Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-25
S20,TI1 40

Net amt distributed. s41,789 II !
The reduction Of the original sum
may be still further explained. 1t was
discretionary with the Comptroller and
wholly immaterial to the counties,
whether the expense account he charg-
ed against the poll tax or the interest
fund, Being deducted from the poll
tax fund, the interest fund was left to
be distributed without diminutiOn.
1t will beobserved that the greater part
of the charge against the school fund
is for costs Of the sales Of lands bid in
by the State at tax sales. Section e22
of the Code, (which is stip anrepealed)
in relation to the sales of lands for
taxes, is as follows:
"622. Ifnoperson viii bid the amount
of taxes, costs and charges, the rOllec-
tor shall bid off the same Ia the name
of the Treasurer ns Superintendent of
Public Instruction, for the use of COM
mon schools. In which case the fees
shall be paid to the officers ont Of TIE
common school fund by the Treasurer,
on the warrant of the Comptroller."
Under the operation of this section,
the demands upon the Treasury 70,
costs of sales, from Jan. l, 1873, ia the
Ist Monday in April. 1874, amounted
to SIS, 1884, while the amounts received
asredcmptions only to S475.34,
This expenditure from the Treasury,
the Comptroller was compelled by
law to charge to the State
school fund. Such an item of expense
will probably surprise the people ct the
State, as it did the State Superintend-
ent and the Comptroller, when it was
discovered that the law required its
payment. There is certainly "a screw
loose" here in our legislation whereby
such bills of costs are allowed to ac-
cumulate either against the State
Treasury or the school fund without
any substantial return; for the sales Of
the lands thus bought in by tie State
have not yielded enough to pay their
own costs, and such purchases, cOnse-
quently, are wholly worthless to the
school fund. But our present purpose
is simply to state facts.
The Nelr Era will thus see that it
errs greatly in supposing that the
State expenses Of our public school sys-
tenn have amounted to SIS, 957 or S32,-
643. On the contrary, it appears that
the total expenses for the first and
most costly year, exclusive of Supern-
tendent's salary, and including ac-
counts for publishing pamphlet edition
Of school law, school registers for the
State, census blanks, teachers con-
tracts and certificates, etc, etc,
amounted, through the economy of our
State Superintendent Office, to only
S2.O37.45, or less than one-half cent
per child per annum.
The scholastic population of the
State is As. lS5. The scholastic popu-
lation of Warren county Is 4,29S. The
amount of poll tax distributed was
S47.739l7. So that Warren county
properly received a warrant for S490.65.
the precise amount of its distributive
share. That It's share in the April APP
portionment was not in proportion to
the amount it had then paid in, was
due to the fact that comparatively few
f of the revenue collectors of the State
had been as prompt in their collections
and settlements as the collector of
Warren. For it must be bornein mind,
that 4 county does not receive back its
OtCn poll tax, but its distributire
share, according to scholastic popula-
ton, of the aggregate amOuRtof poll tax
in the Treasury, at the time of distri-
bution-the prompt and the delinquent