'/l^ Ar 'libcal Taxation For Schools I Alabama Prepared and Issued by the Alabama Education Committee. &M « • s * *'» » ^ Additional Copies of this pamphlet will be furnished upon application to Hairy C. Gunnels, Ex^' ecutive Secretary, Montgomery, Ala. The Phillips-Sheehan Printing Co. Montgomery. / ALABAMA EDUCATION COMMITTEE. Isaac W. Hill, Chairman Montgomery T. G. Bush Birmingham Edgar Gardner Murphy Montgomery RuFUS N. Rhodes Birmingham Charles C. Thach Auburn Erwin Craighead Mobile R. E. Pettus Huntsville John T. Ashcraft Florence W. W. Screws Montgomery John W. Abercrombie University Dr. B. J. Baldwin Montgomery Sydney. J.. Bowie Anniston J. H. Philed^s '.\ . *'.:*. C«I. J . . J . . . ' Birmingham J. A. Mooke* :'.\ .-*. -. .\*^ .*.'.:. . . Marion H. S. D. Mallory Selma Harry Q . *• 0«^'n.n Eis, * '^'Jee'o. . '^e by . . Montgcmery ALABAMA'S FIRST QUESTION: LOCAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS. A PERSONAL LETTER. The following communication was addressed on February 15, 1904, to a number of the lead- ing citizens of Alabama. The letter is self-ex- planatory : Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 15, 1904. Hon. and Dear Sir: I send you herewith the printer's proofs of an article on the subject of local taxation for educational purposes. This statement has been written by Dr. J. H. Phillips, Superintendent of Schools for the City of Birmingham. It is my purpose to reprint it for general distribu- tion among the people of Alabama, and to ac- company it — in its published form — by the printed comments of a number of the leading citizens of the State. The completed pamph- let will thus form a local symposium upon the subject with which it deals. A COLLECTION OF OPINIONS. To this collection of brief opinions I earn- estly invite you to contribute, making such comment upon Dr. Phillips's argument as you may think best. Contributors are requested to confine their statements within the limit of from two to six hundred words, in order that the whole pamphlet may not be excessive- ly large. In sending you this communication, and in taking the liberty of asking you to perform 4 Local Taxation for Schools in Alahatna. this public service, may I venture to lay be- fore you some of the reasons why I regard this subject as of such immediate import- ance? ALABAMA'S PROGRESS SINCE 1880. No citizen of our beloved State can record without pride the history of the development of Alabama during the past twenty years. Industrially and commercially these two de- cades have been years of conspicuous change, of change from small things to great things, and from anxiety to confidence. WHAT WE SPEND FOR EDUCATION. Unless our educational progress is to keep pace, however, with the advancing business of the State, — who will hold the larger num- ber of the remunerative positions which the movement of business is creating? Must these be given, in the future, to the trained men and women of other localities, while all too many of "the sons and daughters of the State must be condemned to the less advantageous employments? Is there not danger that this will follow, unless we bring the training which -^labama is giving to her children a little nearer to the standard provided by other com- monwealths? Alabama expends, per pupil in average attendance, only $4.41 a year for pub- lic education. Mississippi spends $6.48; Texas spends $9.95; Louisiana spends $8.82; Virg;inia spends $8.91; Florida spends $10.41; Oklahoma spends $13.44; Maryland spends $18.81; Kan- sas spends $17.59; Nebraska spends $23.08; Iowa spends $24.63. I do not mention the even greater expenditures of some of the other States of the North and West. No other State, apparently, in our whole country, spends as little as Alabama. Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 5 (See the Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1902, Vol. I, p. Ixxxviii.) A QUESTION OF BUSINESS AS WELL AS A QUESTION OF EDUCATION. Need I dwell upon the natural effect of such figures in determining the movement of de- sirable immigration? To the man who really cares about the future of his children — which State is likely to seem the more attractive — the one which offers to spend $4.50 a year upon the child, in the average; or the State which offers to spend $20? THE INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN. But more important and more sacred than any of the .commercial or material advantages of a strong educational policy is the consider- ation of our children's welfare. It is not enough that our city children should be well provided for. Our larger cities and many of our larger towns have ample school accommo- dations. But these reach only a small fraction of the children of our State. Less than IV2 per cent, of our people live in incorporated places of 8,000 population and over. Outside of cities and towns of that size there live more than 92 per cent, of Alabama's entire popula- tion. Ours are an agricultural people. We must not, we cannot forget the country child. That in this age of exacting competitions the young life of our commonwealth may be fit- ted to hold its own, that every eager and awakening mind may be wisely trained for its share in the labor and service of the world, that every human creature may enter at least a little way into that happiness which comes from knowing how to live intelligently and fruitfully, that every child of this State of ours may have its chance, — this is a resolu- tion which ma^ well become one of the com- 6 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. manding interests of our religion and one of the cardinal tenets of our social and political progress. V/HAT IS THE DIFFICULTY? ''But/' exclaim those who know the sacri- fices which our people have made for their schools, ''Alabama gives more than half of her general revenues for public education." It is true ; and the fact presents a noble and in- spiring record. Where, then, is the trouble? If Alabama gives so large a share, a larger portion than that given by almost any other State from the general revenues, why is it that the actual am.ount of her expenditure is so small, and that the expenditure of other States is sometimes from two to seven times as large? Is it because she is poor and other States are rich? That is but a small part of the difficulty. Other States, too, are poor. It is because in Alabama the schools have practically no other revenues than those sup- plied by general state taxation The separate counties have not been allowed to support their schools by a tax of their own — levied by their ov*m people for the education of their method, the method of local taxation, is the chief support of public education. The vast amount comes almost wholly from this source. In Massachusetts, for example, less than one dollar out of every hundred comes from the State government. More than ninety-seven dol- lars comes directly from the people of the dis- trict or the locality affected. Nor is this exclusively a "Northern plan." The plan is working just as well in Mississip- pi, where there are more negroes, both actual- ly and proportionately, than in Alabama. Al- most half the public school funds of Mississip- pi come from local taxation. And Mississipni spends nearly half again, as much for each child in average attendance as Alabama; and Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 7 the illiteracy of the native white people of Mississippi is 8 per cent, while that of Ala- bama is nearly 15 per cent. The method of local taxation is also in ef- fective use in the States of Arkansas, Geor- gia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Just re- cently it has been introduced with great vigor in North Carolina also, and more than 185 school districts in that State have voluntarily voted an increased local tax for better schools. Their people may do this because it is per- mitted by the Constitution of the State. In Alabama our people have not done this, be- cause their State Constitution has prohibit- ed it. THE BEGINNING OF A BETTER METHOD In our new Constitution, however, this inhi- bition has been nartially removed. The peo- ple of each county — provided the general tax limit has not been reached — may vote an addi- tional tax of one mill (ten cents on each one hundred dollars worth of property) for public school purposes. This relief is wholly inade- quate. No such drastic limitation has been found necessary in other Southern States. The neople of Alabama have as much right to be free to educate their children as the people of South Carolina or Mississippi. And if a coun- ty in one section of the State is — for any rea- son — unwilling to vote a local tax, why should its unwillingness be placed as a barrier in the way of other counties, presenting different conditions and having' a different disposi- tion? I would not advocate compulsion in such a matter. It is against compulsion that I write. Is it not obvious that our counties should be free to do as they like with their own? To prohibit the people of a county from levying upon their own property if they choose to do so — for the education of their own children, seems to me both un-democratic and un-American. 8 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. USING WHAT WE HAVE. Inadequate, however, is the relief afforded by our present Constitution, our people may well be urged — wherever they may be disposed to do so — to accept it and to act under it. Something must be done. Educationally Ala- bama has made striking and gratifying prog- ress. In the twenty years since 1880, she has reduced her negro illiteracy from 80.6 to 57.4 per cent, and her native white illiteracy from 25 per cent, to 14.8 per cent. Yet, while this progress should be frequently called to mind, we should be guilty of a false kindli- ness and a mistaken pride if we failed to face the darker side of the picture. The true ser- vice of Alabama lies not in the constant flat- tery of our people, but in a sympathetic, yet fearless revelation of the conditions which en- compass them. The course of true affec- tion and of a wise loyalty is the course which names the disease — not in order to point the linger of reproach — but in order to find and apply the remedy. If our State is burdened with a great mass of popular ignorance, the facts concern us, concern our welfare and our progress more than they concern anybody else. THE TASK BEFORE US. Alabama has reduced her illiteracy, but in the scale of popular intelligence — as tested by the illiteracy of the native white population — our State stands 47th in the list! Only three other States stand lower in the scale. (See U. S. census for 1900, Vol. II, p. ciii, and Re- port of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1902, Vol. II, p. 2338.) There are eight counties in Alabama in which 20 per cent, and over of the wh^te rripn of voting age are illiterate. These counties are St. Clair, Winston, Franklin, Chilton, Cov- ington, Cherokee, Cleburne, and Coffee. Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 9 There are four counts os in our State m which there are (in each) more than three thousand white people ten years of age and over who cannot read and write. These are Jefferson, Henry, Jackson and Marshall. There are twenty-two counties in which there are (in each) over two thousand white people, ten years of age and over, who cannot read and write. These are Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton, Cleburne, Coffee, Covington, Dale, De- l^alb, Etowah, Franklin, Geneva, Henry, Jack- son, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, Randolph, St. Clair, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Walker. No negroes are included in these figures. Nor are any foreigners included. I have here had reference only to the native white population. The exact figures for each county may be found on p. 470, table 84, of the second vol- ume of the u. S, Census for 1900. There was in the whole State of Alabama in 1900 a native white population, ten years of age and over, numbering 700,823. Of this pop- ulation, 103,570 — or nearly one-sixth of the whole — could not read and write. That is a large number of white people for Alabama. It is a number greater than the number of the total white population (for 1900) of Birming- ham, Montgomery, Mobile, Florence, Hunts- ville, Anniston, New Decatur, Opelika, Phoe- nix, Selma, Troy, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Gads- den, Bessemer, and Eufaula. In other words the number of the native white illiterates of the State exceeded at the time of the last na- tional census, the number of the aggregate white population of our sixteen largest cities. It is true that but a small proportion of the population of Alabama is in our large cities. That fact should be borne steadily in mind. And yet, after every conceivable allowance has been made, the facts — facts laid bare to the world, not bv this or that individual, but by the official public records of our government — are serious enough. 10 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. REPROACH WILL LIE, NOT IN ILLITERA- CY, BUT IN INDIFFERENCE TO IT. Let no one suppose that I have called atten- tion to these things because I find it pleasant to do so, or in order to bring reproach upon our people. I do it in order to remove re- proach; I do it in order that by facing the facts just as they are, our people may, every- where, be roused from indifference, and helped toward the finding and the application of a remedv. What shall the remedy be? Relief must be found in better teachers, better school houses, better school supervision, better coun- try roads, and in a closer adaptation of our public school instruction to the practical needs of our people. THE OUESTION OF MORE MONEY. But back of all these considerations there lies the problem of resources. With an expen- diture, per pupil in average attendance, of less than five cents a day for only about one hun- dred days in the year, how are these elements of progress to be secured? How — therefore — may we solve the problem of resources? There are but four possible directions in which we may look: (1) Larger State Appropriations. It is ob- vious, however, that the Legislature can give, for the general school fund, little if any more than it gives today. With more than half of all the revenues going to public education, the State — as a State — has practically reached its limit. (2) Possible National Appropriation. I personally believe in the wisdom and the justice of such relief. But — even if it should be secured — such a provision probably could not be obtained in time to affect the life of any Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 11 living child of school age. And when secured it should come in response to local taxation, and not as a substitute for it. (3) Private Philanthropy. Three great or- R*anizations — the Peabody Board, the Slater Board and the General Education Board — have represented the policy of private aid. The pol- icy has been noble in its motive, wise in its methods, and helpful in its results. But it is wholly, conspicuously, permanently inade- quate. The funds of these organizations are insufficient for any but exceptional and occa- sional cases. There exist upon the files of one of these organizations alone, enough applica- tions from the South — from institutions and localities worthy of every confidence — to ab- sorb within a single year the aggregate capital ,of all three of these Boards. Their work is in- dispensable. It must go on, and will go on. But it is inadequate and — in the very nature of the case — must always be so. (4) The Increasing Support of the Schools by Local Taxation. It is a method almost universally adopted throughout our country; it represents the princinle of self-help; it deepens interest and responsibility by more largely making the support of the schools a point of local pride; and, inasmuch as the peo- ple always closely watch the use of money they themselves directly contribute, it is a method of support which insures the largest measure of efficiency. AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP. There are many other considerations which it would be well to urge, but the limitations of space forbid. Local taxation seems so seri- ously, so immediately important, because it is, apparently, our only "way out." I earnestlv ask that you will kindly weigh 14 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. tion involves the right of the majority to con- trol in purely local affairs, directly, without the interposition of the representative system. Second — Local option involves the further principle that the diversity of conditions in the various localities of the State may render a restriction that is desirable in one community, a positive injustice in another community, where the conditions are different. The application of local option -to school maintenance requires the consideration of these two principles. Local self-government is admittedly a right, inhering in the people; it is fundamental to our entire fabric of govern- ment, and antedates all constitutions. The rec- ognized units of government are the State, the county and the district, or the city. The distri- bution of the functions oi government should be such as to leave the smaller units untram- meled, except as to matters affecting the larger units. The theory that the State has a right to interfere in the local affairs of the county, the city and the district, because these minor divisions are the creatures of the State, is cal- culated to suppress spontaneous development, to check local initiative and to reduce all the communities of the State to one dead level of uniformity. THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO TAX THEM- SELVES. It is natural that the people of Alabama should have a wholesome dread of taxation. We have here a practical illustration of the adage, "The burnt child always dreads the fire." In despotic governments, taxation has been used almost invariably as an instrument of oppres- sion and injustice. Those who were taxed were not consulted as to the purpose or the amount of the taxes levied, and the revenues thus raised were to gratify the ambitions of the strong and to oppress and enslave the weak. Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 15 Under such conditions, taxation will always be feared. However reasonable the purpose, and however small the amount, taxes levied by any but the people themselves will be regarded with suspicion. This malady which we may call "taxiphobia," is a survival of medieval despot- ism. For the last twenty-five years, our consti- tutional inhibitions and legislative preroga- tives in Alabama have kept the people in an acute stage of this disease. The representative system has assumed despotic functions. The chief reason for these conditions, it is true, is found in the need of suffrage reform. With this vital question settled, the next step should be the restoration of sovereignty to the people, in the right to levy their own school taxes, for their own benefit and development. Thus only will the people of our State be relieved of this perpetual dread of taxation and distrust of their representatives. THE ONLY OBJECTION TO LOCAL TAXA- TION. The only objection that has ever been urged against the local taxation for schools is based upon the fear and distrust of the people. The masses of the people, it is said, are not only ig- norant and unpatriotic, but are also non-tax- payers. They will prove too ready to vote an excessive rate of taxation, and thus jeopardize the rights of property by the heavy burdens imposed upon it. The objection is pessimistic in the extreme. It is founded upon a want of faith in the masses, and strikes at the very root of democracy. It is a remarkably strange di- lemma we nave in Alabama. The people are afraid of the taxing power, and the taxing power is afraid of the people. The most pros- perous States are those that have no constitu- tional limit to their local school tax. Are the people of Alabama less intelligent, less patriot- ic, or less worthy of the exercise of this right 16 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. than those of other States? I believe the peo- ple of Alabama may be relied upon to dis- charge this trust wisely and patriotically. METHOD SUCCESSFUL IN THE SOUTH. In Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia, whose peculiar problems are much like our own, there is a liberal limit to the local tax the people themselves may levy for schools. In some of our States it is practically the only unlimited tax. Yet there is no record of abuse of the privilege, either in these States or in the older States, where the people have enjoyed this right for many years I shall not discuss at length the question of tax limita- tion. The tendency today, in the majority of the States of the Union, is to limit the rate of school tax that may be levied by the legislative bodies of the several taxing units but to provide for direct legislation by a vote of the people, where a rate beyond the prescribed maximum is desired. It is doubtless wise and necessary for the people, through the fundamental law of the State, to limit their representatives in the district, municipality, county or State, by Drescribing both the minimum and maximum rates of school tax that may be levied by the legislative body of each unit, but it does not follow that the people by the same instrument, should abrogate their sovereign right to reduce the tax below the minimum rate, or to increase it beyond the maximum limit, prescribed by their servants. A democratic government pur- sues a suicidal policy when it declares the peo- ple incompetent to decide for themselves what improvements they need in their local schools, and what sacrifices they are willing to make in order to secure those improvements. VERY WIDE DIFFERENCE IN CONDI- TIONS. Another important argument for local option Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 17 in taxation for schools, is the diversity of con- ditions in different sections and communities of the State. One community receives from the State fund an amount amply sufficient to provide for such school facilities as it needs for six or eight months in the year. Another community, with radically different conditions, can scarcely maintain such a school as the peo- ple want for three months. The former cpm- munity does not need local taxation, the latter does. An increase in the State appropriation that would provide for the needs of the latter, would give the former a needless surplus. The Legislature is now doing all that it should in the line of direct appropriations. Any further increase in this appropriation at this time, without local taxation, would, in my judg- ment, prove a serious blunder. It would in- volve a practical waste of a large portion of the State school fund, by placing it in commu- nities that do not need it or will not properly use it. There are communities in Alabama that do not want public schools, and the State should never occupy the anomalous position of forcing a public school upon a community that does not want it, while it forbids another community to tax itself to supply its own edu- cational needs. A STIMULUS TO LOCAL PRIDE. Another important consideration should be kept in mind. So long as the cities, towns and districts of the State must look to the Legisla- ture for the support of their schools there is little incentive to local effort. Do we encounter indifference to school matters at home? Do we complain of popular apathy with regard to school topics, and the want of educational in- terest throughout the State? These conditions are not hard to explain. We may talk elo- quently and convincingly upon school matters to our people, but there is nothing that they 18 Local Taxation for Schools in Alaba7na. can do; they have no voice in the question of school maintenance. Apathy and indifference to school matters must continue so long as the State persists in trying to educate the children from the capitol, and in fighting illiteracy at long range, while the people must sit at home with shackled wills and fettered hands, power- less to help themselves. What we need is the incentive of self-help, the stimulus of local potver. Education is a local problem, and that problem in -filabama will never be solved until the power is brought nearer to the problem. If the schools of Alabama are to be appre- ciably improved, it must be through the power of local initiative and the spur of local respon- sibility. THE PEOPLE MUST BE INTERESTED. It is important that the Legislature shall be interested, but it is far more imnortant that the people shall be interested. It is important that the Legislature shall be sympathetic and liberal, but it is far more important that we have sympathetic and liberal communities, with power to act up to their ideals of right, and to their conviction of their needs. Some one has said that a presidential elec- tion every four years is a liberal university to the people of this country. The discussion of platforms and measures affords a generous ed- ucation. Local campaigns in which school policies and measures are discussed, instead of mere personalities, will serve to broaden and educate the people. Let the question of a local school tax be submitted to the people; the re- sult will be local agitation, free discussion, competition and progress. In many of the 'Southern States we find the school district rap- idly developing as a unit of self-government. Mr. Bryce states that the country public school in the South is destined to accomplish for lo- cal self-government what the meeting house Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 19 did for New England. The school district must become the key to local self-government in the rural communities of Alabama. This is the real battle ground of true democracy. MONEY IS NOT ALL THAT IS NEEDED. Many people imagine that an efficient State school system is merely a question of money, no matter how the money is obtained. This is a grave mistake. Money is necessary, but it makes a great deal of difference in the interest and sympathy of the patrons of the schools, if they are individually responsible. In many communities of the State, the public schools are still referred to contemptuously as "free schools," and "charity schools," and "pauper schools." How can it be otherwise when the State forces a public school of equal duration upon all communities alike, whether they want it or not? How can it be otherwise when the people of the community contribute nothing directly to the maintenance of their school and consider their per capita school fund as a sti- pend graciously bestowed by a liberal Legisla- ture? It is not money alone that our schools need, but with it they need local sympathy, local responsibility and local pride. The result of the present school fund in Alabama would be more than doubled, in my judgment, if at least one-fourth of it were raised by local taxa- tion, voted by the people themselves. School efficiency demands that maintenance and re- sponsibility shall not be separated, but go hand in hand. Instead of depending absolutely upon the pa- ternal interest of the State for increased appro- priations and general taxes for the mainten-' ance of our schools, let us strike out constitu- tional fetters from our limbs and, like free- men, exercise the rights of freemen, in remov- ing the burdens of illiteracy from our shoul- 20 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. ders. This is the privilege of democracy, the duty of patriotism. BY THE HON. SYDNEY J. BOWIE, MEM- BER OF CONGRESS FROM THE FOURTH ALABAMA DISTRICT. I favor local taxation in addition to the State fund, for the benefit of our public schools, for two reasons, first in this way only can the "oroper local pride and interest, which is essen- tial to the best results, be aroused, and, second- ly the State fund, which has reached its max- imum, is notoriously inadequate. The right of a community to tax itself for public purposes, it seems to me, is indisputable, and the denial of that right is contrary to the spirit and ge- nius of our institutions. Thomas Jefferson, the founder of Democra- cy and in many particulars the greatest states- man this country ever produced, said : "Preach a crusade against ignorance! Establish and improve the law for educating the common people! Let our countrymen know that the people alone can protect us from the evils of misgovernment." And in discussing his fa- mous bill for the education of the people of Virginia he said: "The expense of the elementary schools for every county is proposed to be levied on the wealth of the county and all the children, rich and poor, to be educated at these three years free. "The truth is, that the want of good educa- tion with us is not from our poverty, but from the want of a system. More money is now paid for the education of a part (referring to their private school systems) than would be paid for the whole if systematically arranged. "What will be the retribution of the wealthy individual (for his support of general educa- tion?) First, the peopling of his neighborhood with honest, useful, enlightened citizens, un- derstanding their own rights and firm in their Locul Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 21 perDetuation. Second, when his own descend- ants become poor, which they generally do within three generations (no law of primo- geniture now perpetuating wealth in the same families) their children will be educated by the then rich, and the little advance he now makes to poverty himself, while rich, will be repaid by the then rich to his descendants when they become poor, and thus give them a chance to rise again. This is a solid consider- ation and should go home to the bosom of ev- ery parent. It will be seed sown n fertile ground. It is a provision for his family look- ing to distant times and far in duration be- yond what he now has in hand for them." Mr. Jefferson was one of those statesmen who saw far in advance of the people of his own day. His law involved first, primary schools in every neighborhood for every child free of all tuition for three years, not of three months each, but of nine months each; second, a high school in every county, and third, a uni- versity in each State, showing that while he believed in free primary education for every- body, he also believed that the opportunity for higher education for those who wanted it should be placed within their reach. The State of Alabama now contributes about one-half of its total revenue to the public schools of our State. This is all the State can do at present and probably all it v/ill ever be able to do, because the necessary expenses of the government are keeping pace with the rev- enues. What are the counties doing? Abso- lutely nothing. Not a county in Alabama pays a penny for this purpose. The towns are doing something, but fully ninety per cent, of our population is rural and town schools cannot reach them. We have therefore practically nine-tenths of our school children without a particle of help in the matter of education, ex- cept from the State treasury. Can we succeed in removing the blight of 22 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. illiteracy from our children on that system? The best answer to that question is the extent of illiteracy itself among the white population in the State of Alabama, Avhich is today prac- tically the same as it was fifty years ago. That the present sum raised for public school pur- poses is entirely inadequate is established by evidence without dispute. That it cannot be increased by State aid is equally true. Indeed the natural increase in our children of school age is greater than the increase in the school fund, to the extent that, whereas, the State raised a sum last year sufficient to allow $1.37 for every child of school age, the alarm- ing fact is disclosed this year that this small and inadequate amount was actually reduced to $1.31, so that we are really traveling back- wards. What then are we to do? Are we to sit idly by and see one-sixth of our white popu- lation uneducated and one-third more so im- nerfectly educated as to be of very slight benefit to them, or shall we face C'^i issue like men and settle it? It seems to me that the issue ought to be met and solved. We must do away with the idea that we are too poor to educate ouj" own children. If there is anything that can be said on the subject, it is to repeat the words of Dr. Curry, "Not too poor to educate them, but too poor not to educate them." I do not claim that the illiterate white man is any worse than the educated white man. I do not think it is a question of morals at all. However, generally speaking, being able to read, especially the word of God, would seem to conduce to oetter morals; but the point does not lie there. The fact is, that an uneducated man, however honorable, however industrious, or patriotic, has the door of opportunity shut forever in his face. What public preferment can come to the man who can neither read or write? What real opportunity can come to him in business? Absolutelv none. Of course, with great energy along with courage he may Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 23 triumph in part over his condition and accu- mulate a small stock of this world's goods, but "how small it must be in comparison with what lie could accomplish with the same amount of -energy and courage if he had an education. And just here is also the case of those who liave but a smattering of education. They are iDetter off, of course, than those who have none :at all, but how slight are their advantages! Is it true patriotism to leave them and their chil- dren in this practical V hopeless condition? Is it for the welfare of our State or is it for the welfare of even the prosperous people in our State? If we place it upon the lowest basis, the money side of it alone, is it not our duty and to our interest to provide adequate means for at least the primary education of all our people in the State? The only way this has been or ever can be done is through local effort and the only way that local effort has ever been obtained is through local taxation. Alabama enjoys the distinction of being the only State in the Union which denies to the people the right, under their minor civil divis- ions, to tax themselves for the education of their own children. The rural population of the State of Iowa is nearly the same as the rural population of Alabama, In Iowa they have, and have had for many years, a splendid school system based upon local taxation. Ala- bama's expenditure per pupil in average attend- ance is only $4.41 per year for education, while Iowa expends for the same purpose $25.63 per pupil per year. Both States are principally farming States. The manufactur- ing industries are nearly the same in both States with the advantage slightly in favor of Iowa because of its larger cities. Now note the difference. While the number of people, chieflv farmers, in both States is practically the same, the total v^ue of farms in Alabama in 1900, as shown by the census, was $179,399,- 882, and in Iowa, $1,834,345,546, or more than 24 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama, one thousand per cent, of value in excess of Alabama. In net yield per farm, Alabama is below every State in the Union except North Carolina, and enjoys the unenviable distinc- tion of having a larger percentage of white illiteracy in any State in the Union with the exception of Louisiana and North Carolina. The native white illiteracy of Alabama is 14.8 per cent.; of Iowa is 1.2 per cent. I do not bring out these figures to reflect up- on Alabama at all, because I am intensely loy- al to the State. I believe it has the finest cli- mate, the finest variety of soil and has as good citizenship as any in the Union, but I know of no way of reaching this question except by stating the facts about it. If self-praise is a weakness, self-deception is a crime! Let us continue the comparison between Iowa and Alabama a little further. Alabama's large number of negroes may account for some of the difference, but by no means for all of it. The amount of wheat produced in Iowa per acre in 1902, as shown by official records, was 12 7-10 bushels; in Alabama, 6 bushels. The amount of corn in Iowa per acre, 32 bushels; in Alabama, 8 4-10 bushels; the amount of oats per acre in Iowa, 30 7-10 bushels; in Alabama, 10 9-10 bushels. Alabama was the smallest State in the Union in 1900 in the production of wheat and oats per acre, the forty-seventh in corn, and the lowest in the yield of cotton per acre except Oklahoma and Florida which are not properly classed as cotton States at all. Will our people submit to these conditions or will they take hold of it and conquer it? We have the best variety of land, as snlendid a citizenship, and as good a climate as there is in the world. Then where is the trouble? Be- tween eighty and ninetv per cent, of our people live on the farms and they have no schools except such as are provided by the State. These schools are notoriouslv inadequate. What then is the remedy? I know of but one answer Local I'axation for Schools in Alabama. 25 which other States have made to this question, and that is, to let the people of each communi- ty settle the question of the education of their own people in their own way. If we may not guide our feet by the lamp of experience, by what light shall they be guided? I do not think the present system of school maintenance in Alabama is logical or can ever be made effective. It takes no account of the difference of conditions in localities. For example, in the great County of Dallas there were only 266 illiterate whites over ten years of ao-e when the last census was taken; in Greene, only 123; in Lowndes, 209; in Ma- con, 160; in Montgomery, the Capital county of the State, only 478; Sumter, 172; Wilcox, 307; Bullock, 358. Now contrast these figures with Blount, 2,657; Calhoun, 2,747; Cherokee, 2,499; Coffee, 2,982; Marshall, 3,055; Henry, 3,266; Jackson, 3,715; Jefferson, 4,532. The difficulty oi the situation is, we provide the same law, the same revenues and same condi- tions for the first eight counties that we do for the last eight. Is it reasonable? It seems to me it is just as unreasonable as the tyrant Procrustes, who demanded that all of the men in his army should be exactly six feet tall. When told that it would be impossi- ble to comply with his request and get any con- siderable number of men, he said "Not so, just lay the men down upon a bed six feet in length, and those who are less than six feet tall can be stretched to the limit and those who are more than six feet can be cut off to that extent." In that way he secured the bless- ings of uniformity! I would not impose a local tax upon any community that did not want it or did not need it, but those that do want it and do need it should not be compelled to wait upon others who do not. I believe in a limit upon taxation, but I do think, considering the necessity and importance of education, without which, as 26 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. Mr. Jefferson said, a republic cannot live, the people should have the right to tax themselves, something! 1 do not contend that it should be left to them to levy an unreasonable amount, but I do say that, under proper restric- tions, they ought to have a right to levy some amount. Why not? It seems to me the denial of this right is a denial of the principle of home rule, upon which not democracy alone,, but our very institutons depend. There may be some facts which we do not care to talk to- the world about, but only the foolish ostrich hides its head in the sand. Is it the part of wisdom to shut our eyes to conditions staring us in the face? I do not believe the State as such can, or ought to, do more than it has for our public schools, but when a community in our State having the will, and necessity, wants to relieve itself of the burden of illiteracy by placing a reasonable tax upon its own proper- ty, I think the denial of that privilege is a blow at self-government and an unquestionable injury to our peov»le. FROM THE HON. I. W. HILL, STATE SU- PERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION OF ALABAMA. I have read with much interest your, letter of Feb. 15, and, also the statement of Dr. J. H. Phillips on the question of local taxation for school purposes. The statistics furnished in your letter prove conclusively that some- thing must be done in Alabama. You say truly, "Ours are an agricultural people." The boys and girls found among the 92 per cent, of the population found outside of cities contain- ing 8,000 population, or more, have the same right to educational advantages that their cousins in the cities possess. The cities and larger towns manage by the exercise of their corporate rights to secure sufficient sums of Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 27 money to maintain efficient school systems. The rural school depends entirely upon the per capita disbursement by the State and vol- untary contributions from its patrons. Dr. Phillips has grasped the situation in Alabama. Local taxation is the only solution of the prob- lem. Alabama, as a State, is doing, at this time, all that she should be asked to do. Let the counties now come forward and help them- selves. Let us then provide the way by which the districts may help themselves. Many of the districts which reserved the right of local taxation for school purposes under the new Constitution, have already voted the tax. I believe many others would do the same thing had they the constitutional right. Count me a "full scholar" on the right of local taxation for school purposes by both counties and districts. OTHER ENDORSEMENTS. In addition to the letters from Mr. Bowie and Supt. Hill endorsing the statements of Mr. Murphy and Dr. Phillips, the Alabama Education Committee has strong letters en- dorsing these two articles from a large number of prominent Alabamians, among whom are the following: Dr. John W. Abercrombie, Pres. of Universi- ty of Alabama. Dr. C. C. Tnach, of the Alabama Polytech- nic Institute. Ex-Gov. W. C. Oates, Montgomery. Judge Thomas G. Jones, Montgomery. Congressman George W. Taylor. Congressman A. A. Wiley. The late Congressman Chas. W. Thompson. Hon. T. G. Bush, Birmingham. Pres. M. C. Wilson, of State Normal College, Florence. Pres. C. W. Daugette, State Normal College, Jacksonville. 28 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. Pres. E. M. Shackelford, State Normal Col- lege, Troy. Pres. A. P. Montague, of Howard College. Major W. W. Screws, Editor-in-Chief, Mont- gomery Advertiser. -Hon. Erwin Craighead, Editor of the Mobile Register. Rev. John A. Rice, D. D., Montgomery. Mr. J. D. Barron, of the Montgomery Ad- vertiser. Dr. B. J. Baldwin, Pres. of the Board of Edu- cation, Montgomery. Judge J. H. Disque, Gadsden. Supt. G. W. Brock, Opelika. Hon. E. P. Wilson, St. Stephens. Mr. Chas. A. Olivet, Double Springs. Hon. W. H. Samford, Troy. Hon. R. E. Pettus, Huntsville. Hon. Earle Pettus, Athens. Judge J. R. Walker, Huntsville. Prof. H. O. Murfee, Marion. Pres. John Massey, Tuskegee. Hon. John B. Knox, Anniston. Mr. Alex T. London, Birmingham. THE LOCAL TAX IN TALLADEGA COUNTY. The following letter from Supt. John C. Williams, of Talladega county, shows the re- sult of the local tax in that county. The tax was levied in Talladega county last June. From Mr. Williams' letter, it will be seen that the average school term has been increased from five months and eight days, to seven and one-half months. The school attendance has been increased from twenty-fi.ve to thirty per cent. There are better teachers, better school houses and greater interest in the cause of education. Talladega, Ala., May 4th, 1905, Hon. S. J. Bowie, Anniston, Ala. Dear Sir: In reply to your recent inquiry Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. 29 m regard to the benefits of local taxation for the public schools of Talladega county, permit me to say that ior the year October, 1903, to October, 1904, the average term of the schools was five months and eight days. This year, October, 1904, to October, 1905, the terms will be at least seven and a half months. Last year the following schools had onl" five- month contracts, and if they were continued for a longer time it was by the citizens sup- plementing the public fund. This year they have contracts tor seven months, as follows: Patten's Chapel. Hall's Schoolhouse. Lincoln. Eureka. Dry Valley. Sastaboga. Munford. Silver Run. Antioch. Hopeful. McElderry. Sunnyside. Providence. Flinn Springs. Ragan. Pine View. Renfroe. Ida Academy. Talladega. Vindale. Ironaton. Smyrna. Mardisville. Plantersville. Arta. Laniers. Wewoka. Berneys. Chandler Springs bvcamore. Cruise Schoolhouse. Childersburg. Rocky Mount. Center. Odena. Herd's Gap. Emawhee. Sylacauga. Wynette. Kent Hill. Fayetteville. Russell. Talladega Springs. Kymulga. The schools in the districts of Talladega, Laniers, Wewoka, Childersburg, Sylacauga, Fayetteville and perhaps others, will continue to terms of nine months, owing to the fact that the public fund was supplemented. In district 9 the public fund is supplemented by 30 Local Taxation for Schools in Alabama. the town of Talladega to the aomunt of $3,- 320.75. I do not make out my annual report until September 31st, but am certain the attendance this year will show an increase of 25 or 30 per cent, over the attendance of last year. The teachers are better equipped and take a more active interest in their work. The personnel of the teachers is improving and higher grade teachers are finding employment at increased salaries. I am thoroughly familiar with the school conditions of Talladega county for several years past and can say from personal knowl- edpre that the spirit for educating the children was never at so high a point, which measure is giving us better teachers at increased sal- aries, and the children a free school for at least seven months in the year, when hereto- fore they had only five months in the year. Yours truly, Jno. C. Williams, County Superintendent. Under tnese circumstances, how can anyone oppose the movement? WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN ALABAMA. The table given below shows the counties in Alabama which have, up to this time, levied the one mill tax allowed by the Constitution. In the table, the State appropriation is given, the amount derived this year from the local tax, and the total fund from these two sources. The table does not show the poll tax nor other special school funds. An examination of the table will show that in each one of the coun- ties, the school term can be increased from two to two and one-half months. As a consequence, comes, naturally, better paid teachers, better attendance, and greater interest in the cause of education. 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