, 1876-03-19

dispoHitipu in court, has commenced hust Will
OTHERS to recover. Should tho suit 10 decided aganat
Coy. ALLEN it will leave him poor man. The estate
involved embraces about 5000 seres in Ross County,
Including portion Of the City Of Chilicothe.
SCHOOL EXPENDITURES.
The very full statements made in The
TRIBUNE yesterday by President R1cHpEno
and a1r. WEIGH, of the Board Of Education,
and by Superintendent P1crAED, though con-
Trajectory, furnished information enough
to satisfy the public that there IS
ample room and sufficient Cause for a
large reduction Of tie expenditures Of
the Board of Education. Like all other
"Boards," the Board Of Education has an
idea that the object Of its organization is to
expend the largest possible sum of money
within the briefest possible space Of time;
but, as it can only ezpend what it can obtain
from the Common Council, the first object
is to get au it can from the Common
Council. For this purpose it annually throws
out large net baited with a1l manner OF
choice rhetoric, seeking about double as
much as they expect to get, When the ap-
preparation is obtained, then the Board of
|
bers of the Board Of Education are generally
respectable men, but aro nevertheless human,
and some of them very weak. Like oil other
men charged with the duty Of spending other
peoples money, the tendency is to enlarge
the salary-ist. This tendency IS the bane OF
American Governments. It rests on the
theory that Governments are designed to
give employment and wages to the greatest
number Of people, at the cost Of tho tax
payers.
In 1875, the Board Of Education succeeded
in getting from the Common Council IN ap-
preparation Of over 500, 900 for school sites,
| and s3lG, 900 for new school buildings, with
s39, 900 for furniture, etc. A tax was levied
for this sum, but not dollar Of the tax has
| been collected the school-houses have not
| been built, but the appropriation is outstand~
inr. and as fast as the tax is collected it Will
be used for something elso and certificates
| bearing or mora per cent interest will be
! issued and sold on the streets, and the pro-
ceeds will be applied to paying the salaries
of tho dead-beats and bumn1ers on the pay
rolls of the city.
Ar. E1cHBERG, President Of the Board Of
Education, says that the Board now wants
for salaries $+27, ,3s5 for September, October,
November, December, 1876, and for January,
February, and March, 1877. This is ct the
rate of $G1, 600 per school month A1r.
RopSEr WEIGH, another member, says that
the Board asks for the same amount Of money
for salaries. but he and R1cH7ERa differ
wholly as to the time for which the money IS
needed. Mr. WHICH, however, referred to
several instances where the money was use
lessly expended. He describes a class Of
teochers known Us :! hoators, SHAT is, extra
| teachers turned loose in the schools, having
| no special rooms in which to teach. The
| appointment OF these teachers illustrates the
| facility with which places are made. There IS
| q ss rule why made is not e1plained-that
forty-cight scholars and no more, in the
| grammar divisions, shall be assigned to each
| teacher if BY any accident there may hap
pen to be mora than an average Of forty-elght
! to each teacher, an extra teacher is put
in the building, though while she teaches
| some other teaching has to stop. So in the
lower classcs if the prescribed average is
exceeded, an extra teacher is appointed to
work round, dividing the time with the other
teachers. This is practically ta1,eating
abuse,-a mere pretext to employ thirty mine
persons ut salary who are not needed In
the wisdom of the School Board = music " is
put down as study so is s' drawing, and
so is German,"-the language, not the
dance. These are *'specialties for which
| {n1
have General Superintendent, as well as an
| Assistant Superintendent. who have general
jurisdiction over ell the schools. But that Ia
not enough. The Board has Il '' Superin-
tendent" of drawing teachers, 81 Super
;ntendent" of German teachers, and 8
Superintendent Of music teachers. The
Board has not yet reached the point of hay-
ing Superintendent of teachers engaged in
teaching reading, writing, blackboard e1er-
cises, arithmetic, geography, and spelling,
respectively. The Board has SO far only got
fire Superintendents, when there was room
for dozen, although one YVES enough. 3lr-
WELcn we'll says that these special suoerin-
tendents may be an abolished, as indeed ma
the instruction in German and drawing.
/
revenues anticipated to the amount Of fiva or
six millions Of dollars, with no additional
revenue collectable for over year, it does
seem that the issue of illegal certificates to
pay for experimenting the teaching of Ger
man in the primary schools might be
omitted.
Such thing as reduction of salaries
mover enters into the administrative notions
of q 'sBoard" The Common Council, know
ing the fact TINT it may be impossible to pay
the police and other sa1aries Of the cltz at
oil, positively refuses to reduce salary or
discharge IN unnecessary officer. The Board
of Education, b1ndly closing its eyes to the
desperate financial condition of the city, will
not reduce salary, nor dismiss superin'
tendent, nor reduce the number of super
numerary persons, nor retrench an item OF
wasteful expenditure. It is moro than likely