Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-01-28
A re s.

1
Delirered before tho Oak Grovs Formers
Il Club IF Museatine County, on the even-
| ing Of January 18Th, 1859, by JOHN ZE!a
! LEK, ESQ, on the constitutionality Of tho
School Tue.
IruBLlsHED ~ REQUEST OF fHR cLUB1
4 Nh. President AND GENTLEMEN OF THE
CLUB:-Hav,ng been appointed at the last
meeting oi the Club to address YOU on this
evening, on a subject, which, at this time.
excites more interest than any other in our
comnunity-namely, the legality or ille-
gaIity of the taxes We'd this year for the
support of Common Schools--it might be
considered presumptuous in me to undertake
to give an opinion on question exclusively
of legal character, not being member
Of the legal profession. Yet, as you have
seen fit to impose the task upon me, and as
our constitution guarantees the free discus
sion of all subjects and questions, appre-
hend the charge of presumption will not
apply with much force IN this case. will,
therefore, give my opinion, supported by
such arguments as | shall be able to adduce
frr your consideration at what they may be
worth. r. 7lf 3.
Art. lXth, Sec. 1st, of the Constitution
reads thus: ''The educational interest of
the State, including Common Schools and
other educational institutions, shall be
under the management of Board of Educa-
ton, which shall consist,' &c. And Sec.
says: s'The Board of Education shall
have full power and authority to legislate
and make all nee lful rules and regulations
in relation to Common Schools and other
educational institutions that are instituted
to receive aid from the School University
G,r - - CtotA Rxn L
no room for even a doubt that the Cnnstitu-
tion places the power to enact rules and
| regulations to carry out q system of public
instruction into the hands of the Board of
Educntion exclusively. Nothing is found
in the Constitution that does in the slightest
degree c..nrnvert this conclusion. Hence
all enact,nrnts of rules and regulations by
the General Assembly to carry out sys
tenn OF Common Schools, are palpably and
clearly unconstitutional, and consequently
all election. held under the acts of assembly
Of }2,h of March, 1858. for the election of
school cfheerS, and all the acts of the officers
then elected, are null and void, and cannot
be considered of any effect whatever It
might bel alleged, perhaps, by some person,
that the collection of the taxes levied by
order of the board of school directors could
be enforced because they we're voted by the
people. To this argument we answer =
The election at which those officers were
elected was held under an unconstitutional
enactment. in consequence of which the
call to take a vote on the subject of taxa
ton was illegal, and the vote was taken by
illegal officers, and the few votes that were |
given at those elections were given under
ERRONEOUS Impressions and that not more
than one in fifty OF the legal voters in the
District voted either for or against the tax.
| am, however, inclined to the olinion
that the collection of the one and one-half
mills, levied by the County Judge under the
act of the 18th of March, 1855, can be en-
forced, but the legality of even that portion !
of the tax may be questioned.
Sec. 10 of Art 9th of the Constitution
says: s'The Board shall have no power to
levy taxes or make appropriations Of money: |
Their cotingent expenses shall be provided |
for by the General Assembly, This is all
we have in the Constitution to lay any
claim to tn. legality of even that port
of the school tax. The contingent expenses
referred to, and to be provided for by the
General Assembly, are evidently the expen-
ses of the Board of Education. This GER
tainlv is rather a narrow basis to stand |
upon. nor do find anything in the Con
stitution in more direct terms granting any
power to either the General Assembly or to
the Board Of Edaeation to levy taxes for |
Common School purposes. The only argu-
ment with any show of plausibility that the
Constitution authorizes the levy of taxes for
Comm on School purposes, is found in the
impossbility of carrying out system of
public instruction without tax. But this
argument seems to be considerably weaken
ed, if it has any force of its own, when we
consider that the Constitution grants no au-
tbority in any direct manner to the General
Assembly to make provision for the levy of
taxes for the support Of Common Schools,
and that the word tax is found but once in
Art. 9th of the Constitution, Sec. 10, al
ready quoted. and expressly prohibits the
Board Of Education to levy taxes and make
appropriations of money, and in the I'd d.
vision of Art. 9th commits the school fund
and lands to the control and management
of the General Assembly, and prescribes
what the school fund shall be composed of,
and what fines and other monies shall be ap-
piled to the public schools at considerable
length, bot nothing is said about taxes to
be levied tor educational purposes. The
only clause in the Constitution upon which
a pre-. umption conld be predicated that the
levy of taxes is contemplated for the support
of common schools, is in Sec. Sd, 2d d.
vision of Art. 9th ''The General Assembly
shall encourage by all suitable means the
a.amotion of intallectual scientific moral