The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-10
BETWEEN THE SCHOOL HOARD
AND G. A. r..
THAT S1,5OO APPROPRIATION,
PRESIDENT ABBOTT SAYS, bE-
LONGS TO THE BOARD, WHICH
CANNOT STAND EXPENSE.
COMPTROLLER NEARBY SAYS NOT.
Besides the School People Claim to
Have Information That the
Custom Is Not Satisfactory.

1t is matter or some doubt whether
the school board will turn over the
! school buildings to the G. A. r. COM
mittee on accommodations. There is
trouble brewing for somebody and the
school board proposes to make it. At
a recent meeting the common council
appropriated, out of the school rental
and repair fund, the sum of $1,000 for
the purpose of insuring such buildings
as may be occupied by the members of
! the G. A. r. during the encampment
and for the further purpose of remov-
ing the desks and other furniture and
thereafter placing them in their orig
! inal position. This resolution has been
| signed and officially published and Is
therefore in effect. But that effect is
purely theoretical. as the 81, 500 Is pays
able by the city treasurer to the order
of the president Of the board of educa-
ton, and the resolution does not COM
pei that official to draw an order for
that amount or any other sum-
The fact Of the matter is the temper
Of the board seems to be adverse to
turning the buildings over to the G. A.
r. committee and drawing upon it's
own funds to pay the expense Of in
surfing the buildings and paying all the
expenses for the accommodation of the
old soldiers. The proposition of the
school board, as determined some time
ago, was that the G. A R. committee
should furnish the sum of 81 500 by
placing 1T in a bank subject to the or
der of the chairman of the real estate
committee of the school board, which
would RXnQn6 tho IN
the buildings and preparing them for
occupancy by the members of the G. A.
r., and deposit vouchers for the
amounts paid. But 1T seems there were
enough members of the common coun-
ell friendly to the plan proposed by
the q. A. r. committee to pass the
resolution mentioned and to ignore the
plan suggested by the school board.
1t was this action that has called forth
the feeling that has been engendered.
| and which exists on the part of the
school board, deny it though they NAV.
Inc principal objection the members
| OF the board have to the resolution of
the council is that the money appro-
prlated is drawn from a fund which
they say, is charged up as an asset
against the board. But the city comp
troller says the board Is mistaken-the
money is drawn from a fund as sena
rate from the school fund as the police
or nre FUNDS. This is Comptroller Nc
Cardy's explanation of the matter:
1t has been charged" said Mr. Nc
Cardy, that the resolution in ones
ton was rushed through the council
with an attempt at secrecy. Nothing
is further from the truth The mat
ter was thoroughly canvassed among
the members of the council before the
resolution was introduced and the
measure met with general approval
ana was passed without argument, be-
cause every member of the council
knew exactly what he was voting for
When the resolution was presented for
passage. The resolution calls for the
appropriation of a certain sum for a
certain purpose from the fund known
as the rental and repair fund. This
tund is legacy from my predecessor.
VINO set apart the fund-for what pur-
pose no one knows. 1t does not belong
to the school board 1t has never been
a part of the school fund nor is it now.
IL is beyond the Jurisdiction of the
school board, as much so as the funds
for water or fire or police BY drawing
upon this fund for encampment n,1r
poses the board of education does not
lose penny of it's annual appropria-
| ton. The fund has no more to do with
the affairs of the city than if 1t did not
| exist except that 1t is a live asset and
! the council has the authority to draw
| from it and to divert it to any use
whatsoever. Therefore the council
| acted legally in appropriating- $1,000
of the so-called rental and repair fund
for encampment purposes. The board
OF education can secure control of this
fund, if the common council sees fit to
turn 1t over to the board, but as it now
! stands the board of education has no
| claim upon it,
! There is one feature of this appro-
priation that is particularly pleasing
| to the committee and will doubtless
also be source of qualification to all
patriotic citizens as well as to everyone
who has contributed to the encamp-
ment fund By the use of this fund we
are levying upon a class of taxpayers
who through niggardliness or lack of
patriotism, not only refused to contri-
butte to the encampment fund but have
tnsulted the canvassers who have call
| ed upon them. 1t is not much we are
| getting from these fellows, to be sure.
but we are making them contribute
their mite just the same. believe that
! when the school board understands the
situation rightly, there will be no diff
| flculty, nor any hesitancy on their part
| in turning over the school buildings to
the G. A. r. committee. If any mem
USIS u the SCIlOOI UOdrQ Cn1nk the
buildings will be injured by the veter-
ans who will be quartered therein.
| they are under q most serious misap-
prehensiOn.
"It has been said that some of the
board have made inquiries and have
received letters from other cities where
| the school houses were used for pur-
poses of lodging the veterans / am
told that some members of the board
have received replies to their inquiries
that were unsatisfactory-at least they
have been quoted as so saying The
idea is preposterous and insulting
! Past Commander-in-Chief Lawler, of
Illinois, who for thirty years has been
| commander of his home post at Rock
| ford, will occupy the high school with
| his following. Does any member of
the school board believe that he, with
| his comrades, will do aught to destroy
or mutilate the property of the board :?
| The best men on the roster of the
| Grand Army have occupied lodgings In
public school buildings in the cities
| where encampments have been held
| men who are accustomed to all the
comforts and luxuries that wealth can
| give, but who for the time and for
| lack of better accommodations have
been glad to share the hard uncom-
Portable cot or blanket on a hard
| floor for the sake of meeting in re-
| union with their old comrades in arms.
1t is such men who will be given quar-
ters in the buildings of ST. Paul. We
would gladly furnish them all with more
comfortable quarters, but we cannot.
Therefore we ask for the use of the
schools and offer every inducement to