the State treasury. If that is the case, what
becomes of this school fund already in the
. hands of the orphans' courts of the county
for the benefit of schools? It will not be ne-
cessary, of course; for if there be a fund es-
tablished by law now, it will not be necessary
that any further sum shall be assessed upon
the county. There will not therefore be any
necessity of having the provision we have al-
ready made of an assessment upon the assess-
able property of the county of $11,000 yearly.
What will be the necessity of continuing that
assessment upon the people of the county,
when you provide by this measure that twen-
ty cents shall be levied, and paid into the
bands of the treasurer of the State, for dis-
tribution among the various counties and the
city of Baltimore, for this purpose ?
1 understood the gentleman from Baltimore
city (Mr. Stockbridge) to say that in all the
counties of the State there was a tax upon the
parent sending the pupil to school.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I said it was so in most
of the counties, and I thought it was so in all.
Mr, BERRY, of Prince George's. In Prince
George's county there is no such provision.
On the contrary, there is a provision in our
school system, (Code vol. 2, page 739,) that
the schools shall in all respects be free schools
for the education of the children of the coun-
ty without distinction, discrimination or pay,
and any parent may send to such school any
one or more of his children without cost. or
expense. It was intended that our si stem
should lie a free school system, that it should
be paid for by the county, by the appropria-
tion that was made from year to year by the
legislature to the several counties of the State
for this purpose.
I would ask the gentleman from Baltimore
city what disposition he proposes lo make of
the school fund now already established by
the State and paid to the several counties of
the State every year for this purpose? If this
measure is carried, it will increase our school
taxes to double what they are now. The
small counties of the State, paying heavy
taxes, will be required to pay a tax for the
support not only of our own children but to
educate the children of other counties of the
State and of the city of Baltimore. We pro-
pose, as far as we can, to prevent the neces-
sity of heavy taxation. What is the condi
tion of things now? In every county we pay
.fifty cents on the hundred dollars for county
purposes, it is included as one of the county
levies. We pay ten cents for the benefit of
the State, and we pay ten cents to aid in
paying the bounty fund created by the act of
the last legislature. That is seventy cents on
the hundred dollars that we are now paying
Are we in the condition to be further taxed ?
We have this heavy taxation upon us. We
have two or three different taxes to pay to
the general government; and are the peo
pie of this State to be burdened with further |
taxation? By one of your acts you have
taken our negroes away without compensa-
tion. You have not supplied their places;
and now instead of growing forty-four thou-
sand hogsheads of tobacco in the State, you
will not grow five thousand. By what means
will the people of the State be enabled to pay
this tax? I say if ever the people must be
heavily taxed for a school system, do not let
us have it now. Postpone it until that bright
day has come, spoken of by the gentlemen who
voted for this emancipation scheme, when
this whole country may be settled with emi-
grants from the north. Our farms will be
cut up and divided among them, and the
emasculated races now here will be entirely
driven out, and they will perhaps be better
able to endure taxation then than we are
now.
I shall vote then for the measure, because I
think it right that it should pass. We in
our county and in the counties similarly situ-
ated, will have no necessity for the tax now
imposed by law for school purposes. If this
measure passes, as a matter of course the
legislature will have to make some disposi-
tion, not only of the school fund, but to pre-
vent further taxation for that purpose upon
the assessable property of the county.
Mr. DANIEL. I shall vote for the section as
it is, believing that so much tax is required,
and believing that it ought to be raised just
now. I should not rise at all but to put my-
self right as to a question of fact, upon which
my colleague (Mr. Stockbridge) so abruptly
and positively states the contrary to what I
asserted. I understand his statement to be,
referring to the State, including the city of
Baltimore, that ninety-nine out of one hun-
dred pay the one dollar tax. I deny that as
a matter of fact. My experience is just the
reverse. The gentleman stated that this cre-
ated a sort of aristocracy, and everybody
wished to pay it because it put them down if
they did not; because it put them below the
level of the others.
Having been in the board, I know we ex-
perienced great difficulty from the number
who wanted to get clear of the one dollar
but who were able to pay it; and we had to
pass stringent rules on the subject. We had
it before us several times, and thought that
they should be made to pay, and that com-
missioners should be very particular how
they discharged men from the obligation to
pay this one dollar. It was stated in the
board at the commencement of these troubles
that a great many got off from paying the
one dollar because they were not in a condi
tion to pay, but afterwards became able to
pay; and the commissioners decided to in
vestigate this matter in order that those who
were really able to pay should be required to
pay; and at nearly every meeting of the
board, we had to discharge a number of those
whom even the commissioners had set down |
