The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-03-17

lature He wants to know about the
substitute for Representative Lose
kamp's bill authorizing the establish
ment of county high schools
Section 2 of the law makes the fol-
lowing provision for submitting to the
electors the question whether the in
stitution shall be located in certain
place designated in the petition Of cleo
tors
!" Wherever 900 school electors in
any county shall petition the board Of
county commissioners requesting that
q county high school be established in
their county at place in the said PEE
tition named, or whenever the county
commissioners shall at their discretion
think proper. they shall give twenty
days notice that they will submit the
question to the school electors Of said
county whether such school shall be es-
tablished. and at the place specified, at
which election the school electors of the
county shall vote by ballot for or
against establishing such high school,
The notices shall distinctly specify the
city, town or district wherein it is pro-
posed to establish said high school. =
In passing upon the matter the attor-
ney general decides that the only equit-
able way to settle the matter Ia to allow
all of the places that are candidates for
the school to be- voted upon whenever
the commissioners SO order In the
course Of his opinion. he says:
No difficulty would be experienced
in the procedure established by the
law if only one place was designated
as the location for this county free
high school, but the law as to the
course TO be followed in the case Of a
plurality Of applications is silent.
and it is largely matter Of conjecture
rather than construction as to what,
the legislature intended where compe-
tition existed for the location Of this.
county institution.
Where number Of applications are
contemporaneously made, or indeed,
where not contemporaneously made,
but are received by the commissioners
before the notices Of holding Of elec-
tion is given, it would not be consonants
with justice to give preference to any
one to the exclusion Of the others, for
the presentation Of the one to the cleo
tors Of the county before the submission
of the others would secure to the one
presented an undue advantage over the
others. | do not believe that the legis-
lature intended that favoritism should
be practiced and that the county COM
missioners in the submission Of the To-
cations were given the privilege of
practicing favoritism. The only just
and equitable mode in the event Of q
plurality Of applications would be the
submission Of all the locations to the
electors at the same time.
1t is true that the law does not ex-
p1essly provide for this, but it is equal
~ true that it does not expressly or i'm
plicitly prohibit it, My recommended
tion, then, would be that in the event
of a plurality of applications, that the
commissioners should provide for an
election, and III that election submit
the different candidates for this honor
to the electors, and the candidate re-
ceiving the majority of the votes cast
should. be entitled to selection for loca-
tion Of the county free high school.
The election should be conducted as
that provided by law for elections Of
school district officers, and in the same
ballot the names Of the different can
didates could be placed, for instance. as
follows
'Shall county free high school be
at A?
Yes.
"NO.
And SO on with B and G, or with
as many names of places as there are
applicants. This is a reasonable and
sensible procedure under the conditions
and ! believe that the law
would be legal and valid.''