Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-16

NASHVILLE, Jan, Is, 1s70.-To Hon. E ].
NORRIS, Mayor-Kind Sir; On seeing you
remarks made before the City Council and
published in the papers yesterday morning,
! In which you take occasion to criticlSe the
late Board of Education, we desire to state
briefly, in defense of the course pursued by
| the Board Of Education in publishing an
appeal to the people Of the city, that
| you will remember that at q meeting of
the City Council on the 31st day Of De-
Gem, 1869, yon did, by special message,
call the attention of the members of the
Council to a resolution adopted at meet
ing of the Board Of Education in conjunc-
ton with the Finance Committee, which
resolution it is needless here to recite.
After your special message was read,
Alderman Hurley introduced a series of
resolutions, which were passed by both
branches Of the City Council. We desire
here respectfully to call your attention to
the preamble and resolutions referred to
especially the first resolution, which roads
thus;
Whereas, In order to carry on the
public schools of the city it is necessary
to raise, between Ithis and the first day
OF July, 1870, the sum of $4,000, and,
nearly all, that have been levied have been
collected, and expended in the mainten-
ance of the schools, and,
whereas, There is no way by which
the money to conduct the schools to the
end of the present scholastic year can be
raised so easily and justly as by the citi-
zens who are willing to come forward and
pay their school tax for 1870, or such por-
ton thereof as will raise the needed funds;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That every taxpayer who
viii come forward and pay to the Revenue
Collector two mills on the dollar on the
amount assessed against him for the year
1869, shall, upon presenting his receipt to
the Revenue Collector for 1870, have a
credit for the amount, with six per cent in
terest to July l, 1870, thus paid on the
school tax assessed and levied against him
for 1870; and further,
Resolved, That unless this proposition
meet such a response as will warrant the
continuance of the public schools, with
reasonable certainty of means to defray
their expense, they should not be resumed
at the end of the Christmas vacation till
there shall be funds raised for their main
tenance
Resolved, That unless funds can be
raised by the first Monday in February
sufficient to place the schools on a solid
basis, the Board of Education shall be
authorized to make such private arrange
ments for conducting schools in the public
school buildings as may be judged best by
them, till the public schools can be re-
sumed
1t will be seen that the language of the
preamble and resolutions alluded to is plain
as to the duty of the citizen and of the
authorities acting under them; and we
think that fair construction of the pur-
port and meaning of the first resolution
will justify the conclusion arrived at by the
Board of Education in their address to the
people. This resolution was certainly the
official action of the City Council, and it
was intended to be legally binding upon
the city authorities in order TO raise money
to be applied to school purposes between
that time and July, 1870, thereby agreeing
with, and declaring to the people, that
If they would come forward and pay
t5oO mills on tie dollar, on the assessment Of
1869, the money so paid in should and
1coutd be Immediately applied to the press
ing wants of the city schools; and that a
credit would be given for the amount so
paid under said resolution on the taxes of
1870. If it was not the intention of the
resolution of the City Council to make
their action as legally binding as though
the money was paid under regular bill,
read three several times in each body and
passed into law, to levy a tax of two mills
on the dollar, so far as each person who
might come forward and pay is concerned,
hnU hara thxa
meaning of the resolution, nor the legal
force of language. Did not the City Coun-
Gil adopt that plan to raise the funds that
otherwise would have required a direct levy
Of two mills on the dollar?
The fact of having stated that the levy of
two mills on the dollar for school purposes
had been encted into a law and approved
by the Mayor does not impair the force and
virtue of the resolution referred to. The
only mistake made by us was that we stated
that the levy had been enacted into law
and approved by the Mayor. when we
should have probably stated that a resolu-
ton had been passed having the force and
effect of law upon all who chose to act
under it.
We have studiously avoided giving any
ground of offense or cause of controversy
between the city authorities and the Board
of Education; and we had fondly hoped we
would be able by our address to the peo-
pie to aid them in raising the money de-
sired, never for a moment dreaming that
we were misconstruing the language, or
misinterpreting the intention Of the City
Council, as hereinbefore quoted. Our
only motives were to subserve the public
good under the solemn sanction of our oath
of Office, and we still fail to see where
in we have acted hastily or rashly.
What we did was done after
calmly surveying the whole work COM
mitted to our charge, and we still hope
that the citizens will come forward and pay
the taxes as authorized by said resolution,
and that all parties interested in our public
affairs will use their best efforts to aid us
in continuing and making our public
schools a success
JAMES WENTWORTH, ]. L. WEAKLEY,
JOIN J. MCCAIN, A. G.. ADAMS,
G. K WINSTON, Isaac PAUL,
GEORGE s. KINNEY, CHARLES Rich,
j. O. GRIFFITH