The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1860-03-12
sinkIng FUND Dlstribution.
a. SINKING FUND OFFICE,
.rt1,r. nnrrc- EahL 90 1oRn

NV OLA'3. w 90 AOOO.
statement is going the rounds thai
Floyd county has received the sum oil
$62 70 in full of its share of the Sinking
Fund, to be distributed among the-various
counties of the State, pursuant to the act Of
the last Legislature. 1t is true that is the
sum paid to Floyd county, but it is not true
that it is in full of that county interest in
| the fund. The seventh section of the act,
under which the Sinking Fund is from Zine
| to time distributed among the various coun-
| ties of the State, provides, +" that in making
distribution, the Sinking Fund Commission
ers shall equalize the funds now held in trust
| for common schools among the different
counties of the State, so that when said
fund shall have been distributed, each coun-
ty will have a sum held in trust proportion
ate to the number of children it may list
for school purposes; provided the Congress-
ional township fund shall not be taken into
account in making such distribution. Now,
it will be observed that the Commissioners
have no right 20 equalize the Sinking Fund
among the counties, but they must so dis
tribute it that when they shall have finished
the distribution, each county will have, of
all the trust funds in the aggregate, n sum
proportionate to the children in each.
A county which, at the date of the act,
had the greatest relative proportion of the
various trust funds, will, on that account,
be entitled to less of the Sinking Fund, and
county that had the least WILL of course,
get the more. When the act passed for the
distribution of this fund among the counties
it was well known that but small part of
It was money actually on hand. 1t was
known that it consisted of State bonds
bought in by the fund, a very large amount
of mortgages maturing in one, two, three,
four, and five years, and a small amount Of
money in hand and it was made the duty
of the Commissioners to collect the money
on the outstanding mortgages from time to
time as 1t fell due and after retaining a sum
sufficient to meet the outstanding bank
bonds, to distribute the remainder among
the counties. 49,. I-.a 3D. &c..
The law providing for the distribution did
not take effect until August 6, 1859, and I'M.
der its operation the Board made its first
distribution in September, 1859, after suf-
ficiently providing for the purchase of bank
bonds, which depression at any time in
the value of State stocks and bonds might
bring in the market. By this distribution,
the proportion to each child of the trust
funds in fifty-eght counties of the State was
brought to 81 80, the amount so distributed
in such counties being 81 IA 60, the pro-
portion in the remaining counties OF the
State of the trust funds held, being over that
sum to each child. &
A further distribution has been made in
January, 1860, Of $84, 574 sc, on the same
principle, extending to sixty-oHe, bringing
up the proportion of trust funds in such
counties to So 81 to each child, and the re-
naming counties having still larger pro-
portion. Thus the amount required to give
Floyd county its proportion was but So %,
while in other counties il would require
more than two thousand dollars to give
them the same pro portion, sE,r.8}
No county got any of His fiI.d that al
ready had more of the trust fund than S. q
to the child: one county has 81 80 TO the
child. No other county in the State has so
much. That county will be the last entitled
to receive and will receive the least proper
tionate amount of the Sinking Fund. In
determining what amount of the various
funds county is properly chargeable with,
the commissioners have deemed it proper to
consider that a county has whatever sum it
ought to have; that county which has
squandered funds entrusted to it. is charge
able as if the funds were on hand. In that
view, our distributions are made. | receive
many letters of inquiry desiring to know
ut what time distributions will be made,
ana what sum this and that county will be
entitled to. -.1 ..aa4 81
The Commissioners propose to distribute
from time to time as We have the money.
An act was passed by the last Legislature
extending time to n certain. class of borrow.
ers. That act operates against very rapid
collections. We have distributed during
the past year little upwards of S235, 900,
and paid the interest on the Bank Bonds:
So many contingencies affect the prompt
payment of the principal of the mortgage
loans, it is unsafe to predict how fast the
funds viii be received. AS it respects the
precise amount that particular county Will
be entitled TO at any given distribution,
that depends upon the amount that may be
paid in, and that depends upon the prompt
ness of the borrowers, and that upon the
goodness of the crops, and they upon the
rains, &c. In short, such inquiries cannot
be answered in advance. All that can he
said is, that the Commissioners are actively
engaged in faithfully executing the law,
and that at each distrib ution, county will
receive the precise sum to which it is emit
tied at that time in view of the amount then
to be distributed. | write this letter with
the tXo-fold view of correcting wrong
impression, and of disseminating some infor-
nation that may save me the trouble of Nvr-
ting good many letters.
Respectfully, 6a L. DUMoNT, g
------1------4, -. -'
From LIBERIA.-We have the Monrovil
Herald to the 4th of January inclusive, per
bark Mendi. The latest paper contains, the
proclamation of President Benson, with the
treaty between the Republic of Liberia and
fhp KINGDOM Of RelUinnl-the inauUIIrlI a,l-