The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-12
OUR BRILLIANT CITY GOVERN


The public schools of St. Paul will
not open on Monday. They will re-
main closed until such time as our
brilliant local authorities see fit to per-
form the duties imposed upon them by
the charter, and supply the funds nee
essary to defray the expenses of our
educational system. This is the latest
development of the extraordinary in
capacity that marks the existing adj
ministration. 1t is public humilia-
ton and an outrage upon the people.
Whether it is due to malice or to mere
stupidity seems to be of comparatively
little moment. That such a thing
should happen in presumably intel
ligent community marks the depths to
which it descended when 1t placed the
control of it's affairs last spring in
hands unfit to direct them. Doubt
less,' said a reverend bishop once,
contemplating his favorite strawberry.
God might have made a better berry;
but doubtless God never did" If
term of contempt be substituted for
praise, the famous remark might be
applied not inappropriately to the
present government of st. Paul.
The facts in the case are very sim
pie. The board of school inspectors is
required by law to send to the mayor
during the summer a budget showing
the amount Of money required to de-
fray the expenses of the schools dur
Ing the ensuing year. The duty of
the mayor is to send this budget to
the council, and the council thereupon
votes to appropriate the whole sum or
such portion of it as it may approve
The money has been already provided
in the tax levy. 1t is either in the
treasury already or win be paid In as
taxes are received. 1t can be taken
out of the treasury only by a vote Of
the council. Not a dollar is at tn.
dlsposal Of the school board until the
city legislature has acted Nor car
the board open the schools until tbe
FUNDS are at its command For the
charter expressly forbids this: and
makes 1t a, misdemeanor. pllnisha I,Ia NV
SIX months Imprisonment, for the
board to incur any such Indebtedness.
or TO create any liability against the
city which there are not funds on hand
to discharge. The present board of
school inspectors prepared this budget
and sent it to the mayor in June. He
quietly pocketed 1t. 1t has not been
sent to the council. Therefore there is
no money available for school mr.
poses, and the schools must remain
closed until an appropriation is made
Mayor Doran pleads in excuse his
ignorance of the city charter. He was
not aware of the existence of the sea-
ton that creates this dilemma, al
though it has been met before fire.
quently, and has been quoted again
and again in the various controversies
that have arisen over the conduct of
the schools. Moreover, it seems TO he
not wholly unreasonable PROPOSE
ton that the chief executive of a city
should at least inform himself of its
charter requirements. The fact that
the charter has been over-ridden in
other respects is a probable reason
why no attempt was made to ascertain
what it demanded in this But we fail
to find any force whatever in the ex-
PLANTATION that the mayor has been
waiting to see what action the board
of equalization would take upon the
reduction of assessed valuation. 1t
does not explain. For, if the board
should attempt to compel the restora-
ton of the old excessive figures, then
the 21s-mi11 tax would provide the
funds mentioned in the budget If it
accepts the new valuation, then the
21k-rnill tax is all that can be levied
for school purposes in any event; and
even if the entire budget were voted.