, 1889-07-25
THE SCHOOL LANDS.
Shall They Be Leased or soid---Thc
Danger OF Corruption.

In viow of recent Developments as
IN the manag agcment of pnblic school
affairs In Spokane Falls the following
from the Tacoma Ledger VIII oe read
with interest here: e..
OF renting or leasing tho school lands OF
this state are so exploded That there IS
little fear the convention will do any ]
thing but provide for their profitable
sale. The Minnesota constitution
ordered .onc-third TO be soid wi,nn' ,ndsI
Nebraska ordered that the minimum
price should be 80 an acre, aud Kansas,
with II oussoduess all its own, proVideot
for their lease or rental and their saie,
only by the approval of the people W
general election.
Every section of land withdrawn from
liability to be sold helps 10 give ticu-'
ti0us marketable value 10 that which re-
mains. An hereditary state OF landlord
ships becomes as great q nuisance as
that derived from teudal times, and IL Is
late In the day to ask Americans To
model their Institutions on the customs
OF the middle ages. We do not want
landlords; we want our farmers To oww
their lands and to increase and multiply,
our farmers we want to cheapen ana nor
increascthc cost of land. The growth or
this state will for a long time depend
more on the assistance we give to farm-
crs and settlers on lands than on tho
efficiency of our educational system,
and there should be none of this i0lse'
economy, which IL contained in the idea
of holding over public lands, either tor
the purpose of making the state u spec
ulatOr or u species of landlord.
The good sense of the delegates will
cause them 10 initiate the course of those
progressive and enlightened states which
have sold their school lands and expend-
ed the proceeds for the benefit Of eduea-
ton. Minnesota, Missouri, West Vir-
ginia, and one or two other states, in
Vested the proceeds in United states
bonds while the constitutions of the
other states left the investment and the
control of the money to the board Oh
education or to the legislature. Invest
ment in United States bonds yield little
more than per cont, and'wc believe the
tmajority of the delegates Will see that
plenty of safe investments can be had
in the state that will yield doublc'that
income.
4 board of education or the state ex-
eoutiye can be entrusted with the invest
ment of the school fund, and the legis-
lature can retain supervision over that
Investment This state requires'a COM
mission of agriculture, whose duty IL
| would be tn assiss the farmi1gand fruit
industry of the state. Through 1t money
could be loaned to farmers for clearing,'
| irrigating and improving their lands
! The lands themselves would be ample
security, for the loans from the commits
| sion could be made first harge. IL is
iuCalculahlo how beneficial such a COM
mission would be, and the state school
funds might be invested through this
commission most iudiciously. Thestates
of course providing that no loss,in prin-
cipnl should ever take place in the fund.
! itself
OF course, this kind of thing will,be OBJ
iected to as favoring the farmeriat tho
tion. But it is nothing of the kind. III
tho farmer wants $1,000 to clear and drain
and irrigate his land and is willing to
pay or Z per cent to the land commis-