1 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY LC2801 .C77 " ""'"""'' "*^ Public taxation and Negro schools; olin 3 1924 030 619 278 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States an the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030619278 PUBLIC TAXATION AND NEGRO SCHOOLS PAPER READ BEFORE THE Twelfth Annual Conference for Education in the South held at Atlanta, Georgia April 14, 15, and 16, 1909 By CHARLES L. COON, Superintendent of Schools WILSON, NORTH CAROLINA COMMITTEE OF TWELVE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE INTERESTS OF THE NEGRO RACE CHEYNEY, PA. , ^ 'S.'^B^SS^ Public Taxation and Negro Schools •4 SHALL confine this paper to the investigation of the question, "Is the Negro public school in the South a burden on the white taxpayer, and if so, to what ex- tent?" For the purpose of this investigation, I shall include the eleven Southern States which, in 1900, con- tained 7,199.374 of the 8,840,789 Negroes then living in the United States, or 81.4 per cent, of the Negro population of the country. These States are Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. In these eleven States the total population in 1900 was 18,975,665, of which 11,776,391 was white and 7,199,374. or 40.1 per cent, was Negro. First. In order to find out whether the Negro public school is a burden on the white taxpayer in these States, it is necessary, first of all, to ascertain what these States are spending for public schools, both white and colored. The latest reports of the several departments of education indicate that these eleven States are now spending about $32,068,851 for elementary and secondary public education. This sum represents every item of expense, and is just slightly more than Pennsylvania spends annually for the same pur- pose. This sum is twenty-one millions less than New York State spent for public education in 1907, and not quite twice as much as Massachusetts spent in 1906. The wealth of these eleven Southern States is approximately twelve billion dollars, while New York State has property worth fifteen billions, Massachusetts five billions, and Pennsylvania eleven and a half billions. Second. The South is spending $32,068,851 on her public schools, both white and black, but what part of this sum is devoted to Negro public schools, which must serve at least 40 per cent, of her school population? It is not possible to answer this question with absolute accuracy. But it is possible, from the several State reports, to find out the whole amount spent for teachers, and, in all the States except Arkansas, what was spent for white and Negro teachers separately. The aggregate amount now being spent for public school teachers of both races in these eleven States is $23,- 856,914, or 74.4 per cent, of the whole amount expended. Of this sum not more than $3,818,705 was paid to Negro teachers, or 12 per cent, of the total expenditures. And here let me call your at- tention directly to the fact that nearly three-fourths of our total public school expenditures are for teachers, but that Negro teach- ers receive only 12 per cent, of the total expended, while white teachers receive 62.4 per cent. It is also evident that the amount spent for Negro teachers is by far the largest item of expense of the Negro public schools. Expenditures for Teachers 2 £ .0 u £?1 ?* u US> ■s* ■s^ •a a « K u at a a state and Year ofl •^ ^ an an (0(H <"!-, 1 Si OJ.- h o2 ^ ^ fit* fi» Virginia, 1907 .$3,308,086 $2,151,209 $1,761,264 $389,945 S3-2 11.7 North Carolina, 190S. . 2,958,160 1,688,057 1.374.143 313.914 46.4 10.6 South Carolina, 1908. ■ 1,595.986 1,356,255 1,102,094 254,161 69.0 16.0 Georgia, 1907 . 2,850,211 2,239,98s 1,819,321 420,664 63.8 14.7 Florida, 1908 . 1,584,043 1,017,276 864,214 153,062 S4.S 9.6 Alabama, 1908 • 2,195,32s I.9S3.077 1,712,898 240,179 78.0 10.9 Mississippi, 1907 . . . . 2,631,790 1.984.758 1.515,68s 469.073 57-S 17.7 Louisiana, 1907 . 3,481,276 2,006,885 1,810,474 196,411 S2.0 S.6 Texas, 1906 • 6,344,739 5,310,289 4.527.877 782,412 71-3 12.3 Arkansas, 1907 . 2,413,768 1.973.819 1.784.519 189,300 73-9 7.8 Tennessee, 1907 . . . . • 2,705,457 2.175.304 1.765,720 409,584 65.2 IS-2 Total $32,068,851 $23,856,914 $20,038,209 $3,818,705 62.4 12.0 Note — In the Virginia report the amount paid Negro teachers is not given, but the number of Negro teachers and their average salary is given. In the Tennessee report the average salary of all teachers and the number of Negro teachers is given. The amount credited to Negro teachers, is, therefore, likely too large. The amount credited to Negro teachers in Arkansas is based on the average tuition and enrollment in Negro schools. The average tuition is likely too high for Negro schools. In all calculations the Negro teachers are credited with such amounts as the face of the reports indicate. Investigation v/ould undoubtedly lower the -figures of some States. Third. But aside from the expense of Negro teachers, what is the additional cost of the Negro public schools? This additional cost cannot be accurately determined from the data now available. But South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas — five States — report the total cost of Negro schools. In these States the additional cost of Negro schools above the cost of teachers is as follows : South Carolina, 1.3 per cent, of total expenditures ; Flori- da, 5.3 per cent.; Alabama, 1.5 per cent.; Mississippi, 4.2 per cent.; Texas, 2.2 per cent. These figures indicate that between 2 and 3 per cent, of the total expenditures for public schools in the South is being devoted to the Negro schools above the cost of Negro teachers. This means that about $917,670 is to be added to the cost of Negro teachers to get the entire cost of the Negro public schools in the South. The aggregate cost of the Negro public schools is, therefore, near $4,736,375, or 14.8 per cent, of all ex- penditures. The significance of these figures is that, while the Negro race has, at least, 40 per cent, of the children to educate, not quite IS per cent, of the money expended on public education is be- ing devoted to their schools. Fourth. It is generally assumed in the discussion of the cost of the Negro public schools, that the white race bears all the cost or nearly all; that the Negroes of the South are truly the white man's burden when it comes to paying the bills for public educa- tion. Much of this unseasoned talk reminds me of the North Caro- lina farmer who was in the habit of asserting on all occasions that he could live and get along so much better if it were not for his large and oppressive doctor bills. But the doctor declared at the Total Cost of Negro Schools g in •»J 0.-S oO So' u n ttji bfl« DO j' Mv u fc a a a Sfm y^ni UfL) P4 r state and Year fcg -1 ^.2 £2-2 £.2 •S& •- a .0 Ofl Oh 00 s w •w ^S is 1S« «J3 4^0 u "? n y 2 f-2 & "^ ocng 0) &^ Virginia. 1907 $389,945 North Carolina, 1908 .... 313,914 South Carolina, 1908 .... 254,161 Georgia, 1907 420,664 Florida, 1908 153,062 Alabama, 1908 240,179 Mississippi, 1907 469,073 I^uisiana, 1907 196,411 Texas, 1906 782,4x2 Arkansas, 1907 189,300 Tennessee, 1907 409,584 $99,283 $489,228 11.7 .1-0 14-7 35.7 88,744 402,658 10.6 X-o 1.1.6 3.1-3 20,798 274,959 16.0 1-3 17-3 .■!8.4 85,306 506,170 14.7 30 17.7 46.7 82,428 235,490 9.6 53 14.9 43.7 32,822 273,001 10.9 i-.S 12.4 4.'i-3 107,890 576,963 17.7 4.2 21.9 .S8.7 104,438 300,849 5.6 3-0 8.6 47-2 142,183 924,59s 12.3 2.2 I4.S 20.4 72,414 261,714 7.8 3-0 10.8 28.0 81,164 490,748 15-2 3.0 18.2 23.8 $917,670 4,736,37s 12.0 2.8 14.8 40.1 Total $3,818,705 next term of the court, on oath, that this chronic complainer had not paid him a cent in fifteen years, and that he was the only doc- tor in the community. And this brings me directly to the main inquiry : Is the Negro public school of the South a burden on the white taxpayer? But here again, complete data with which to work cannot be had. How- ever, this question can be answered for Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, with some degree of accuracy. First. Is the Negro public school of Virginia a burden on the white taxpayer of that State? (o) The State Auditor for 1908 reports the total assessed value of Virginia property at $702,503,778, divided as follows: Listed by whites, $521,612,627, or 74.3 per cent.; listed by railroads and other corporations, $155,262,815, or 22.1 per cent.; listed by Negroes, $25,628,326, or 3.6 per cent. Thus it will be seen that the State of Virginia does not assess 22.1 per cent, of its property as either white or black. This is a fact worth remem- bering in any discussion of this question. On page 14, Advanced Sheets, State Superintendent's Report, 1907, it is said that Vir- ginia raised for public schools during that year the sum of $3,473,- 048, of which amount $2,855,871 was raised by State and local taxa- tion, while $450,000 was directly appropriated out of the State Treasury. The income of the literary fund was $60,127, leaving the sum of $107,050 raised from other sources. If we assume that the $450,000 directly appropriated to the schools was raised by taxation, then Virginia raised by taxation for schools in 1907, $3,- 305,871. Bear with me then, while I set forth what I conceive to be the part the Negro should have of this school fund, if we as- sume that it is to be divided on the color line and' not on the basis of the actual needs of the children to be educated. (6) Property does not raise all this Virginia school fund. The Negroes pay something like $120,000 school poll taxes, after de- ducting insolvents and commissions. It is fair to assume that some of the literary fund income belongs to Negroes, but what part? 5 This fund is neither white nor black. It was not created by white property. Negroes constitute 36 per cent, of the population of Vir- ginia, and I take it they should be given ^ per cent, of the income of the literary fund, which amounts to $21,649. The 10 cents State school tax on Negro property after deducting commissions amounted to at least $22,500 more. The 10 cents State school tax on the $155,262,815 railroad and other corporation property would not all, in fairness, belong to the white children. Not many of ijs, I think, would after the last few years of agitation, charge the railroads and other corporations with being altogether white. I take it, therefore, that 36 per cent, of the proceeds of the 10 cents State school tax Virginia levies should be given the Negro schools. This would add about $50,000 more to the Negro school fund. Now we must consider the $1,913,760 raised by Virginia cities, counties and districts. If this sum were all raised by property taxa- tion, and we shall so assume, then 3.6 per cent, of it was raised on Negro property, 22.1 per cent, of it was raised on corporation prop- erty, and the remainder on white property. The 3.6 per cent, raised locally on Negro property would add $68,895 to the Negro school fund. Then we shall have to add $152,259 more to the account from the corporation property taxed locally, or 36 per cent, of the total amount raised on that kind of property. Finally, if the $450,000 directly appropriated to the schools was raised by taxation, then 3.6 per cent, of that sum belongs to the Negroes' school fund, also 36 per cent, of 22.1 per cent, of this $450,000 raised on railroads and other corporation property. These two items will add $16,200 and $35,802, respectively, to the Negroes' part of the school fund of Virginia, not taking into account the bal- ance from 1906 or the fund raised from other sources. Summarizing, the Negroes' part of the school fund raised in 1907, will stand as follows: From poll tax $120,000 From literary fund 21,649 From State corporation tax 50,000 From State tax on Negro property 22,500 From local tax on Negro property 68,895 From local tax on corporations 152,259 From 3.6 per cent, direct State appropriation 16,200 From 36 per cent, direct State appropriation (corporations) 3S,8o2 Total due to Negroes $507,305 I have shown before that Virginia is spending only about $489,- 228 on her Negro schools. If my figures are correct, then $18,077 of the amount which should be devoted to their schools, if we assume the race division. of the funds, does not reach the Negro schools of Virginia. I assume that the Negroes' part of the balance from 1906 and their part of the fund from other sources will cancel any bal- ance carried over from 1907 to 1908, so far as the Negro fund is concerned. 6 Second. Is the Negro public school of North Carolina a burden on the white taxpayer of that State? (o) The total assessed value of all property in North Carolina is $593,485,331, divided as follows: Listed by whites, $440,669,472; listed by Negroes, $21,716,922, or 3.7 per cent; corporations, $111,- 098,937. or 19.3 per cent (6) The State Superintendent reports for 1908 the school fund as follows: Balance from 1907 $413,214.63 Local taxes 650,739.40 Literary fund 100,53400 Bonds and loans 208,018.56 Fines, polls, licenses 631,007.00 State fund , 1,045,263.10 State apportionment 198,547.00 Other sources 46,907.11 Total $3,294,231.70 (c) If this fund had been divided on the race basis, I think a fair division would be as follows: 33 1-3% of 19.3% of $650,740, local tax $41,864 (Corporation) 33 1-3% of literary fund of $100,534 33.5" 3.7% of $198,548, State appropriation.. 7,346 (Negro property) 33 1-3% of 19-3% of $198,548, State ap- propriation 12,773 (Corporations) 33 1-3% of $254,834 licenses and fines. 84,834 Poll taxes actually paid 80,000 3.7% of $1,045,263 38,675 (Negro property) 33 1-3% of 19.3% of $1,045,263 67,245 (Corpora, property) 3.7% of $413,215, balance of 1907 15,289 (Negro property) 33 1-3% of $413,215, balance of 1907. . 26,583 (Corpora, property) 3.7% of $208,018, bonds 7,696 (Negro property) 33 1-3% of 19.3% of $208,018, bonds.. 13.381 (Corpora. property) Total due to Negroes $429,197 I have shown before that North Carolina is likely spending only $402,658 on her Negro schools. This leaves $26,539 of the North Carolina fund which never reached the Negro in igi^. But, it may be objected, there is no account taken in this calculation of the bal- ance carried over from igo8 to 1909. It may be further objected that these calculations take no account of the fact that local taxes are not levied on all the property of the State under consideration, but only on the property in certain communities; also that local taxes are derived from polls as well as property. But the excess of the amount calculated as due Negroes in North Carolina will nearly provide for the balance in question. Local taxes are generally levied in the richer communities and there Negroes own more property aiid there is more corporation property than in poorer communities. It will hardly make much difference in the final result, if the actual facts were in hand and the calculations made from them. As to the local poll taxes, there is no injustice done in these calculations when it is remembered that the local taxes are all considered as raised on property. The thing to remember here is, that the funds are not all put in a common treasury and distributed. My calculations are made as if such were the case. The practical result of such not being the case would be that the funds for Negroes in this State would be largely increased in many communities and reduced in others. Hence, I conclude that the Negro school is likely not a burden on the white taxpayer of North Carolina. Third. Finally, is the Negro public school of Georgia a burden on the white taxpayer of that State? (o) On page 397 of the State Superintendent's report for 1907 the following is set forth as the school fund of that year : Balance, 1906 $180,190,33 State appropriation 1,744461.47 Convicts 199,659.71 Local tax 750,57759 Other sources 136,789.36 ;* Total $3,011,678.46' (6) On page 8, Comptroller's report, 1907, the sources of the State school appropriation are given as follows: Poll tax $275,000.00 Liquor 242,000.00 Fertilizer 21,000.00 Oil 1,600.00 Shows 9,616.00 Georgia Railroad 2,046.00 W. & A. Railroad 210,000.00 Prison farm 16,639.71 School lands 8,680.62 Property tax 1,000,000.00 $1,786,588.33 *The total assessed value of all property in Georgia is $699,536,8791 divided as follows: White, $540,073,885; Negro, $25,904,822, or 3.7 per cent; corporation, $123,588,172, or 19.1 per cent. (c) It will be observed that $42,126.86 of the State fund is not accounted for in the State Superintendent's report. But this small item may be overlooked for the present. I think a fair division of the school fund of Georgia for 1907 would be as follows : Negro poll tax $111,898.00 46.7% of income, W. & A. R. R 98,072.76 46.7% of income from liquor 113,014.00 46.7% of income from fertilizer 9,807.00 46.7% of income from oil 747.20 46.7% of income from shows 4,481.67 46.7% of income from Ga. Railroad. . 95S-48 46.7% of income from prison farm. . 7,770.88 46.7% of income from school lands . . 4,053.56 15c. tax on $25,904,822 Negro prop'y. 38,857.23 46.7% income iSc tax, $123,588,172, Corporation property 86,552.50 46.7% income from convicts 93,241.22 3.7% of $887,367, local tax, etc 32,832.58 (Negro property) 46.7% ef 19.1% of local tax, etc 45,568.46 (Corpora, property) Total due to Negroes $647,852.54 I have shown above that Negroes actually received about $506,- 170 of the Georgia school fund of 1907. This leaves $141,682.54 to the credit of the Negro fund, upon any fair race division. If we count the $42,126.82 not accounted for in the school report and the Negroes' part of the balance carried over to 1908, and also the Negroes' part of the balance due them from 1906, we shall still have a comfortable sum over and above the actual expenditures made for Negro schools by Georgia in 1907. Therefore, I think the Negro schools of Georgia are not a burden on white taxpayers. I do not wish it understood, however, that I favor any such race division of the public school funds as I have suggested above. My object is to show, first of all, that upon any fair division of the present school funds of the three States under consideration, the Negro would likely fare as well as he does at present, in the ab- sence of any such division. I am confident, whether my figures are absolutely accurate or not, that any one who takes the pains to ascertain the present sources of the public funds of these States and then tries to make a fair division of them between the races will come to the conclusion that the Negro school is not very much of a white man's burden, in at least three States, unless the white man is ready to say that the division I suggest is not a fair one. And, in view of the facts set forth for these three States, will the white man be able to maintain- successfully that he pays nearly all the cost of the Negro public schools in these States? Time is not at hand to make a detailed study of this question for all the eleven States under consideration. What is true of the school funds of the three States considered above is probably true of all the others. A somewhat careful study of this question for several years leads me to the conclusion that the Negro school of 9 the South is no serious burden on the white taxpayer. The same conclusion will be reached if the subject is approached from another standpoint. Suppose the Negro children of these States were all white. Then it will be found that it would cost to educate the pres- ent Negro school population, on the basis they were all white, just about five times as much as it does now to give the same number of Negroes such education as they are getting. You will observe that we always count the Negroes in as a part of our population when we tell the world of our progress in material things ! In this connection I wish to call your attention to the comment of two leading Southern papers on the recent exodus of Negroes from southern Mississippi and northern Louisiana to the Yazoo Delta. The Chattanooga Times said: "There is no doubt about the alarm and distress felt among our farmers and planters of southern Mississippi and northern Louisiana over the recent exodus of Negroes to the Delta region of Missis- sippi, where, it appears, very attractive inducements have been held out to them. We will probably never fully appreciate the value of the Negro as the dependable labor of this section until we lose him, and we would learn this lesson from the situation in lower Missis- sippi and Louisiana, we will make up our mind we are not going to lose him." On the same subject, the Charlotte Observer of January 17th, igog, said: "It is a singular fact that those who profess most antagonism toward the Negro and most desire to get rid of him are often the very ones who raise the loudest howl when the Negro begins de- parting of his own accord. Let a labor agent undertake to move Negroes from one State to another and he encounters rigid pro- hibitory laws backed up by strong public sentiment. Against similar activities within the bounds of States laws forbidding enticement of labor are uncompromisingly enforced. It is not merely that no one can be found immediately at hand to take the Negro's place, for in very many cases those most feelingly bent (as shown by deeds) upon keeping the Negro, almost will he nil he, oppose all steps for the furtherance of white immigration from without. They want a hired man, who, if he becomes a competitor at all, does not make a com- petitor of formidable efficiency. Complaints against the Negro as a burden and a curse are forgotten in louder complaints of another sort whenever any one attempts to lure him away. "Talk about deporting the Negro to Africa or colonizing him apart in this country! There would be almost another Southern Confederacy to fight if anything of the sort were attempted. The Negro is here to stay and no men in their hearts recognize the fact more fully or regard it more complacently than the men who with their lips are continually abusing him." In 1891 the Negroes of North Carolina listed $8,018,446 worth of property. In 1908 they listed $21,716,922, or 171% increase in seven- teen years. The property listed by whites increased only 89% during this same period. In other words, the Negro property increased dur- ing these seventeen years nearly twice in proportion to white prop- erty. In Georgia, in 1891, Negroes listed $14,196,735; in 1907 they listed $25,904,822, an increase of 82%. White property during the same period increased just 39%. This indicates that the ratio of increase for Negro property in Georgia during the last sixteen years has been maintained at a rate of increase more than twice that of white property. Such facts give us glimpses of the economic importance of the Negro and abundantly justify us in hoping that the senseless race prejudice which has for its object the intellectual enslavement of Negro children will soon pass away. I do not believe that any superior race can hope for the blessings of heaven on its own chil- dren while it begrudges more light and efficiency for those of an inferior race. E. A. Wright Bank Note Co. Philadelphia List of Publications of the Committee of Twelve Anyone may obtain a copy of these publications now in print by writing to the Secretary of the Committee of Twelve, Hugh M. Browne, Cheyney, Pa., and enclosing for each publication desired a two-cent paper wrapper, addressed to himself : '*'To THS CoiiORGD Men of Voting Acs in Alabama. Can the South Solve the Negro Problem? Carl Schurs Why Disfranchisement is Bad Archibald H. Grimke ♦Voting Instructions to Maryland Voters. *What a Colored Man Shoi]ld Do To Vote. ♦Garrison Centenary Leaflet. Slavery and the Race Problem in the South. .Hon. Wm. H. Fleming The Atlanta Riot Ray Stannard Baker The Negro in America Andrew Carnegie Address Before the North Carolina Society in New York, William H Toft Work of the Colored Law and Order I^Eagub of Baltimore, Md., James H. N. Waring Study of the Negro's Progress in Jackson, Miss D. W. Woodard Negro Self-Helf in Education R. R. Wright, Jr. Negro Self-Help in Home Getting •.'. Kelly Miller The Convict Lease System (In Preparation) George W. Forbes Negro Self-Help in Hospital. Work George C. Hall, M. D. Public Taxation and Negro Schools Charles L. Coon Paragraphs Some Successful Negro Business Men. Business Co-operation Between White and Negro Men in Helena, Ark. East Bessemer, Ala. Negro Banks in Mississippi. In round numbers the circulation of the above articles has reached 200,000. ♦Out of Print. "Excepting a few city systems, it can be said that appar- ently negroes in the South contributed to their schools in 1899 $3,762,617 out of a total cost of $4,675,504, leaving but $912,- 887 to be paid by the whites." Andrew Carnegie.