- theless in 1875,[164] and again in 1887,[165] it provided for a
tax of thirty cents on the hundred dollars upon the property of colored persons for the maintenance of colored schools.
The legislation of Kentucky with regard to the raising and apportionment of its public school fund has been unique. In 1866,[166] all capitation taxes paid by Negroes and, in addition, a tax of two dollars per capita upon Negroes went toward the support of their paupers and the education of their children. In 1869,[167] a vote was taken upon the propriety of levying a tax of fifteen cents on the hundred dollars upon the property of white persons for the support of white schools exclusively. In 1873,[168] a property tax of twenty cents on the hundred dollars and a poll tax of one dollar were levied upon Negroes of McCracken County for the maintenance of their schools. The same method of taxation was adopted for Bowling Green[169] and Catlettsburg[170] and Garrard County.[171] As to the last-mentioned place, there was a provision that in the county white and colored school-*houses must be not less than a half mile apart, and in towns not less than eight hundred feet. In Bracken County[172] a special tax of twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars was levied upon the property of whites for their schools, not applying to Negroes at all. The constitutionality[173] of this law was upheld by the Supreme Court of Kentucky on the ground that whatever benefits the Negro is entitled to under the school system he receives as a citizen of Kentucky, not as a citizen of the United States.
In 1874, the same State[174] provided for a uniform
