The legislation of Kentucky with regard to the raising and apportionment of its public school fund has been unique. In 1866,[500] 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,[501] 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,[502] 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[503] and Catlettsburg[504] and Garrard County.[505] 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[506] 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[507] 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[508] provided for a uniform system of schools for Negroes. The sources of the revenue for the schools were (1) a tax of twenty cents on the hundred dollars upon the property of Negroes, (2) their poll taxes, (3) their dog taxes, (4) taxes on deeds, suits and licenses collected from colored persons, (5) fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected from them, (6) sums received from Congress, provided the apportionment to each colored child did not exceed that to each white child, and (7) gifts, donations, and grants. Colored school-houses must not be erected within one mile of a white school-house in the country and six hundred feet in towns. In 1880, Owensboro[509] was authorized to levy a tax of thirty cents on the hundred dollars and two dollars on the poll upon Negroes for colored schools, provided the Negroes voted to tax themselves for this purpose. This law was held[510] unconstitutional by the Federal district court in 1883, the court saying: “If taxes can be distributed according to color or race classification, no good reason why a division might not be made according to the amount paid by each taxpayer, and thus limit the benefits and distribute the protection of the laws by a classification based upon the wealth of the taxpayer. Such distribution would entirely ignore the spirit of our republican institutions and would not be the equal protection of the laws as understood by the people of the State at the time of the adoption of this (the Fourteenth) amendment.” The laws of Kentucky of 1874 were held[511] unconstitutional in 1885. In 1886,