Rocky Ford enterprise., 1896-10-22

the bonds are issued. This list IL on
file In the office OF the state auditor
and anyone can satisfy himself that
the warrants are absolutely irreproacli-
able. They were issued by the state In
payment Of salaries OF officials and
clerks, for supplies for the various
state institutions and departments. for
the construction Of portions OF the In
sane asylum and Industrial School and
for other purposes equally proper
There In no doubt that the state re-
these warrants were Issued and they
constitute an honest debt which has
been delayed In payment too long al
ready.
These warrants are no longer In the
possession OF the parties to whom they
were issued. Colorado has been very
fortunate In finding ready market
for Its paper and those to whom til"
state was Indebted We're not compelled
to hold the paper for years or sell II n
q ruinous discount. The face value %
the warrants outstanding is SISi.'
S55.12. or this amount the scnool fund
holds as an Investment Sli3, I2I.So.
Other state funds hold SGO,592.iO and
private holders possess S2s0.53l.92
Thus the state owes to Its school and
other funds over half n million dol
lars upon which Is due about half Il;
much more In the shape OF interest
The amount held by the school fund
however, Is what more particularly af
fects every taxpayer In the state. The
school fund Is derived from the sale
and lease OF lands donated to the state
by the general government for the sup
port OF the public schools. The funn
proper can never be used, but only the
| interest derived from 1t, and this In
terest is divided among the schools
| twice each year. But since 1SS9 the
schools have been deprived Of the In
terest upon $443, ,727. so Of this fund. the
amount invested In the warrants Il
issue. This interest now amounts 70
S2l5, 600 or Sill for each child Of school
age. The non-payment OF these war
rants will prevent the disbursement OF
this sum to the various schools OF the
state many Of which are badly In need
OF the portion to which they are ell
titled. The disbursement of this money
would mean the lessening Of the spe-
cial school tax which so many districts
are compelled to levy. 1t would mean
the payment Of many outstanding war
rants which some districts have been
compelled to issue and more than all II
would mean freeing nearly half mIl-
lion dollars Of the school fund and
causing 1t to earn a sum that could
be regularly divided among the schools
each half year.
The question at issue in the proposed
amendment has received the careful
attention Of the leading men Of the
state Of all political parties. The vari
GUS points involved Of integrity, expe-
diency and necessity have been gone
into. Without exception each official
Of this state, both executive and judic-
ial is compelled to give sanction to the
matter.
| Outside of official circles the same Is
true. The thinking men and woman of
the state realize that much depends
upon settlement of this question. I'm.
til 1t Is settled a cloud must rest upon
the fair name of the state. And at the
same time they realize that sooner or
later 1t must be settled. If the people
should decide this year against bond
ing. 1t will only be putting off the day
and they will be obliged to vote bonds
in the future when the accumulation of
interest will increase the amount in
volved.
The educational interests of the state
desire the amendments adopted. The
school superintendent, the faculties of
the state institutions of learning and
the teachers of the common schools fa-
vor 1t. The State Teachers Associa,
tion sees In 1t benefit to the schools
of the state and no injury to any other
interest and desires to see the schools
receive their just dues.
A question of similar import was vot-
ed upon two years ago and defeated.
The defeat was caused by the fact that
the question was generally misunder-
stood both as to the cause of the debt,
the result of Its payment by the issu.
ance of bonds and also by provision
for raising 100000 additional to place
the state upon cash basis.
Thus when the proposition to resub-
NIT the matter came before the Tenth
General Assembly it ut first met with
almost unanimous opposition on the
part of the Populist members. But
when they had investigated the Ques-
tion, discovered how erroneous were the
grounds which had worked previous
defeat and when the objcctionab bic
clauses of the former act were found
wanting, their opposition vanished and
a large majority of them saw the just
ness and necessity of the proposition
and heartily favored resubmission.
Should majority of the voters see
the question in the proper light, and 1t
seems probable that they will. Arapa-
hoe county schools will receive sos, ,10i;
/ Ell Paso's schools will get $1S,235; 10
Pueblo will go $13.S51: Las Animas,
$9,G97; Boulder, $9,G5s; Weld. $7,467,
and the schools of the other counties
will be benefited in proportion.