San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1889-04-18
A Short Chapter From the Public
School Record OF San Marcos.


call for proof by Trustee OF certain trans
actions hindering the erection Of our present
school house by tho illegal withholding of
the fund collected for that purpose, our
readers will recolleot that we referred
to certain article from Major W, o. Hut
Gibson and Major Ed. Burleson on that
subject in substantiation of our position.
Said article appeared in the FREE Press of
Sept. 9Th, 1876. Messrs. Hutchinson aud
Burleson belonged to committee Of three
who had been appointed by the board of
school directors to consider the propriety of
erecting said building. They reported, as
Major Hutchinson states in subsequent ar
tiole in the FREE Press, In favor of the
building, about year before, but their re-
was entirely disregarded.
Hence they came before the public through
the FREE Press. On reflection we con-
cluded it would more satisfactory to our
readers to see the article Itself, to which we
referred, and hence, copy it below;
SCHOOL HOUSE FUND.
To the Editor Of the Free Press:
During the year 1873 there was levied
and collected by the school directors of
Hays county, one fourth of one per cent
on the one hundred dollars worth of taxable
for the purpose of building and
public school houses. We see
there has been built in district No. 1, o
school house for the freedmen. But as yet
uons has been built for the white popula.
ton.
In distributing said school house fund we
were informed over year ago that there
was five hundred and thirty dollars set
apart for the purpose Of building public
school house in the town Of San Marcos for
the white population. Now, as taxpayers,
and as said money Is not in the County
Treasury. we desire to know what has be-
come of it as the law under which it was
collected prohibits this fund from being
used for any other purpose than that for
which it was collected.
It is we'll known that last winter the old
Board of School Trustees were petitioned
by large number of the citizens request
ing them to build public school house to
be used by the white children of the town.
And that the building of it was postponed
by said Board.
Another year has rollee round, and the
term of Office of said Trustees expired on
first Tuesday in July; at which time it was
the duty of the Board of School Directors
to have ordered an election for Trustees for
the coming scholastic year. But we find
they have failed to do 80, thus keeping in
their own hands the appointing power, and
the people of the sacred right Sc
cured to them under the law to elect their
own school officers. Who the new Board
of School Trustees are, that have been ap-
pointed by this Board of Directors who by
their own action have stifed the voice of
the people, hos not yet been publicly made
known.
But it is 10 be hoped that they will hunt
I'D the school house fund and have it re-
turned to the County treasury where it be-
longs, and that they will see that it is ap-
piled at once for the purpose of building a
public school house-the only purpose for
which it was collected and can be legally
used.
We desire to know if the laws Of
the State are to be disregardod longer,
and the will of the people to be thwarted by
the Board of School Directors of Hays
county
In the name of the taxpayers; in the
name of the widow and orphan, we demand
of these officers that that they dis
charge their plain duty under the law,
and at once appropriate this money for the
purpose for which it was collected.
We give place to the above out of no de-
sire to protract controversy on this point,
which is really sido issue to the new school
house question of to-day, but rather, be-
cause we believe it will tend to prevent fur
Their controversy. We regard it it as a SET
tier.
In conclusion we will add. having noticed
q disposition to put US in the wrong on
merely technical grounds, and to give our
words a meaning not intended by us, that
in one or two in stances where we spoke of
1.-THE church" as influencing the school
trustees in Withholding the fund to build our
present school house, we did not mean the
church as an organization. We make, and
have made, no such charge. The influence
We referred to. we pretty uniformly stated,
WAS the special friends of the In9titute most,
but not all of whom were Methodists. The
Methodist church of San Marcos, as a
church, hos taken no position against pub
lie schools. Some of Its members have,
while others, we arc glad to know, are In
favor of them, and of the new school build
ing. With the latter, we of course have no
controversy.