Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-01-21
How the School Funs ia Wasted.

| y
We6nd in the Chattanooga Republican
of the l4th inst. a very important letter
from Senator Cate in regard to the pres.
ent school law, and as the subject is one
in which the people of the whole State
are interested, we reproduce the letter
entire as follows:
| SENATE CHAMBER, NASHVILLE, January IL.
Me.srs: ]. K; McCown, Il. NJ. Wight, Abram
Dobbs. and others
GENTLEMEN l have the honor to here.
with acknowledge, through the Repubi-
can, the receipt of your petition repre-
senting that rnmors have been greatly
detrimental to the public welfare, to the
| effect that the moneys raised for school
purposes, and sacredly pledged to those
purposes, have been used in other ways
by the State; and that the school laws
have been enacted only for the purpose
of securing votes, and will be repealed or
so changed as to become useless, etc. (;
and asking that above all things good
faith shall be kept in the distribution of
all school moneys; and that the system
Of free schools be firmly and earnestly
sustained, and no alteration be allowed
to diminish its efficiency; and that
amendments be made only after fair ex.
periments shall indicate their wisdom ;
which | will take pleasure in presenting
for the consideration of the General AS
sembly.
Such petitions have been presented
from almost every county in the State,
and a most remarkable fact is, that the
verbisge is identically the same, indica-
ting conolusvely their origin and object.
The impression circulated that there is a
disposition to repeal, or destroy the use
fulness of our present free school sys-
tenn, possibly grows out of very mani
fest intention upon the part of members
10 reduce salaries and incidental ex-
penses. do not think there is a member
in either house who would vote for a re-
peal of the law, or to impair its utility,
but there is a popular feeling to give
efficiency to the system by applying most
of the salaries now pocketed by officers,
to the benefit of the children. The Con.
troller's statement shows that up to the
7th of December, 1868, there had been
drawn from the school fund S45, ,254 81,
as follows:
To counties for school pur-
poses......... ........ ............... Sz7.s57 90
Salaries to County Super
| lntendents. s......................Sl2,YgB 10
Olbce expenses Of General
Superintendent ............ ,29S 38
Salary OF General Superin-
tendent TO 7th Now. 3,100 00-S17, 1896 SS
Thus it will be seen there is only about
one-third more of the school fund ap-
piled TO the education of our children
than is paid to officers. Much of the
labor in the organization Of the system,
as we'll as the enumeration of the chill
dren, is performed by the district super
inteudents without pay, while each
county superintendent can draw from the
treasury Of the State four dollars per
day for every day he may see proper to
charge, which is considered an unfair
discrimination, and an unnecessary ex-
travagance. While | could not be in
duced to vote for a repeal of the law at
present, il ever, have always opposed
that feature of this system which author
ICES the payment of over one hundred
thousand dollars to officers before a
single school can be started.
Your obedient servant,
A. NJ. CATE.
This is a showing in regard to the
management Of the school fund which
the people Of Tennessee hardly antici-
pated. Here is Radical Senator testi-
tying that it takes one hundred thousand
dollars to put the machinery Of the COM
mon school system in operation before a
single school can be started. That large
sum has to be paid to the board Of officers
appointed under this law, according to
Senator Cate, before the little boys aud
girls can derive any benefit from the
States charity. A heavy tax is imposed
upon the property.holders ofths State to