If he was right in the general proposition which
he laid down that, independent of this particular
clause, it would be in the power of the Convention
to declare in another part of the Constitution that
the Legislature should have the right to appro-
priate money lor the specific purposes of educa-
tion, then he could not see the object of the gen-
tleman from Montgomery in placing his amend-
ment where he now desired it to be. But even
if he, (Mr. E ,) was wrong in this position, lie
had prepared an amendment in terms so broad
that its intent could not possibly be misappre-
hended—an amendment which, in his judgment,
would obviate every difficulty, and which he
would now read a" a part of his remarks.
Mr. E. then read his amendment, (of which
the reporter has not a copy.)
tie desired now to show to the Convention
that the appropriations made by former Legisla-
tures were not such as came within the rules of
justice, or common sense, ana that they were not
even in accordance with the intentions of the
framers of the laws themselves. He did not
conceive that the amendment of the gentleman
from Montgomery, or the report of the commit-
tee on education came up to the point which the
Convention desired to attain, and which the peo-
ple themselves, so far as his, (Mr. E.'s,) (knowl-
edge enabled him to speak, intended to reach.
He desired to show that the relative population
of the counties and of the city of Baltimore, was
not represented either by population, black and
white—or so as to receive, either under the re-
port of the committee on education, or of the
amendment proposed by the gentleman from
Montgomery, the benefits which they were enti-
tled to receive—but that the system operated with
signal injustice and inequality,
Mr. BROWN rose to a point of order, concern-
ing the relevancy of the debate,
After a brief conversation thereon,
Mr. EGE, (having been decided, to be in order,)
proceeded with his remarks.
He proposed, he said, to take the school fund
appropriated to the different counties of the
State, and to show the gross inequality that ex-
isted in its distribution. He proposed to show
that many of the counties of the State, received
a proportion of the fund upon principles not just
in themselves, and against which he came here
to contend.
He hoped to see a principle adopted in the
Constitution for the establishment of a general
system of common school education, by which
general knowledge should be diffused among all
closes of our citizens, whether living on the low
lands of the bay shore, or in the pure mountain
regions of the west.
But he would now proceed to show the in-
equalities that existed in the application of the
public funds. Take, for example, the counties
of Kent and Anne Arundel proper. They re-
ceived more than one fourth of all the taxes they
paid into the treasury, whilst the county which
he, [Mr. Ege,] had in part the honor to represent,
(Carroll,) received only eight hundred dollars.
Even this small sum was more equally distributed
among the people in his county, than perhaps the |
money received by any other county in the
State. Still, he believed, it was not properly
distributed, because particular localities were
the exclusive recipients of its benefits.
Mr. E. then read the following statement:
TABLE,
Showing the White population of each County and
Baltimore City, with the amounts of the academy
and College fund, and the Free School fund, an-
nually distributed amongst them.
White Pop- Free School
Counties, ulation Academy Fund
1850. Fund 1851.
Allegany, 21 643 $800 $2,588 63
Anne Arundel 16,542 3,800 3,335 86
Baltimore c'y 141,440 5,525 53
Baltimore co. 34,354 800 3,047 83
Carroll, 18,676 800 3,144 03
Caroline, 6,096 800 2,227 15
Calvert, 3,630 800 2,015 03
Cecil, 15,482 800 2,856 40
Charles, 5,665 800 2141 07
Dorchester, 10,788 800 2,843 63
Frederick, 33,300 1,200 4,473 08
Harford, 14,414 800 2,931 24
Kent, 5,615 800 2,370 70
Montgomery, 9,435 1,000 3,636 42
Pr, George's, 8,902 800 2,722 77
Queen Anne's 7,040 800 2,636 59
St Mary's, 6,226 800 2,411 57
Somerset, 13,417 800 2,754 93
Talbot, 7,085 800 2,861 39
Washington, 26,888 800 3,559 65
Worcester, 12,401 800 2,832 81
Total, 419,039 $19,610 $62,915 39
Note.— The Free School fund is distributed as
follows: One-half to each county, and Balti-
more city, equally; and the other half amongst
said counties and city, in proportion to their
white population.
Such were the inequalities and such the injus-
tice of this system. He wared against it. He
desired that it should be brought to an end. He
wanted .to see ageneral system adopted in place
of that partial and miserable one which was now
in operation, by which a select few received the
benefits of academic and collegiate education to
the detriment of the great mass of the children
of the State.
Let academies and colleges be left to private
enterprise, or to corporations that were able to
maintain themselves by their own efforts. Let.
them not draw their sustenance from the public
treasury, whilst industry, energy, enterprise and
learning itself were left to slumber. He desired
to see the State cleansed from this foul leprosy
which had so long been eating into its vitals, and
no effort of his should be wanting to secure its
extermination. |
