Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1847-05-19
Thc school Laws Again.

See the communication ofthe Hon. Elish Cut
lar, Secretary Of State, upon the subject Of tn
publication Of the school laws, Sc, accompa
MED BY an official correspondence between him
self and Chief Justice Mason.
The infuriated pack Of federal blood hounds
have opened their cry, not only upon the editor
of this paper, bat also upon the State officers
attempting 10 make them and us responsible fo'
the defects in our laws, and to make them beal
the sin Of the abortions produced by those In
competent, unprincipled and wicked demagogue:
and knaves who held the ascendency In one
branch, and by that means controlled the actor
of our General Assembly.
The letter of Judge Mason, WRITTEN LONG
BEFORE THE ELECTION; must effectually silence
the wells of those fends in human form, who
NOT content with the vile illumination when
they heaped upon him, have the hardwood no"
to charge that, owing to his defeat, "advan'ase'
is sought to be taken of the immediate failure o.
the school laws. 1t is perfectly natural tha'
men so utterly corrupt and destitute OF all prin'
ciple as they have show tbemseivex S.ouid DC
unable to conceive that other M an De ac-
tuated by honest and pure motives.
If those laws were in effect, under the constr
tuition and by their own provisions, no man car
I. yit;ate, or make them void; if not so IN
effect. they could not be made so, and have
failed for the want of virtue in themselves
The Hawkeye, after vomiting forth its spume
ard spleen through two or three &C, ms, vIR-
ruALLy ADMITS that they are not'fn effect. .
P.S.-Said communication and correspond
ence were handed in at so late day that we
are compelled to defer their publication unit
next week This we regret, inasmuch as they
put the question as to the taking effect OF those
laws effectually and forever at rest. But 1t vii
not be too late next week.
The correspondence consists Of a letter from
Mr.. Cutler to Judge Mason, asking. his opinion
as to the proper course to be pursued by HIN
(Mr. c. in relation to the publication OF the
act supplemental to an act to establish system
of Common Schools, approved Feb. 25th, 1917
with the reply thereto. Judge Mason's opinion
is stated very clearly and succinctly. 1t is, IN
substance, that the seperate printing and dis
tribution of the school laws required of the
Secretary by the 45th sec. Of the act in question
Is NOT the Equalization" which is to give those
laws force and effect; for the reason that he is
required to distribute them to the Fund Commits
sioners eThese officers are created by this
very school law. The Secretary could not Gis-
tribute the laws until Fund Commissioners are
elected. They cannot be elected until the law
takes effect; and the law can not take effect until
such distribution is made. Consequently such
a construction would involve an IMpossIBILITY;
the law would never take effect.'
So much for the Hawkeye's rant, to the effect
that it was the secretary's duty to have those
laws printed and distributed by the first OF
"April-eo Mr.. Cutler thinks that the law re-
quires no iInpossibilities of him.
There is no provision, either general or spe-
cial, for the publication Of the School Fund
Law. The people of Iowa are indebted to the
Hawkeye, for having imposed upon them, as
the School Fund law, the draft of a bill which
is wholly and totally different in its provisions
from the one that became law, and which is
calculated very seriously to mislead the public