Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-08-01
THE TEXT BOOK 1NIoU1rY.
The Lsstc Witch attempts to Bull-dose Dis
trict Clerks Ine1ecttUc---A Clear Revie,
of It's Pr0ctsions.

The La,c Witch Attempts to Bull-dose Dis
trict Clerks IneHecttoc---A Clear Reuie,c
of It's Proctsioss.
To the Editor of the Globe.
AS there is a great diversity of opinion in
regard to the operation of the Text book law,
and the powers and duties of school district
officers in connection with it, and the general
school law, wish to make plain statement
of the case for their guidance, and the In
formation of Others who do not have access
to the laws OF the time to study them.
Having had many years experience as
clerk, and being familiar with the school
code, justifies the liberty I take of giving ad
vice at this time, the most critical period of
our school history.
To thoroughly understand the case, it will
be necessary to begin with the origin of our
school system.
The general government granted to the
Territory, and afterwards confirmed to the
State of Minnesota, two whole sections of
land, in each township, for the use of the
schools.
The constitution provides, in section one
of article s, that sit shall be the duty
OF the Legislature to establish gen
eral and uniform system of
public schools section two of the same
article provides for the sale and lease of the
school lands, the principal to remain in
violate and undiminished, and the income to
be distributed in proportion to the number
of scholars, and faithfully applied to the
specific objects of the original grants or APP
preparations; and in section three it is made
the duty of the Legislature to make such pro-
visions, by taxation or otherwise, as with the
income from the school fund, will secure
thorough and efficient system of public
schools IN each township in the State.
Section II, article 8, makes provision for
the safe keeping, transfer and disbur ement
of the school funds. 1.-The laws of Minneso-
ia relating to public schools" approved Feb.
%, 1877, is the system of public schools re-
quired under the constitution, and is EMIT
led, Gan act to establish and maintain sys-
TEN of public schools in the State of Mime
sota."
Under that system the school district is a
corporate body, capable of suing and being
sued. The director, treasurer and clerk
constitute board of trustees, and it re-
quires any two of them to make legal con-
| tract; they have the general charge of the
interests of the schools and school
houses in the district and submit
an estimate of the expenses
of the district for the ensuing year to the le-
gal voters at the annual meeting. The sys
tenn, though not perfect, is complete in all
the details of school management, from the
manner Of forming new districts to the full
directions governing the same.
The school fund, consisting of the income
OF the school lands, supplemented by taxa
ton as required in article eight, section
three of the constitution, and its preserva-
ton and proper disbursement, is guarded
with Jealous care is the school code as we'll
as the constitution.
District school officers are either elected or
appointed under the law governing schools,
and they agree on accepting Office to per-
form all the duties required of them by the
school laws, and any law which conflicts with
their duties as such school officers is null
and void.
The school code was passed under the pro-
vision OF the constitution requiring the legis-
lature to establish school system, and was
approved February 28th, 1877, and repealed
all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with it.
The so-called cheap text book bill was ap-
proved February %, 1877, five days before
the school code, consequently everything in
it that conflicts with or is inconsistent with
JIG SCHOOL law was repeated.
The only parts of the text book law un-
repealed by the passage of the school code,
were the first three and the last three Sec
tons.
The fourth section of the text book law is
inconsistent with the school code in that it
requires the clerk to order books, thereby
creating pecuniary obligation against the
district for the payment of which the district
has made no provision all its taxes having
been voted for some other purpose, from
which the text book law has no right to di-
vert such moneys SO voted; moreover, the
school code requires majority of any board
OF trustees to create pecunlary obligation
on the part of a district, (see section 5,
chapter 2, school laws,) but the text law
puts this power into the hands of
one member, that is the clerk,
while at the same time he is held, under the
school law, personally liable for drawing
any order diverting the public school funds
from their legitimate channel i'll twice the
amount of such order (ste chapter six, Sec
ton four, school laws) so that the part of
the text book law requiring clerks to order
books through the county superintendent
was repealed by the adoption of the school
code, being inconsistent Herewith, and any
clerk who has ordered books can be prose-
cuted and made to ray twice tie amount of
| the value of the books so ordered.
It is made the duty of the county attorney
to prosecute any cl rk or other officers for
violating any provision of the school code
on the complaint of any citizen
| or other person III the district interested.
That Ialt of the text book law requiring
county treasurers to retain money belonging
| to districts to pay for books ordered for use
in district was repealed, being inconsistent
with the school law, which says ''that the
treasurer of each school district shall receive
and pay out all moneys appropriated to or
belonging to his district
| 1t county commissioners pay for any
books ordered for districts in their county,
it must be out of moneys under their own
control and not out of money which must
in all cases be paid to the treasurer of the
district to which it belongs.
Section ten of the text book law, forbid
ding the use of any other text books for a
period of fifteen years, was repealed, being
inconsistent with section eight, chapter sew
en-, of the school code which gives the di-
to prescribe text books for use in their.
schools.
/ Section II of the text book law prohibit
| ing he payment of the school tax fund to
any district not using, State text books to
the exclusion Of all Others, with all in the
supplementary text book bill'' on the same
subject, was repealed as inconsistent with
the so-called iron-clad tax law approved
March II, 1878, which provides in sections
81 AID So ''that the county treasurer shall
pay over to school district treasurers all
moneys received by him arising from tares
tened and collected belonging to any school
district
All moneys derived from the income of
the permanent school fund and the one-mill