The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-01-16

thereby . considerable amount interet'
was saved TO the State. Az some doUb
exists ~ 10 the strict legality OF this coarse
tho matter is laid before you that you ma,
, take such action as may be necessary /
: the amount due from tho United State
couia be recovered, it would probably, ~
sufficient to REIN burse tho revenue tun'
and redeem all outstanding warrants an'
claims on the War ana Defense Fuflu
In nv Judgment, oil real estate Shouit
{ he carried on the tax books II the name o
tie true owners and this result C"a Do ef
fected with very little labor AND cXpenS"
by requiring tho FreasurerS TO luriiisn sh'
Assessors with complete lists OF Nance @
, all real estate owners, as shown by tie i'i'
tax books to correct the names effono
oUsiy entered whenever sIcn error j
showu unon .ha payment Of taxes, and by
recurring all deeds to be presented 70 tne
TraasrYt,v for the transfer fthe real estate
therein tieSrribe to the new owner, beiot'
{ The same can be recorded.
, | recommend the enactment OF Jaw iol
receiving the new national currency, ana
modification of the present law ioi roce'v
, ING the notes of branches OF the state bailh
. that both may be available in payment o.
taxes. As the law now stands, the notes O
isaid branches cannot, legally, be received
after ary one ofthem shall have suspended
specie payment. A change of the Law so as
to authorize the receipt of these notes, 50
iong Is thew shall be redeemed III legal ten
der notes of the United States, wou.d III
my Judgment. be wise and proper.
I cannot leave this subject without spe'
clal mention Of the Board of 4 Auditing COM
4 missioners. I am we'll satisfied, that 70
their faithful and impartial dlschar@e o!
their duties, the State is largely lndep'ed
for its protection against improper ciaiii!s,
and consequently, for is healthy financial
condition.
rlrr scsooI. AND UNIVERSITY FUNDS.
| Tie sitration Of these fands demands
your earnest attention. You are their
+, Guardians aud custodiaus. Upon Their
/ management depends, 70 a great degree,
! the educational Interests Of the State; and
upan the proper education OF our youth de-
pends the welfare ana safety OF our COY
| erRment.
| cannot app-ov, tic system ny which
these fund.-, ..re iow managed. The prin-
cipa, received by tilc State III cash. has
been distributed among tho counties, to be
loaned TO individuals by certain county
officials; at one time by the School Fund
Commissioners, II another by the County
Judges, and now by the County Clerk,
subject to . limited control by the Board OF
Supervisors. Would any Of you having
4 large amount Of money to lend, lend it
through those agencies? If not. is II right
to do SO with the public money! Is it not
right and proper that you should do, III re-
gard 10 these funds lust what you would
were they your private property? The
present system IS, il my Judgment. bad
one for two reasons. In the first place, it
must happen III nanv cases that the Ceun-
ty Clerk is not fitted, by previous business
training to make safe and judicious invest
nlcnts; especially, he may not have the
necessary lega. knowledge 70 enable him
10 determine. accurately the suf,icicncy of
the title to real estate otfertd rs security
for a loan. IN the second place the money
may be used 10 promote personal or p0lit
cal objects. A corrupt Clerk viii use, ana
an houcs. but weak one, Will be sorely
tempted 10 use his power 70 lend these
moneys to secure his own political interest
or that OF his party friends. The system, III
my opinion, is wrong III theory, and that
il is unsatc IN practice il clearly shown by
the large amount of insuiiicientlv secured
principal ard delinquent interest. I there
fore earnestly recommend that the lend
ing of any portion Of the principal OF said
funds, as heretofore be prohibited, and the
enactment OF a law that will require the
investment, By the Treasurer OF State Of
su,h principal, as the same may be paid in,
in stocks of the United States, or Of this
State.
In this connection / request your special
attention to the Report OF the Auditor Of
State on this subject.
SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY LANDS.
The School Lands consist of the five hun
drei thousand acres grant, and the Six
teentn Section. Large quantities OF these
Lands have from time tOtlme, been sold by
county officers authorized by law to make
su.h sales. These sales have been generally
made upon time. the purchaser paying in
hand a portion OF the purchase money, and
taking /. contract emitting him to a patent
from the State upon the payment of the
balance with annual interest. Many OF
these sales were made at high prices. be-
fore the monetary reyulsiOn of 1857, and
many OF the purchasers have since the re-
vulsion, failed TO pay either principal or in
terest. Portions OF the lands have thus
become forfeited to the State for non-pa
ment OF the purchase money. and have
been re-sold To other parties. But there is
no sufficient provision OF the law requiring
such !OrtcitureS and re-sales to be reported
to any State officer and the result is that it
IS now impossible 10 ascertain, from any
record at the Capitol, the number of acres
or tie particular description OF the several
parcels OF the School Lands yet unsold.
This condition of affairs should not be
permitted to continue, and recommend
the enactment Of such laws as will remove
the difficulty.
The Saline Lands and Funds are now q,
part OF the Permanent Fund" of the State
University. l call your attention to that
part of the Report OF tho Register Of the
State Land Office, whicl, shows the neces-
sity for further legislation in regard to the
issuance of Certificates OF full pay ment for
the portion ol these lands already sold, and
recommend that the Treasurer of the Uni
versity be authorized to issue such eertii-
Gates and that the power to sell the unaold
portion of the lands be vested III the
Trustees.
In many cases School Lands were sold
prior to lo57, at such high prices chat after
that date, they were not worth the
amount due on them. The purchasers
have ceased 10 pay either principal
or interest. suggest the inquiry, whoth-
er it would not be well to provide for the
surrender of these lands to the State, the
purchaser being relieved from further liza
bility, by. forfeiting payments already
made, without resort to legal proceedings.
call your particular attention to the
tuli and able report Of the Register Of the
State Land Office. It contains much valu-
abie information touching the various land
grants made to the State, and suggest sew
eral points upon which further legislation
Is needed.
THE 5OO, 900 ACRES GRANT.