The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-06
FOR THE LEGISLATURE
MORE OBJECTIONS TO THE PENDING
TOWNSHIP REFORM BILL.
Demand for More Stringent ReguIa-
ton of Raiivvnys-SchOoI and 9th
er Questions Considered.
the Editor Of the indianapolis Journal:

To the Editor of the indianapolis Journal:
After a careful perusaI Of the township
reform bill now before the House l wish to
call public attention to a few points that
should be changed before the bill goes any
further. Section . of said bill provides that
if it be necessary TO make repairs on or
about any schoolhouse the trustee shall
make an itemized statement of the nature
and character Of the work for the use Of
bidders and post notices to that effect in
five of the most public places in the town
ship, asking for bids for such repairs, and
after such notices nave been posted for
three weeks the contract for making such
repairs shall be let to the lowest bidder. One
night last winter, during our coolest
weather, and when the wind was blowing a
gale, a large limb from a tree near one Of
our schoOlhouses was blown against the
side of the house, crushing In the sash and
glass of one window. BY noon next day we
had new sash and glass in place, and school
was going on as if nothing had happened,
while under the provisions of this proposed
reform bill the school would have been
closed three weeks awaiting bids, while,
under a Supreme Court decision, the teacher
would be entitled to his salary while wait
ing, thereby preventing the patrons Of that
school district from receiving as much
school as neighboring districts. A great
many small accidents are likely to occur at
any time at a schoolhouse where there are
twenty-five or thirty lively school children,
any one of which, during the winter time,
might cause school to be closed three weeks
to await bids. The same proviso is made in
regard to repairs on bridges, etc. Suppose
a small cuIvert on a very public, much
Travelled highway should break down; the
public would have to be inconvenience for
three weeks awaiting bids, when a few dol
lars would pay for the repairs and the pub
lie only be inconvenience a few hours.
Section 10 of the bill requires the trustee
70 audit the accounts of and pay the town
snip assessor and deputies out of the town
snip tund. There is a Supreme Court deci-
sion that the township trustee cannot levy a
tax against an Incorporated town, and yet
IN our township it would require almost half
Of the assessors time in an incorporated
town, for which the citizens of the town.
snip would have to pay. deriving absolutely
no benefit therefrom. When the tax levy
was made, last September, trustees, of
course, made their levy for expenses which
they knew at that time We're likely to come
up Tor a year. l made no levy in the town
snip tund whatever, because l had sufficient
IN that tund, by close economy, to carry
our township through the year. If / have to
pay our township assessor and justices of
the peace | Will not have half enough in
that fund for the year. On the contrary,
the County Commissioners made their levy
III NHC ~BCNAdNlOll VI DdNtlS the iOMH-
snip assessors, and if the law went into
effect they would carry over q large bal
ance. never read the justice of the peace
PHI, Dut | understand that it gives each
incorporated town in a township a justice.
and the township bill then requires the
township fund, thereby qb9 rineifne o9 abo nj thhee
same objection as in the case of the town
snip assessor, the townships paying for
something from which they derive no bereht
ana ,exempting the taxpayers of incorpo-
rated towns from their share of necessary
expenses.
To read the editorial columns of the
Journal and the clippings published in the
Journal from its contemporaries through
out the State a stranger to our Institutions
would naturally form the opinion that town
SNIP trustees were an organization of in
dividuals whose sole object was to steal
from the taxpayers of the State. while the
truth is that four-tifths of them are MAX
ing personal sacrifices of time to serve their
nelgnborS and friends In the capacity of
trustee. Bank cashiers frequently violate
the trust reposed in them and steal from
their employers; that does not discredit and
disSrace the entire banking system. Indi-
snip treasures, and if they have the dispo-
Sltion to steal they will continue to do So
atb5ee@Tr inns law rs enacted. In our township
Inere IS not a single firm or individual who
deals IN school supplies of any kind. Sun
pose l post notices according to law asking
for bids for a quantity of school furniture
and supplies for schools, there being no one
here to bid on them. Could | not arrange
to notify by letter a single individual or firm
- 1bNAoAiapOAio VI 1IiCdBO, ne 10 put IN a
DID at quite an advance over market prices.
and, after being awarded the contract. paw
me a liberal commission? School boards in
towns and cities levy their own taxes and
disburse the proceeds thereof. the same as
township trustees and county commission
ers now. Are they made from finer clay
that they can withstand the temptations
that beset their country brethren? Have
bills been introduced to regulate them? Put
every check possible on every public officer,
but remember that, in the nature Of things.
a township trustee has to meet a class Of
emergencies that are not encountered by
any other public official, and no law or set
of laws can be framed by which he can be
governed in every instance and do Justice
10 all concerned. DANIEL JEWS
Township Trustee.
Darlington, Ind, Feb. 4.