A SKETCH OF EDUCATION IX SOUTH CAROLINA. 453 



necessary or impossible." Although these schools were made free to all 

 by the Act of ISll, they soon came to be regarded in many localities as 

 pauper schools. As far back as 1839, Rev. Mr. Thrummell, of All Saints', 

 reports, as the radical defect of the system, that " it is a bounty, intended 

 for the poor. The rich will not avail themselves of it, since they do not 

 need it, while the poor will rather keep their children home altogether, 

 tlian, by sending them to the free school, attach to them, as they think 

 and feel, the stigma of being poor, and of receiving education as paupers." 

 In his view, the imposition of a local tax, by compelling all to contribute 

 to the school would induce all to send to it, thus removing the existing 

 reproach. Instances are cited in which parents refuse to send children 

 to these " pauper institutions," yet willingly accept the offer of a rich 

 neighbor to pay their bills at a private academy. 



. Another cause of failure was the Avant of proper supervision, and the 

 consequent incompetency of many teachers. Another defect was the 

 establishment ot schools in proportion to representation in the Legisla- 

 ture, instead of causing them to be based upon the number of children. 

 Under the ante bcUum Constitution, wealth was an equal factor with pop- 

 ulation, in determining representation. So that the richer the district, 

 the greater the number of free schools. 



But the controlling cause of the failure of the free school system was, 

 that its need was not felt by the people. Private institutions had sprung 

 up on every hand ; and, through individual beneficence or the generosity 

 of teachers, the rudiments of instruction, if nothing more, were in reach 

 of all who desired to secure them. In this way have some of the bright- 

 est intellects of the State been trained to shed lustre upon the pages of 

 her history. 



THE CENSUS OF 1850 



shows that the expenditures for education within the limits of the State 

 during that year, amounted to $510,879, of which $410,430 were raised 

 by tuition fees, $79,099 by taxation and public funds, and $21,350 by 

 endowment, 1-epresenting endowment funds aggregating $305,000, on a 

 basis of seven per cent. 



THE SUCCEEDING DECADE 



was in every respect a period of unexampled progress. By the census 

 estimates, the true value of property had risen from $288,257,694 in 1850, 

 to $548,138,754 in 1860. The sums expended for education had increased 

 to $690,412, of which $420,944 came from tuition fees, &c., $135,813 

 from taxation and public funds, and $133,755 from endowment, repre- 

 senting, at seven per cent., endowment funds of $1,910,788. This last 



