Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-01-19

to the Department Of the Interior, I
caused patents to be issued to said
company its pro rata share of the
Dubuque & Pacific land grant, save
tho lands to which settlers had
made proof of claims.
The proper officers having filed
with me the necessary evidence, I,
upon the 5th day of December, 1870,
certified TO the completion Of the
McGregor & Missouri River Rail-
way to Algona.
The Des Moines Valley Railroad
Company, having completed its road
into Fort Dodge, on the east side of
the Des Moines river, in the month
of December, 1870, in accordance
with Chapter 81, Acts Of the 18th
General Assembly, l caused patents
to be issued to that company for the
lands reserved by said act for the
construction of the road above Des
Moines, and the pay yment to it Of
the moneys received for lands sold
to S. H. Taft under Chapter i0s of
the Acts of 1864. / also caused
patents to be issued to Mr.. Taft.
The whole amount Of lands pat
ented during the bienuial term
amounts to 4O4, 900 acres.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
The very able report Of the late
Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion will be before you. I earnest
ly commend to your attention the
thoughtful and elaborate articles on
the various subjects coming within
the purview Of the duties Of tn 1t Of
ficer, as we'll as the suggestive sta
tistical information presented in the
report. The number of districts is
l,594-an increase of 1872 in the two
years since the last report. There
arc 7,s4l schools, against 1909 two
years ago. The number of youth
within the school ages is 46l, 1858, of
whom 42,44O, or 744 per cent, were
enrolled during the past year. The
average attendance was 2ll, ,726, or
nearly 46 per cent. Two years ago
the number amounted to less than
II per cent; the average attendance
equalled only 42.65 per cent. of the
enumeration. The constant and
steady increase of the number of
those enjoying school privileges, as
compared with the whole number
entitled to them, l regard as one of
the strongest evidences that our be-
nificent system of common schools
rs continually enlarging the sphere
Of its usefulness and gradually
bringing within the scope of its
inestimable privileges all the youth
Of the State. The value Of school
bouscs and apparatus is $6,9l6,49O,
49, The increase in the amount of
capital thus invested during the
term has been 1854, ,947.66, or
about 20 per cent.
cordially commend to your con-
sidcration the forciblc remarks of
the Superintendent upon the SUBJ
district system, and unite with him
in urging its abolition. / am fully
persuaded that the school districts
should be substantially coextensive
with the civil townships, incorpo-
rated towns, and cities; in other
words, that there should be no dis
tinct territorial organizations other
than those wcll-dctincd political di-
visions with which we, in common
with the people ofmost of the States,
are so familiar. The system of
sub districts, as it prevails in Iowa,
is peculiar to this State, and was
adopted as a compromise between
the small district plan formerly
in vogue, and the more modern one
of township organization now so
generally adopted throughout the
North. In my opinion it has lasted
long enough to establish the supe-
riority of the system whose adop-
ton it impcdes, and to furnish
another illustration ofthe general in
utility Of compromises in establish
ing anything permanent.
l cannot omit calling the atten-
ton Of the Legislature to the timely
suggestions Of the Superintendent
of Public Instruction, looking to the
establishment of system of graded
normal schools at convenient points
throughout the State. All will ac-
knowledge the necessity of profes-
sional training on the part Of teach
crs for the duties and responsibili-
ties ofthe school room, and actual
advantage, in the way of true econ
omy to our public schools, of sup
plying them with teachers formally y
prepared for their work by proper
normal drill. There can no longer
be any doubt that these desirable
objects can be best effected through
the instrumcntality Of the normal
school. For years this branch Of
our public school system has been
sadly overlooked, more, as it seems
to me, because there was not at
hand a scheme of normal instruc
ton that would commend itself as
in the main adapted to the neccssi-
ties Of the case. and that would not
at the same time make extravagant
demands on the mnnifcence of the
State. In both these respects l
think the plan submitted will meet
with the approval Of the Legis-
lature.
The claims of the school in our
rural districts, and the lower de-
partments Of our graded system, to
a larger share of the fostering SUI
pervision of the State, as furnishing
the mass of our citizens with all the
education they ever acquire, and
with sufficient, if we'll impaired and
well received, for the practical ne
ccssities Of life, are made prominent
in this scheme, which proposes to
bring the primary normal school
within reach of the teachers in
these grades. 1t will appear from
the exhaustive paper on that sub
jcct in the Supcrintendent's report,
that the plan of primary nor
NAL schools, tributary to some cen
trail higher institution of the kind,
may he so arranged in details as to
involve no great expense to the
State and I think | may with conf