The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-01-08

, the regular session OF the eiel
'eenlh legislature, which takes en,'
1854. needs sons corrections and umsn'
meu,s 10 cure certain defects, which hay
from time to tims been pointed out b
members Of your own body
IsyEsrMEsr or TnK tcHO0L FUNDS.
Ins,much az tho legislature submitted a
amsndmsnl TO tho constitution, which wa
adopted In August last, providing that th
board OF sducall0n should invest the PET
| manent school fund In United states, stat
or county bonds, "and In such other heeu
rifles and uudar such regnlsIlons rs ma
be prescribed BY law" | have deemed !
proper TO give the legislature chance q
say whether or not other SECURITIES thhi
those named should be purchased,
IL is proper to observe that tho beard o
education, since the adoptlon OF N,
amendment, has investtd u ,1oo, ,Iis "
/ OF the school iuns Ia county bonds. Ihs
bulk OF the amount has been Invested IN I
per cents at par.
/ have no recommendation 10 make
about "other securitles, for Investing the
school fund. II permission IL granted
counties TO fund their indsbtednesses, !
have no doubt but that county bonds VIII
absorb all thu permanent school and asy'
| lum funds for years TO come.
In ths opinion OF the hoard OF education,
there could not be two bodies, each with
plsnary power 10 invest the school funds IN
| United States, state and county bonds, and
NJ this, by the constitution, Is 70 DC aone
under the direction Of tho board OF educa-
/ tlon, II was believed that the constitution
was, to that extent, seli.aotinR, ana
| Legislation was necefsiry; hence q" Lss.u,
/ In the Interest OF free schools aud
to save the people from taxation, pro
ceeded az once TO loan the permanent fund
/ TO counties and It Is now all invested In
not less than 0 per cent. valid county
/ bonds.
The United States and state bonds owned
| by the school fund might bo Transferred TO
! tho university fund NJ better rates than
| could be obtainod from the market, ana re-
suit In advantage 10 both iunds; as the
school fund could be- easily reinyesisd IA
county bonds Mt better interest than u Is
drawing at present, while the university
/ fund eau only be invested In state and fed
ernl bonds, tor which high premium must
| be paid In the markets.
EXPOSITION At HEw ORLEANS.
| II would seem that "a laudablo pride IN
/ our state, as well as the mate ial advan'
| tages 10 accrue, which gt once suggests
I themselves TO members, should in'
du 'e MS TO take steps 10 properly represent
/ the state a. the worlds fair to be held at
/ New Orleaus, beginning in December
nox.. and | earnestly recommend suitable
provision be made for that purpose.
DuFiCIEECfEs.
| Under the bill granting pens'onsto TeXss
veterans there exists deficiency OF about
| i63,375.
There is also deficiency in the sppro'
pria,ion for contingent expenses and TO pay
officers and employes OF the regular se:tlSn 1Sg
OF the eighteenth legislature OF about sIo3.
| oommend appropriations TO meet
these detlgiercos.
COUNTY LIABILITIES.
Various counties OF the state have iloat-
| ing indebtedness, and owe more or less for
| bridges aud other purposes, that they rec
ogniZe as valid debts, and In some cases
| they have ssued bonds Tho board OF ed
ucatiou, so far, has refused TO purchase for
| the school fund any county bonds except
those issued 20 build court.houses, nnd sub.
ri1y bonds Issued prior to the adoption oil
the present constitution, on the ground
| that there appeared to be 10 ex.
press authority to issue any other species
of bonds. II these counties were author
| lied by law to fund their debts, including
all character of claims recognized by them
as valid, they could put their
bonds. covering such indebted
ness on the market, and the
board Of education would icol auth orized
to buy them.
SCHOOL LANDS.
The Bill passed by the regular session Of
the eighteenth legislature has been ionnd
to be yerv unwieldy, aud the boari has
| had great diilir 'ty IN putting IL into op-
| Grafton. IL mas been ascertnined, from eI-
perisnce, that he system Of local agents in
the counties, was both expensive and
unsatisfactory, and undsr the liberal pro-
visions of the law, allowing the board to
change the rultsslaid down in the law,
many changes have been made.
The new rules require the bidders on
sales and leases TO describe accurately the
lands they want and they arc also re-
duired to swear to the correctness of the
description. In this way the board not only
saves the enormous expense to the school
| fund OF classifying the lands actually sold,
| but also saves the unnecessary expense oil
classifying those that no one now wishes to
purchase.
The board Is not offering any watered
sections for sale or lease, and In regions
where water Is very scarce 1t might be al.
vsabls TO withdraw the waters and small
quantity OF land from sale, permanently,
and dedicate them 10 public use. In this
way, vast areas of dry country could be
utilized that could not be IL the few living
waters there should fall into private hands.
slso recommend the rt seryatl0n OF strips
of land, at suitable intervals, 'fjr public
highways, so that IN future there can be
neither trouble or expense attending the
opening OF roads.
| herewith transmit for your
Information and conslderdtlon
a communication from the commissioner
of the general land office, whose vast ex
periencs In such matters render his sug-
gestions valuable.
TAXATION.
The amendments to the constitution pro-
posed by the last legislature, submitted to
sad adopted by the people, so changed the
lew that one-iourth OF the general revenue
will no longer 40 to the support Of Tree
sohoo,s. and until additional legislation Is
had, lhlrty cents on the one hundred dol
lars will be levied and collected for general
nurposes. and no part thereof will be set
apart for the school fund. IL will, there
tore, be necessary to levy SPECIFIC tax for
free schools. The amount to be levied is
at your discretion, no. to exceed the max
i'm um nR o ed in the constitution.
IL is suggested that with the one-fourth o.
the occupation tax, interest on bonds and
land notes, and funds from other sources,
tnnt levy Of ten cents on the one hundred
dollars worth OF property will be sufficient
to m ain the schools the requisite time.
Ths report OF the board Of education, to-
gel her with the estimates furnished by the
secretary, and the comptroller's report,
will greatly assist you in arriving at tho
rate OF taxation absolutely necessary.
OF course thirty cents on the one hundred
dollars worth Of property. now loyied for
general revenue purposes, will not be neces-
sary. With the increase OF taxable values,
the revenues will increase. Twenty-Five and
ono-half cents has been sufficient In the
past, and suggest that eighteen cents on
the hundred dollars will produce snfficient
revenue, with that derived from other
sources, to support ths government. The
ensuing year will demonstrate whether II
Is sufficient or not, aud as the Nineteenth
Legislature will meet year hence, the
amount can then be increased or dimin-
ished Nc may be found necessary.
Ia arriving at the amount OF tax neces-
sary 80 be levied, IL must be borne in mind
that the large expenditures for the present