Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1859-03-10

IL must not be forgotten by honorable
members that our liability on our pub
lie Indebtedness at this time, Is to pay
) per cent. scmi-annually, while our
sinking fund is being loaned at Z per
cent, and under the operations of this
bill will continue at that rate. Now.
if it is proposed to convert SO 900, 900
Of our foreign Indebtedness into a do
nestle debt, and increase the rate of
interest on it per cent, what will be
the effect upon the State? The State
must, in that event, necessarily be the
loser $50, GOO per annum. This, most
undoubtedly, would be bad financial
policy for the State to adopt. If you
create the new Indebtedness to the
sinking fund at the same rate of inter
est that we are paying our bond hold
ers, then it is evident that our com
mon school fund must lose $50, 900
per annum. This L trust no man
would be willing to sec take place
Secondly, | am opposed to this prop
osition from the fact that / am i'm
pressed with the necessity of adopting
plan for the management of this
fund, which will be permanent for all
coming time, and / am unwilling, by
my vote, to assist in inaugurating a
policy by which the State shall, for
all coming time, burthen herself with
debt of 5000, 900, and then collect
annually from her citizens the sum of
10000 dollars to pay the interest
thereon. There are many other OBJ
iections which might be urged against
this proposition, but the two which l
have presented are amply sufficient to
authorize me to vote against it.
have thus briefly stated what /
conceive to be the main objections to
that proposition. l turn now to
discuss the features of the bill be-
fore us.
We find in this bill two distinct
features; First, it provides that, in
1866, the entire fund shall be distrib-
u.ed among the several counties of the
State pro rata, in proportion to the
number of children listed IT. each coun
ty for common school purposes, based
upon the report of the Superintendent
of Public instruction made in 1860.
1t further provides, that the fund
so distributed to each county shall be
a permanent common school fund, the
principal to be loaned at seven pei
cent. per annum by the auditor and
treasurer of the respective counties,
upon mortgage of unencumbered real
estate, and the interest arising thereon
is to be applied to common school ed
ucation.
The second feature in this bill is,
that from the present time until 1866,
(the time fixed by the first section OF
this act for the distribution to take
place. the interest arising on said
fund, after the interest on the bank
bonds shall have been fully paid, and
other Incidental expenses, shall be dis
tributed among the several counties
, and applied to common school pur.
poses.
If there is any feature in this bill o
doubtful expediencv, it is this one: i
the interest arising from this fund was
suffered to accumulate until 1866, tn,
: principal would at that time amount
to about one million dollars more than
it would under the operations Of thi'
bill, or, in other words, one million
dollars of interest that this fund viii
produce between this time and 1866
, will be expended between this an,
that time for the support of our com
: mon schools, instead of being reserve,
, and forming part of the principal a
( that time TO be loaned; and l frankl,
| confess, was our common school Sys
: tenn in a healthy condition at the pres
cnt time, | should hesitate long bcfor
: | should consent TO appropriate thi
. interest or divert it from its prescn
| condition until the final distribution o
the entire fund. But we find our com
9 mon school system not only languish
| ing, but actually struggling for exist
| ence itself. 1t has wholly failed t
: meet the expectations of the people
| and why? | am convinced that it j
, not SO much the fault of the system it
| self as it is the fault of those to whom
its management is intrusted, and no
; so much in that even, as for the wan
/ of sufficient means to carry it into ei
c feet. Now, Sir, | believe the princi
; pie upon which our common schoo
: system is based to be very good on
K in the main; it may be faulty in detail
: but nevertheless the groundwork i
r good, and feel it to be my duty, a
a representative of the people, to d
e every thing in my power to sustain il
: believing as / do that the education {
: the masses (Which can only be eifecte
n by and through good, sound and ei
S ficient system of common schools)
a the only safeguard to our free and re
J. publican institutions.
;; 1t is but a mere question of tim,
e whether we commence to use the III
( terest now, which is continually ari.
d ing from this fund for the support {
our schools. or whether we wait unit
V the final distribution Of the fund.
z is true, if we commence now to us
l. the interest, the fund will cease to az
'e cumulate. nothing more being addeC
l. it must have reached its maximum
o but we shall have rendered materii
: aid to our schools to the amount of
le million of dollars; our children wi
5 have received the benefit of it, and
al all probability we will have saved o,
l. common school system from destru,
= ton. Viewing the question in tn
5 light, l do not hesitate in saying tn,
al sound policy would dictate the adol
ton of this feature of the bill.
a. But. Sir, | must proceed to the di