The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-04-28

5 Thc Sehssl District Trsuhle Again.
REDwooD FALLS, April n, 1881.
Ems. GAxRITE: In your1ast issue. under
tn llsae Of school District Meeting was
po0ltshed wreath Of resolutions"
worthy to gnsce New Years day. There
wal Dne feature Of the article only liable
to avract public attention; and that was.
that tom the general tone Of the entire
record Nf the proceedings as there pub.
iisAed, Il would appear that AZ the direc
1cr OF sA(d district had been guilty of
inexcusaDle egotism and sclfishness, and
arbitrary use Of power to defeat the right
and accomplish some personal end of my
own, contrary to the unanimous desire OF
the district, and this was doubtless the
object Of publishing the resolutions. l
shosild never have referred to the article.
did It not. unexplained, leave me. in the
minds OF the uniformed. as occupying
= false position in regard to the matter
In which have acted conscientiously in
fully 40 public officer. The true in
stated, is rs follows: In Sept, 1880, the
recurring responsibility Of selecting and
hiring school teacher for district No. 2,
fell upon the shoulders Of myself rs d.
rector. August Seebeck ~ treasurer, and
8. g. Luscher - clerk of said district.
Among the applicants therefor was Mrs.
]. j. COyle, referred to in the resolutions.
Mrs. COyle had taught our school twice
before. and had never given general sat.
tsfactiOn. l c0nscicntously opposed hir-
ing her for another term, and the rest of
the board, knowing my feelings. and
conscious of the fact Just stated. agreed
with me that it would be for the best in
terests Of the district to make a change,
and they all agreed in selecting Miss
Celia Nuremberg as . suitable person t.
teach the school. On certain day there.
after Miss \. appeared before the clerk
Of said district to enter into contract
for the school rs per agreement. when
TO! 1t was ascertained that through some
magical influence Mis-. Coyle had super
seeded her and induced the clerk and
treasurer to enter into written contract
with her to teach said school. The
school laws of this State provide That
no contract shall be made hiring any
teacher for a public school except BY q
majority of the trustees after due notice
gice" to all. This contract was entered
into by the clerk and treasurer alone
without my knowledge or consent, and
WAS = secret transaction on their part.
The records OF said district were persis-
tently withheld from me aud was not
allowed to know what had been done.
When Mrs. Coyle began her term, mott
fed her that there was dissatisfaction in
the district. that she had no legal contract,
and that could not sign any orders for
her pay under the circumstances. Mr..
Seebcek the treasurer said he would pay
her out of the school fund, orders or no
orders. After several unsuccessful at
tempts to remove me from my office be-
cause would not become party to their
illegal transaction, they finally called
meeting OF the trustees in January, 1881,
and requested me to ratify the contract,
which they conceded to be illegal and
void. told them it could not be ratified
in that way, and refused. They then pre-.
sentcd an order on the district in favor
of Mrs. COyle and requested me to sign it /;
refused to do 50, and iold them it would
be misapprOpriation of public funds.
In March. 1881, Seebeck drew the school
money from the county treasurer and no.
titled me that he should pay Mrs. Coyle
wi thout an order attestcdl by me Is re
quired by law; believing that he would
do so, sent out an injunctional order in
the name of the district. restI aiming Mr..
Seebeck. district treasurer, from paying
out any funds. moneys. or vouchers of
the district to Mrs. Coyle except upon
orders duly drawn by the clerk and duly
attested by the director of said district rs
required by law. This had right to
do. by the authority in me vested as di-
rector of said district, and l considered
it my duty that no district money was
paid out contrary to law. on an illegal
and void contract. Finding themselves
foiled in their attempt to override the
law they consulted the county attorney.
who advised them to proceed legally, if
they desired Mrs. -Coyle to get her pay;
and under his direction the meeting refer.
red to in your last issue was called. The
district concluded to pay Mrs Coylc and
get rid of her, if they could do so legally:
and finding that they could ratify the
void contract by a majority vote Of the
electors of the district. such vote was
taken. and the cause for further dissen-
sion removed. As to the policy of such
action on the part of the district. do not
care to discuss here. 1t was successful
attempt on the part of the clerk and treas
urcr to ignore the director, and hire and
pay teacher who was not satisfactory
to large number of the district, con-
trary to law. The glory is theirs! The
satisfaction of having abided strictly and
conscientiously by the law is all the con-
ISOLATION I have. have been unjustly
censured and villfied by the other mem
bers of the board, Mrs Coyle. and some
of their adllcrants; but have steadfast-
ly refused to become a party to the mis-.
appropriation of public funds. In con-
clusion, l will say. that their unlawful
acts have caused . large and unnecessary
alone can be blamed; but if they will
only profit by the lesson. and govern
their future actions accordingly, It may
not all be counted as loss.
Yours respectfully.
ORvIs A. Mason.