White Oaks eagle. (White Oaks, N.M.) 189?-190?, 1895-10-03
reproduce it in full here. 1t reads as

follows:
Section 81 That in any school district where
special tax is in contemplation OF being levied,
or of bonds being issued, and after the bounda-
ries of the district havo been properly detor-
mined and marked for that purpose, il shall be
the duty of the county assessor to visit said
district and make assessment of all taxable
property both personal and real, within said
school district as fully and completely as he is
now required to make the assessment of the
county, and he shall be governed by the samo
rules, especially Including in such assessment
all kinds OF live stock which grave wholly with
in the limits of such district. The county as
SCISSOR shall provide each board of district di-
reetors with copy of such lists of taxable
property in the several districts.
The general statutes provide for tho
annual assessment of property through
out the county, and what necessity there
could be in the special assessment re-
quired by the section quoted will appear
only in the light Of the other provisions
OF the section concerning "live stock"
In this lies the scheme of the live stock
interests to evade taxation on this spe-
cies OF property. The owners of live
stock, beyond any question, sought to
relieve themselves from special levies In
support of schools, and mangled the law
with that end in view. Under the pecu-
liar system of grazing prevailing all over
the west, not an animal on the range
could be said to "graxe wholly pithin
| the limits Of" any school district. This
was &c bold and obvious an intention to
rob and cripple the public schools OF the
territory that it's accomplishment, Sc tar
as this section could promote that end, by
legislative body within the last five
years, in a community claiming to he en-
lightened, has been matter Of surprise
to all who realize its enormity, and q
source Of modification to those who de-
sired to see New Mexico assume an sd-
vanced position among the Intelligent
people Of this country.
There are many other defects in this
law, but most of them are OF miuor i'm
portance and will not be specially no.
ticed. We desire, however, to refer to
one other which has been suggested by
the following editorial clipped from the
Albuquerqe Citizen of recent date, and
which explains itself. The Citizen, un-
der the caption, "An Astonishing Opin.
ion." SAYS:
Solicitar General Victory, OF this territory
for whom we entertain the highest respect, ha,
just rendered an opinion, which, in the slang Of
tho period, is "a corker." He Says that no new
school district in this territory get any share
of the public school funds unless it can show
that public school was maintained in the pro
posed district for at least three months during
I the preceding year :. There car
be no public school without the use of publ,
money, and if the public money can not be useC
unless the school was in operation during tn,
: preceding year. how can new school ever b,
started
, And yet this opinion is in exact &c
cordance with the law now in force.
We insist that the whole trend of thu
D legislation in Now Mexico pertaining Il
the public schools, while trumpets hav,
8 been sounded and pretense has beer
e made to present to the children Of thu
Y territory an acceptable school system
= has been TO cripple rather than build VI
3 schools, because there has always crep
into it, by some unseen hand and by pc
!. culisrly deft aud dexterous methods o
l. accomplishment, provisions which de
0 stroyed its essential features or loft ii 81
y detormed as to become disappointment
o to the friends Of education and disgrace
+ TO those who contribted to its construc
q ton.