as the school of the State and county.
8. It ties closer to the school in pride and interest every man that pays an additional cent of school tax, makes him feel more keenly his individual responsibility and his individual rig-ht to have his child in school, and quickens his natural instinct to get the worth of his money by sending his child to schooL
9 By providing longer terms, better equipment, and better schopls, it increases attendance a.nd inspires public confidence.
10. It is the cheapest and best way to educate any child, because it provides for his education at home, under the restraining influence of home environment and in association and sympathy with the children of his home community. It is the onlv way to nrovide fop the adequate education of all of the children. For less than it would cost the biggest tax-payer in almost any special local tax district to send one child to any
4

boarding-school out of the community to be prepared for college, he could send all of his children, under more favorable cnv ironment, at home, and at the same time make it possible ior his neighbors to get the same educational advantages at lnme for all of their children.
SELF-HELP IN COUNTY EDUCATION.
Our genuinely esteemed friend George D. Rucker is the editor o The Alpharetta Free Press and he is also the school commissioner of Milton county.
In his joint capacity he is conducting a campaign for educational advancement which is so forceful and so sincere that we are glad to join the circulation of The Georgian to that of The Free Press to give it additional currency and effect.
This is the opening gun of the e_ducational campaign which Commissioner Rucker declares shall not end short of the educational uplift of Milton county:
Elsewhere in this issue .of The Free Press Miss Jes-
sie Norris, of Westview academy, one of the best teachers in this county, has an article in the interest of local taxation for schools. Miss Norris points out a school and gives us a clear picture of it before it was supported by local taxation and another picture of it now, when it is so supported. The two pictures remind one of a skeleton and a man in the best health.
Stated in a few words. the trouble with our schools is simply this: They have not enoug-h money behind them.
Money is what is needed, and it makes no difference where it comes from, just so it is not "tainted.'' If some bighearted man would endow our schools; or if well-to-do citizens in every community would subscribe liberally to pay the teachers; or if the state would appropriate four millions of dollars to the common schools every year, as it should do, then local taxation would not be necessary. But, ,if we wait for money from these sources, our children will grow up in ignorance and we shall be guilty of the grossest neglect of outy. We see no rich man who is even thinking about endmving the schools of Milton county. In only a few places in the county are there men who will supnlement the nublic fund with amounts sufficient to sen1re the services of the best teachers. Two years ago the constitution of Georgia was so amended (cursed be the day when it was!) as to limit the power of the state to tax. and it is not at all probable that we shall ever he able to induce the legislature to cut off other appropriations and increase the appropriations to common
5

schools to such extent as will make them what they should be. vV e see only one way to get money for the :;chools, and that is by local taxation. If there is any other way, .let some one point it out.
We know the people of Milton county are progres"1 ve in educational matters. We know they are enthusiastic and far in advance of many other country counties of the state. They do not 'wish to see their schools lowered in efficiency. But, listen, fellow-citizens: If we do not provide means for raising more money for our schools, so a~ to extend the school term and pay the best reachers respectable salaries, we shall soon be far behind the times. An unprecedented tidal wave of prosperity is sweeping over the country, and high-priced living has forced wages and salaries to double. \71/ e have n'o right to expect competent men and women to remain in the teaching profession when they can get twice or three times as much money for their services in other lines of work. Ten years ago the best teachers worked for $50 a month; now they get $roo a month, and could get more if they would go into other fields of endeavor. The best teachers are remaining in the profession only because they possess the genuine missionary spirit, without which even the best educated teachers are failures.
The Free Press begins this week an educational campaign such as has never before been made in Milton county. We are going to discuss in these columns all matters that bear upon progress in educational matters, having as the object in view local taxes for our schools. We invite teachers and citizens to contribute articles that will help the cause to succeed.
If before this good year I907 shall be -numbered with the things of the past we can put into operation a school system that will give to our children that which is rightfully theirs, we shall indeed be worthy servants. Let us try.
There is the holesome gospel of self-help in Editor Rncker's appeal.
The old spirit of dependence-of lying down on somebody to wait for help-is not a part of this virile age.
Perhaps Editor Rucker maybe ri"ht in h1s belief that the State should educate its children. But we are sure that E1litor Rucker is right .in the proposition that if the State will not educate the children of Milton Conntv then Milton must educate its own children.
And so in this saving gospel of manl-iness and independ-
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ence, we salute our contemporary and wish him Godspeed, and rnay his example be multiplied among the counties of the State. -The Atlanta Georgian.
HEAR THE EVIDENCE BEFORE YOU RENDER A VER-
DICT.
Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 21, 1907.-Hon. Geo. D. Rucker, C. S. C., Alpharetta, Ga.-Dear Sir: Will you kindly give me a little space in your paper that I may answer the many enquiries from your county regarding local taxation for schools. I think it is yery proper that your citizens should seek information on this important question, and I appreciate very greatly all the enquiries which come to me from your progressive county. I have made school problems a study aN my life, and I have investit;ated many plans of school OJ?eration.
Civilization brings many problems and propositions for the individual, the community, the county, and the State. These problems can be solved only by careful inquiry and business judgment. It is a remarkable fact that throughout the State our best men, even though they may have no children to educate, favor local taxation, for the purpose of establishing better school systems. A striking example of such a man is found ir, Judge Thomas G. Lawson, wnose magnificent address on local taxation may be found in the annual report of the State school commissioner, for the year 1902, pag-e z8. As a Christian citizen, and as a partiotic citizen, a business man realizes that a child when educated becomes a happier, a more useful, and a more valuable member of society.
In most instances where lo.cal taxatibn has been voted recently in this State, there are a few men, who have no property to tax and who have many children to educate, who vote against the measure. This is the most puzzling question of school conditions with which I have dealt. I hereby offer a nrize for the best explanation of the conduct of such men.
I am sure that taxpayers of the State would pay their taxes still more cheerfully if all patrons of our schools showed more appreciation of schol advantages.
Local taxation is no uncertain ..experiment; counties which have tried it want no other plan. Tuition and private subscription will no more efficiently maintain a long- term school than a tollgate and an occasional collection will keep satisfactorily the county bridges in repair.
The time has come for a forward movement in educational work We must do this to keep step with other States and with other counties of our own State. A very careful investigation should be made of this question by every voter. It is an
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awful responsibility to oppose measures looking to the better~

ment of schools, without making an investigation. This matter

should receive as careful study as the business man gives to a

n;anufacturing enterprise in which he is about to invest his

money.

Reader, what do you think of a juror who had heard only

rumors in regard to a case upon which he was to assist in giv-

ing a verdict, and who said to the Judge, "May it please your

Honor, I should like to be excused until the hour of considering

the verdict. I do not care to hear the evidence, and the argu~

ment of the lawyers, nor the Judge's charge; my mind is made

up already?"

Some men have voted against local taxation who knew less

about the matter than this juror did of the case he was to pass

judgment upon.

In order to give the fullest information to the citizens of

your county on this question, I desire to make this proposition:

lf there is in your county a citizen endorsed by the county

hoard of education, and by the county officers, a man known to

have business judgment, and sentiment favorable to education,

,dw wishes earnestly to study the problem of local taxation, I

\\ill through the generosity of friends of education, arrange to

pay hi.s expenses on a visit to one or two counties in this State

where local taxation for schools is now in operation. Such re

port as he will bring back will be valuable information to those

<..vho want to know the truth.

The advantages of local taxation are fully set forth in the

1Jarnphlets which I have recently sent you for distribution. H

there is any objection to local taxation which is not answered

in these pamphlets. I shall be pleased to take 1.1p the matter

!urther. either throttgh your cohtmns, or through individual

correspondence.

Yours very truly,

W. B. MERRITT.

A STATEMENT BY BOARD OF EDUCATION TO CITI~

ZENS OF NEWTON COUNTY.

"There is that scattereth, aud yet increaseth; and there is that withholdesth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." -I'rov. II :24.
Recently the directors of a manufacturing concern in Georgia issued a staten;ent to the stockholders calling attention to the condition of the plant, its earning capacity, the nature of its output, the condition of its operatives ancl other matters which concerned its well-being and calling attention to the means of bettering the investment.
It was shown that while the product of the mill 1vas fairly

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;good, yet by the introduction of improved machinery it could be greatly advanced as to quality and increased as to quantity. The demand for the present inferior goods called for an increased investment, while it would be impossible to supply the demand for the improved product without greatly enlarging the plant. It was shown too that the most skilled operatives were being drawn away by the better wages offered either in other lines of work or by other manufacturing concerns.
When these facts were laid before the stockholders they, :by a large majority vote, decided to bring the mill to a higher .degree of efficiency and earning capacity, by the enlargement .of the buildings, the intrqduction of improved machinery and the retention of the skilled operatives by rpeans of better wages.
\Nhy did they vote this increased as:oessment on themselves? Because they thought it would be money in their pockets.
The Board of Education of Newton County, as Directors of the Common School Educational System of the County, wish to call attention of the citizens of the County-the stockhelders of this manufacturing concern-to the condition of the plant and the great need for its enlargement and the bettering of its <output.
( r) The school houses are, as a rule, inferior, uncomfortable and unhealthy buildings. There are a few school houses in the County which are a cerdit to the neighborhoods in which they are situated, but many-too many-of them do not afford comfortable shelter to your children. Some of them would not be tolerated as outhouses on many of your farms. The schoolroom should be as attractive and as -comfortable as the best worn in your homes. Your Courthouse is an imposing building. Your county jail is a presentable structure, constantly presenting this question for your answer: vVill you make the :ohelter of your criminals more comfortable and habitable than the rooms where your innocent and sometimes delicate childrel1 are trained?
(2) The school term is too short. It is now five months -it should be at least seven motnhs. The chief purpose of an education is not the cramming of the pupil with facts and :figures-these might be obtained without attending schoolbut the ~ental drill and discipline which he obtains through +h-= preparation and mastery of his lessons. \Nhen the term is C'o short and frequently divided into two or three sessions, he can not sufficiently stucly a snbject as to master it. Where the ;nterval between school terms is so long- many of the subjects are almost obliterated from the mind before the next session, or hecome fO hazy that either the pupil needs to again go over the :same gronncl or should he try to proceed he stumbles along in
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the dark without certainty or surety. Such schooling can not produce the best results.
(3) Better salaries need to be paid to secure and keep the best talent as teachers. You may improve your school buildings until every one is a model of its kind; you may lengthen the school term until nothing is to be desired, but without the vitalizing, vivifying influence of a good teacher these things are naught. In the recent examination of teachers in our County, with but possibly one exception, all applicants were under twenty-one years of age. This means that our more mature teachers are being. drawn off into other fields of usefulness and employment by better compensation, and that unless we can increase the salary of our common school teachers, we will soon be dependent on bright but inexperienced boys and girls as our teachers, the best of whom will soon be called off into other pursuits.
Whom are we to blame for this? The State of Georgia receives $360.00 per annum for the hire of each of her able bodied convicts. Your Board of _Education could pay your teachers on an average only $154.65 per annum for their work during 1905, and yet we are blamed in somequarters for letting many of our most efficient teachers go. Think a minute! How many of those whom you have known as teachers have dropped out in the past five years and what have been the causes? Very many people think that they can tea~h school-possibly one out of five hundred can. To let a good teacher slip through your fingers calls for an explanation. All praise to those devoted ones who through love of the work and of immortal minds and souls have stuck to your school-rooms, but what about those who have stinted them at every turn?
In this day of increasing prosperity and enlarged opportunity, it is too great a sacrifice to expect that this condition continue.
Now fellow stockholders, we have shown you the need.
You ask: What is the remedy? \'1e reply: Vote on W ednes-
day, August rst next, authorizing "Local Taxation for Schools." You ask that ever present question : \'Till it pay? Where are the dividends? We answer: Yes, it will pay.
(r) The PROPERTY 0\i\TNER will be benefited by an increased selling price of his property-by increased security of society-by more intelligent and painstaking tenants. Havec you any idea how much you lost last year by reason of your lack in these lines?
(2) The PARENTS will be benefited by more obedient, intelligent, contented children: for as the intellectual and social atmosphere of your community is made better and purer so will
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your children be more willing to remain on the farm and become more capable of building up the waste places. Home will be happier-Heaven will be nearer. You have no possible means of estimating yours or your neighbors' losses on these lines in the past.
(3) The INDIVIDUA.L will be benefited. Dr. Thomkins cells us that our earning capacity is increased Lwelve and onehalf times by a common school education;_ and twenty-five cimes by a high-school education. Dr. W. W. Smith, of Virginia, figures qut for us:
( Ist) That an uneducated child has one chance in rso,000 of attaining distinction as a factor in the progress of the age.
(2nd) That a high school training will increase the chances of the common school boy 23 times, giving him 87 times the chance of the uneducated.
Dr. W. T. Harris, U. S. Commissioner of Education, says: "I would estimate the avergae salary or income of the illiterate at $r5o to $200. Of one having taken a partial elementary course at $300; the eight years elementary course at $5oo; the high school graduate at $r,ooo."
Judge Thos. G. Lawson, of Putnam County, says: "We cannot weigh an educated and well balanced mind in the scales as we would a quantity of lead. 'v'Vhat can we place in the opposite scale as an equivalent? We may compute the value of gold and silver because they are earthly and perishable, but by what system of mathematics can we compute the value of that electric spark of intellect that is destined to live and glow and radiate when the heavens and the earth shall have passed away? The question of the Man of Galilee is as pertinent now as when he spoke it nineteen centuries ago; 'For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' "
(4) The ENTIRE COMMUNITY will be benefited by the higher tone of its people and those intangible and inestimable somethings which go to make that neighborhood desirable as a residence section to the best and most law abiding citizens. Try and see how hard a thing it is to get a good family to move into a .neighborhood where there are no school privileg-es, or very poor ones.
Your Board estimates that with a tax of two dollars on the thousand dollars worth of property the troubles in your school system can be removed and Newton have the best in the State in fact, as well as in name. Write down the value of your tax returns and figure out in dollars just how little this will call from each of you, even the largest property- owner in your com-
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munity. Do not fear the cost of good schoofs, but rather fear the conditions which will take hold of us without them. They will cost you some money in the way of a school tax, but have ) ou any way of estimating thesavingtoyou in taxes for the prosecution of crime or the harm and hurt of ignorance and narrow mindedness? They will cost you something-but so will good clothes (shoddy ones are the clearer)-so will a good horseso will good roads, or good bridges-so will good houses and_ farms-so will anything that is worth having. Is it well to practice a grudging economy on the only immortal parts of our beings? We must leave our lands and our stock and our factories in a few years in other hands, but our minds and our souls will live on and on forever.
There are many things worse than taxes. That man is a poor farmer who stints his crop the proper work or his stock the proper food because it costs money. That government is not the best that levies the smallest taxes; if so we might take lessons in good government from the dwellers in Central Africa. Nor can we look on that man as the highest type of citizen and patriot who first asks: "How will that pay me?" "What can I get out of it?" rather than "Is it a good thing for the community?" "Will it advance the general good?''
"That man may last, but never lives Who much receives, but little gives."
The Dividends that we assure you will ensue can not be estimated in dollars and cents like lands and mules and cotton;. nor w,eighed nor handled, nor figured into per cents. and tabula ted into columns. \V e present to you as the possible output of your improved educational plant-manly boys and womanly girls-young people imbued with high ideals, with trust in God and reliance in self. Young people who will bring happiness to your homes and joy to your hearts-who will biuld up your communities-who will advance your county in all good things~
Newton County's children are indeed Newton County's jewels. Nothing you can endow them with is too good for them. God bless them everyone ! .
vV e have tried to show you the needs of the present com-
mon school system of Newton County-your system of schools. \A.!e have done our best for you with the meager equipment entrusted to us. It is entirely inadequate to meet your needs and we advise that the plant be enlarged; promising an increased rate of interest on the investment.
EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESS OF T. B. HARTIG TO \VAYNE COUNTY TEACHERS.
Speaking educationally and I hope broadly so, the subject that is here introduced is the most important question, the most
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far-reaching propos1t1on before the people, not only of Wayne Cou11ty, but in fact before the people of the entire State of Georgia. Espe<;ially is this true as affecting the education interests of the people of all rural communities, who have not local school systems of their own, and who are unable to have more than a few months of public school each year, only to the extent of what the county's proportionate funds received from the State will provide for.
Reducing the. meaning of the phrase embrased in the title of our subject, "Local school taxation" into a definition of a sin:.le sente,;ce, we have for its meaning this, that its adoption could give to the people of every community of the one hundred ar:d forty-six counties of Georgia, rural or not, at least eight months of absolutely free school each year. If that thought, that interpretation of what local taxation means, to ~he people of the State and especially to the people of our beloved county of 'vVayne-if that can be successfully demonstrated and maintained, then certainly its stupendous importance can not easily be over estimated.
Governments are not only instituted among men "by the consent o the governed," but also for their good, for their encouragement, for their happiness. A free people, under a liberal constitution, are guaranteed life and liberty and especially the legitimate pursuits of happiness. While the fundamental law of our land, our national constitution, refers to education only in an irnplied manner, still the constitution of every State places so much stress upon education that it would seem as if it should be through this channel, a liberal public education, in and through which we should not only pursue, but also receive our greatest share of happiness.
Our forefathers, in establishing this government, this oasis of earth, truest and greatest freedom, went a step far in advance of the builders of other nations,-they held that since the State guaranteed to every man life, true liberty and reasonable genuine pursuits of happiness, the State should also to some extent provide the means throug-h which all may be true participants of these blessings in the highest possible degree. From this civic principle, which itself was but a final product of the successive attempts for better governments of all ~eriods of human history, there developed finally public education in public schols supported by the State. This is the educational system we today enjoy-enducation enacted by governmental legislation, education sustained by governmental regulations and ad-
ministration. But we have now come to a period of our State's develop-
ment and greatness that if we do not accelerate our pace, leave
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behind our old extreme conservatism, and step out along with the educat,ional progress of other States, the commonwealth which we all love so well, and of which and in which we a11 feel spec1al pride, will surely lag behind in this one great question of education, which so closely affects the lives and happi- ness of all.
While Georgia holds the proud eminence of being the great Empire State of the South, in wealth, in great diversity of natural resources, in progress along manufacturing lines, in great and varied agricultural productions and in her superb institutions of secondary and higher learning, still her sister States have already outstripped her in making proper and ample provisions for the common schools-the schools from which into this world of strife go ninety-five per cent. of the boys and girls to assume the duties of this world as men and wome.n.
* * *
Our neighboring States and those more remote have already gone far beyond us in providing the means whereby they may give the child of the farmer and the wage earners the adequate number of months of free schooling each year, which the progress of the world in all avenues of life calls for. We have clung to an old so-called conservative system, that, under a constitutional restriction, the State tax may not exceed five mills, which can only give the children of the rural communities and small towns comparatively but a few months of free school each year, and the time has come for a departure to better conditions. Our present system may have been progress years ago, but it is antiquated now. It is not in keeping with the the excellent systems of public schools that we find everywhere else in the great galery of State that compose this good union. The thought is therefore repeated, the time has come for a change for better conditions along this line.
And how may this be accomplished? By folloiwng the instructions and carrying out the requirements of our State's fundamental law. Yes, but how can we give free schools the proper number of months each year to all children, when that very constitution does not permit a levy of over five mills? By supplementing money from the State with money raised through local. taxation. There is no compulsion in this. It is for the people themselves to say whether they wish such tax, and not until they say so by their votes and by a two-thirds majority can the same be levied and collected.
The State of Georgia has made wonderful progress in all avenues of human activities since the devastations of the civil war. Especially has this progress been marked during the past ten years. In no other section of the State has this growth in
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wealth and in the development of our natura] resources been so evident as in this what is commonly known as Wiregrass Georgia, or the Southern part of the State. In this, our beloved county of vV ayne, the growth in population has been most gratifying.
According to the United States census of. 1890 Wayne's
population numbered 7,485. In 1900 this increased to 9,449, showing a gain of nearly two thousand or over twenty-six per cent. Recent statistical reports estimate the growth of the Wiregrass counties since 1900 to have been over thirty per cent, and this agrees with. the opinion of those who live here and are best posted that vVayne's population is today over I2,000. But 1t is not so much in population as in material wealth that we have developed most. The county Tax Digest for 1900 shows a tax valuation on real and personal property of $r,288,r52. In 1905 this had increased to the astonishing figure of $2,054,150, ur nearly sixty per cent more than five years before. But .greater still did vVayne's material wealth advance during the next twelve months.
The county Tax Digest for 1906, on real and personal property, shows the almost incredible sum of $2,533,974, an increase of $4-79,924, or over nineteen per cent in a single year. These figures give us material upon which to reflect. Surely the people, generally speaking, are not only prospering, but .are really prosperous. vVith this prosperity hovering over and :around us, should we not, with the increase in our population :and the constant addition to our wealth, also partake more of :he true blessing that this enhanced wealth can give? vVhy :~ot turn towards the children of our country and take but an additional atom of this accumulation of God's bounties, and with it assist children to become the better prepared for the many and onerous duties that they later as men and women will have resting upon them?
And in this great work, if we would only utilize them, we llave all around us most powerful agencies to help us. Have you thought that we, animate beings as we are, each one proud of his little earthly possessions, his little dab or mound of clay here and there, have surrounding us inanimate yet powerful agencies ready at our command to assist us in this noble work? The real and personal property of Wayne County, for rgo6 was placed on the Tax Digest, at $2,533,974.
True figures do not easily lead one astray. In the State Comptroller General's office at Atlanta the Railroad, Telegraph, Telephone and Express Companies; doing business in Wayne County, were assessed in 1900 at the startling sum of $2,o86,048, from which the county receives, through the above office,
15

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the same rates of taxes as from properties here. This brings \Nayne's total tax value to the gratifying and almost marvelous total of $4,620,022. We, as a peo:Ple of a county, prosperous and happy, certainly, with, such resources behind us, are not too poor to take a few steps towards sensible progress and true education; to lend a hand in helping the generation that is now coming on to prepare themselves the better to meet the dire exigencies of life, than we have been; to make everybody better. grander, nobler and happier, especially so, when the burden is l>ot ali on our own shoulders, but have here at hand powerful age11cies who, when we in a legal manner say the word, will take half the burden upun their own~
But here comes the stumbling block to every progressive move in public education. To accomplish this advanced step that we should in our public schools, more mo~ey is needed. lTnder the law it can be raised only by taxation, and "there's lh:c rub." I knovy 1:ot what will scare the average man quicker or worse-threaten him with death or with an additional tax be it ever so small. The former deatn will cause him to pray a Eel 1eseech; the latter, taxes, to quarrel and kick. People forget that there are good taxes and bad taxes; just taxes and unjust taxes; taxes that benefit and taxes that oppress. If we would consider this subject of taxes as we should, we would ~top kicking all the time. at all kinds, but would weigh and consider, commend the right and condemn the wrong.
* * *
The cry is made that "\Ve are too poor to endure the taxa.tion that we already have. This additional burden would have to be borne almost altogether by the poorer classes of people. -,,lc] we just can't." \Vhv, a dollar of taxation looks to some people larger than the rising of the full moon. Also the heav iest kicker is usually the one that pays but little taxes. To prove this let us see.
It has already been shown that the total tax valuation of all kinds of property in \iVayne County for the year 1906 was $.:~..62o,o2?. Of this the Railroads, Telel?'raph, Telephone and Express Companies pay on $2.068,048. The other $2,533,974 represents the tax valuation of the nroperty of 1854 taxpayers. These r854 include our local corporation, companies, firms, innividuals and non-resident nropertv owners. According- to the Dip-est. this number is ciivided as follows: 6s are assessed on $5,000 or over; r62 at from. $2,000 to $5,ooo; 270 at from $r ,ooo to $2.000. These Lt97 taxnayerQ. who accordinv to the Digest. nav on $r,ooo worth of property or more. bear the burden of the county's taxes on approximately another $r,ooo,ooo. The
16

. --------=~-

-~-~~~~----------------

li'emainlng 1,357 taxpayers are assessed at anywhere hom $10

Lo $999

We from this then can compile the following interesting

J1gures which speak so plainly for themselves that "He who

nm:,: may read." They are so plain and simple that anyon::

may understand:

Total Digest of 1906 . . . . . . . .

$4,620,022

Railroad, Telegraph, etc. . . . . . . .$2,o86,o48

-497 Local Taxpayers . . . . . . . . r,ooo,ooo

3,o86,o48

Amount of pr~perty on which 1,357 pay taxes

$1,533,974

Here we have the very interesting figures that in round

ammbers the Railroads, the Telegraph. Telephone and Express

Companies, our local corporations such as Banks, Turpentine

~Concerns, etc., and those other individuals who are on the Tax

Digest for $r,ooo or more pay over two-thirds of the entire

taxes, while the more numerous smaller taxpayers, 1,_357 out of

r,854 in all, pay less than one-third. The fact is, when we hear

<complaints about high taxes, in nineteen cases out of every

twenty, it is the man who pays but little who kicks the harcl-

est, while the man whose property compels him to pay consider-

:able seldom, if ever, says a word.

There is an important point in this question of local school

taxation that we should always bear in mind. It is this, "vVhaL

does it benefit most?'' The last school cen~us of Wayne Coun-

ty, taken in 1903. showed the number of children of school age

2,989. It is also a safe estimate to say that over two-thirds of

:Lhe above children are the sonsand daughters of those who pay

only that one-third of the taxes. Those who own more prop-

erty are today, with the taxes novv impo:oecl, assisting those nor

, o 1Jlessed by paying more than their proportionate share of

thec.:e taxes.

\!Vith a levy of local schnol tax, the poor man and his chil-

'c'~ren would be the greatest 'beneficiary. And the kicks and the

grumbling we so often hear in a few quarters along this line.

\''hen the very ones making this noise are by far the greater

lcl'eficiaries and who would ray hut little should never he

heard. A local school tax, thus enabling the a11thorities to give

:ctn eight months year of school in every rural community as

\Yell as town would l!e a benefit to the country at lar;e. It

wonlcl he a hen e-fit more especially to the poorer classes of peo-

ple. tTpon these also the burden imposed would be light, for

the hulk of this would he on the shonlders or those few who

own the more property.

* * *

How much could he accomplished throHgh such a slight

17

increase of the people's taxes! VVhat a fine corps of teachers could be gathered together with such means at hand! What a difference would it make with the boys and girls of rural \Vayne County, if all were privileged to have good, intelligent ir;struction regularly eight months out of each year! And what a meager cost! Listen, the man with $soo on the Tax Digest, it matters not how many children he could enroll in the school, would have a school tax of but $r.oo each year to pay. He who should possess $r,ooo worth of property thus listed, would have the comparatively insignificant sum of $2.00 charged against him annually. And the fact is that he who is blessed with $s,ooo of this world's goods, on a tax valuation, is usually broad and patriotic enough to take pleasure in contributing $ro.oo each year to the cause of education. The fact is such a man usually wishes tha_t the entire amount he pays in taxes could be used for this nobl_e purpose. And finally, he who is assessed at even a greater amount is able to pay more, and the significant truth is evident everywhere that nine out of every ten of such men whose ability enabled them to accumulate considerable fortunes are also men who possess such breath of souls~ such patriotic impulses and such liberal feelings for humanity in ge11eral ha" :hey are glad that God has so blessed them so as to be able to contrih,tp +heir share where so blessed them so as to be able to contribute their share where it may benefit those who have been less fortunate than they.
The .truth is_a school tax, vyhenever tried, is a popular tax. It has been my pleasure for years to live where school taxes were levied and collected by counties. In fact but very few States do otherwise. I have seen districts where the school tax aggregated as high as II mills-more than the total of Wayne's taxes last year-and men would find fault with high taxes caused by criminal prosecution, high salaries and the like, but the school tax was always willingly paid. And why? Because it was not a real burden. No cost is a burden when the benefits derived therefrom are a just return for the outlay. The school tax is a tax whose results and whose benefits are direct and certain. It is also a tax for a noble purpose. The dearest object of the parent is the proper rearing of the child. If a small tax, therefore, will redound to the benefit of the child, then it is a blessing for the child and an act of duty. on the part of the parent to provide the same.
* * *
In the face of this fact, is it not time for the farmers of Georgia to step forward and say, "we have the brawn and with this goes the healthy, vigorous intellect. We will give these intellects the mental training that they should have. We will
18

place this light burden upon ourselves and henceforth more than ever before will we furnish .the minds that will rule the affairs of State and of life of thecoming generation."
This object is both practical and ethical. As a practical proposition we hold that it is due the children that they should be given all educational advantages possible. As an ethical question it is the duty of all, especially those of wealth, that they should be given all educational advantages possible. As an ethical question it is the duty of all, especially those of wealth to assist in any move that would make the generations now and th )Se to come more able t(') cope with the problems of life. The State demands at our hand the very best type of citizenship. This is possible in the highest degree only when the people have received that mental and mortal training that they should have. A few months of schooling is insufficient for this. At least an eight months' school year should be provided. Only through local taxation can this be accomplished. Besides, the burden would be light. In such an important move opposition will be encountered, but the cause is just. If we but will explain to the people how just this is, and how easy to meet its requirements, all will be well in the encl.
EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESS OF JOHN H. HINEMON
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF ARKANSAS.
I believe Thomas Carlyle was right in his declaration that the failure to educate any child, capable of receiving instruction, is one of the greatest tragedies in human existence. The; Constitution of 1874 puts a handicap on the question of public education. It is passing strange that tlle reople of a municipality in this State may vote any amount of money they choose for any form of public improvement, for grading streets, for building sidewalks or placing sewers but the same community is prohibited by constitutional limitation from going beyond a certain limit in levying taxation for the education of their children and the children of the community.
I believe that Gov. Taylor of Tennessee was right when he said in his first inaugural acldress: "Of all the interests of the ~tate those that pertain to the education of her people are most important'' I believe Gov. Johncon, o Alabama. was rif'ht when he said that the only safeguard for universal suffrage is universal education. for the ballot in the hands of an ignorant and prejudiced people becomes a dangerous thing and a menace to our civil liberties ancl our free institutions.
I believe that Dr. Curry was right wb~en he said in speaking to the Legislature of Alabama: "I have been told by repre-
19

sentatives on the floor of this house that the people of Alabama .,re too poor to educate their child~~n. I declare to you with all the earnestness of my heart that the people of Alabama are too poor not to educate their children, for education and prosperity and education and good government are absolutely inseparable.
r~ o ignorant people were ever prosperous. There is not an e::xception in all the annals of human history. I shall cite only two or three ill.ustrations of the truthfulness of this declaration. About a hundred years ago, the legions of France, under tile leadership of the great 2\ apoleon, regarded by many as the greatest military genius of all the ages, swept across the Gerlllan border and in a series of remarkable victories subjugated 1i1e German people.
Three years after these terrible disasters, the king of the German people called his ministers of State about him and said tu them: "\N e have been conquered in war, we have lost terricary; we have lost wealth; we have lost rank and power and place among the nations of the earth. We must proceed to rebuild the German nation and we can do so only by educating all the people." Mark the words of this wise old German king who said ?-11 the people must be educated-not the sons of the nobility, not the sons of the aristocracy, not the favored son<> uf fortune and wealth but every child within the borders of the German nation. Then and there was laid the foundation of one of the greatest school systems in the world today, reaching fwm the lowest primary grades to the highest universities that crown the earth.
The result of this school system has been to give Germany :'t~premacy in art, in science, in music, in every department of hnman endeavor and the brand "made in Germany" is feared throughout the commercial world. Less than two generations ]';{S::~ed and again France and Germany met in the shock of battle. The conflict was short, the battles were decisive and in the city of Paris the king of the German people dictated his own terms of peace to the people ofFrance. He regained the lcst territory: Germany regained her lost wealth; she regained her place and rank among the nations of the earth.
The two greatest tributes ever paid to public education were the declarations of the two most conspicuous leaders of the German people in this conflict. Count von Moltke, the great field marshal of Germany, who led her armies upon the battle fields of the Franco-Prussian war, said in a public speech not long after the war: "It is simple truth, it is simple justice to declare that the victories of theFranco-Prussian war were won by the school masters and the schools of Germany."
20

hinte Bismarck, the man o iron blood who made united Ger~ many possible in urging more liberal support for public educa~ twn, said: "The nation that has the schools has the future.''
Leibnitz, the great German philosopher, once said: "Let me control the schools of Europe for twenty years and I will change the civilization of Europe." The marvelous progress of the empire of Japan during the last half century abundantly demonstrates the truthfulness of the declarations of both Bismarck and Leibnitz.
About fifty years ago, Commodore Perry of the United States of America, compelled the people of the sealed islands of Japan to open their ports to foreign commerce and to estabLsh diplomatic relationship with other nations. Until that time the people of Japan had led an exclusive and isolated life. They had built a kind of Chinese wall about themselves. No foreigner was allowed to land upon their shores and the people were kept within their island walls while their intellects were restrained within fixed bounds. But at the point of the bayonet and at the mouth of the cannon they were compelled to break up their exclusive life. There are those still living who remember well the visit of the first Japanese embassy to this country in r86o, and the visits of similar embassies to EurolJean courts the following year.
When the commerce of other countries began to enter the ports of Japan the rulers were not slow to see that in the march of human progress the people of Japan had fallen far behind and the Mikado, following the example of the fine old German king, established a system of universal education running from :the lowest prim?-\Y g1;ades to the Imperial University~ The uplifting inf!uevce of education and their ready adoption of western ideas and methods of western progress have producerl results that are amazing.
* * *
Students of history inquire what causes have produced these remarkable results. It is said on high authority that 90 per cent of the Russian soldiers in Manchuria were absolutely illiterate while 90 per cent of the Japanese were men who enjoyed the benefits of elementary education. During the last ten years every time Russia spent $r on the education of her children in elementary schools she spent $20 on the equipment and support of her army and navy. During the same period every time Jp.pan spent $r on the education of her children she spent only $4 on her army and navy. The world has again learned that the _victories of war rest not upon great fortifications and armored cruisers and other equip_ments but upon the intelligence and capacity of the men behind the guns.
21

Again there is a direct relation between education and crime. Jefferson was right when he said if we do not appro; riate m-,J_ney to e:luc;:tte the people we will be compelled to ap!)ropriate money to prosecute criminals and to punish crime.
* * *
Not long ago in one of the leading counties of this State in a speech in the county court Eouse I congratulated the people on the fact that they had recently completed and dedicated such a magnificent courthouse. Public buildings are always typical of the character of the people who are represented by them. Dut my heart was pained when' I found that according to the sworn s,tatements of the school directors of the county, that court house cost twice as much as all the public school buildings in the county combined. My friends it is high time in this ~-~tate, that we were giving less attention to crime and crimi1'als and more attention to the half million children who never expect to commit a crime and who never intend to occupy a felon's cell.
There has hcen much agitation in the State over the ques-tion of good roads. I have always been an advocate of good roads, and have taken a modest part in the good roads movement in this State, but I declare to you that all over this State people are leaving their country homes they love so well and are moving into the towns and villages and cities not because of the bad roads hut because of the poor schools.
I know that the question of taxations is a delicate one and has always been a hobgoblin with designing politicians. There has never been a struggle for English or American liberty that was not made along the line of taxation. Taxation that is unfairly levied and unwisely spent i.s the most vicious form of human tyranny, but taxation that is fairly levied and wisely
:;nent is the .hifpest type of modern civilization. Taxation
which is levied and collected for public education is the only tax from which the people receive an immediate and direct rei urn. Most of their faxes go from them never to return. The school taxes come back again, bringing with them innumerable blessings and benefits.
On one occasion Prof. Huxley was asked the question ''\Vhv should I be taxed to educate another man's children?" Tn r;ply he said: "In the city \Vhere I liYe I am taxed to pay for streets that I never set my foot upon ; I am taxed to pay for lights that I never see; I am taxed to pay for judges, courts, sheriffs and constables whose services I never need, but if I should go before the powers that be and ask to be excused on the ground that I do not need these things I would be laughed to scorn. They would say to me, ah, Mr. Huxley, you must
22

stand up and bear your share of the burdens of civilization. \;\hen I came into this world, I was a small reddish object, with no distinctly abstract or concrete rights of my own, and with no distinct claims on society, and had I been treated as I deserved at that moment, I would have been stamped out of existence as a squalling nuisance. But society cared for me gently and led me into the ways and walks of life.
Had it not been for the sacrifices and sufferings of generations of men who have gone before me my share of this world's goods would be a stone cave and a flint axe, and I would have been a naked savage dancing in the moonlight, and I could retain that stone cave and flint axe only until some more powerful savage should come and take it away from me.
If, on the contrary, I enjoy all the benefits and advantages of a refined anq cultured civilization it ill becomes me now that my hour of power and strength has come to refuse to do for other little ones what society has so graciously done for me, and if I should refue I think society should take hold of me with a strong arm and compel rne to do my duty."
The average man pays a \'ery small amount for public education. We must not forget that the great corporations, the railroads, the manufacturing enterprises, the timber and mining fields bear the great burdens of taxation. It is right that there ,.;hould be taxation fo.r the education of the people and the protection of t11e State.
* * *
No man can look into the face of a little child and predict in the remotest degree what the future of that child may be, but I hold this to be true-\'Vhether the brain is found in the bumblest cottage or i11 the costliest palace, it .is the duty of the State to provide the _means by which that brain may be adequately trained ana fitted for its place and work in life.
Not long ago on the Erie and Grand Rapids Railroad a passenger train was running at a high rate of speed. The faithful fireman was heaving coal into the furnace when, suddenly. a thrill went thron.C'h the engine, and the fireman knew instantly that the engineer had applied the emergency brake and that something serious had occurred. Throwing aside his shovel and looking down the track he saw ahead, a little child who had seen the engine, had taken frig-ht and was running clown the track. its curls flying-,__.in the wind. There was no time for delay. The engineer w"as doing all in his power to protect the little child in front and two hundred passengers behind him. The fireman knew in an instant that he was the only human being who could save that child. He ran along the running board, down on the pilot, and leaning forward as the en-
23

gine was about to strike the child, with a terrific sweep of his left hand he drove it from the track in r:>erfect safety, but in doing so he lost his balance and fell beneath the engine. He was terribly mangled. For days and weeks he hung between life and cieath. He finally recovered, a cripple for life. The president of the United States sent him a medal of honor, and in his letter of transmittal he said: "I present this medal in the name of eighty millions of appreciative countrymen who recognize the worth of a man who will imperil his own life to save the life of a little child." Oh, my friends, all over this State today there are thousands of1ittle children who are on the highway of life, upon whom the train of ignorance is bearing clown but who are all unconscious of the dang-er that threatens
them. ---'I wonder if there are enough brave m~n over this State
who will throw aside their shovels and spades and axes on election day and go to the polls and cast a vote, and make one sArious attempt to save these little ones.
\lVhen cruel war _swept over our State in the sixties, thousands of men left their wiYes, children and all that was near and clear to them tLat they mig-ht preserve for their children and their neighbor, children certain principles and prerogatives of government. They were willing to die for the children of the State. Shall we, their descendants, because of selfishness and greed, refuse to do for the little ones of this State thai. which our ancestors were so willing to do for us? Shall we make no sacrifice for others? Shall we live in selfish ease and say we are not our hrother's keeper?