The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-26
BILL HAS 4 FATAL FLAW
ARE AFRAID TO FUI.-
FILL ONE OF'arHEIR PLAT
FORM PLEDGES
WANT ALL THEY CAN GET
State Institutions ASK Big Appropri-
atiOns-PendinG General School
Bill Contains Many Impor-
tant Provisions.

PIERRE, S. D.. Feb Especial. 1T
Is claimed that a flaw exists in the nouor
license bill that passed the senate which
may render the whole thing unconstitu-
tional unless the house strikes out the
offending clause by amendment This is
provision exempting from the terms of
the act all wine and cider manufactured
within the state from homegrown fruit
This proviso was put in by friends of the
fruit farmers of the southern part of the
state and is a piece of special legisla-
ton, intended to protect home indus
tries,' Of the same order that caused the
wholesale beer depot license law to be
knocked out by the supreme court.
+
1t is pretty certain that one pledge of
the Republican state platform will be llfl-
fulfilled by the present legislature-the
pledge to enact legislation to strengthen
the law requiring public officers to pur-
chase their printing and other supplies
within the state. A bill to meet the re-
quirement was. introduced by Senator
Sites early in the session, but it still
slumbers in committee and is likely to
continue in that condition until it is too
late to do anything in the way of pass
ing 1t. The committee seems to be afraid
it is another of those printers bills on
which the publishers are fattening at the
expense of the public
The several state institutions cannot
be charged with being backward in their
demands. A compilation of the bills Oh
file with the appropriation committee
shows that the old institutions ask $54G,-
600 a year for maintenance, or $4,000
more than the estimated income OF the
state under the ordinary levy of mills
In addition to this the same institutions
ask $S5, 900 for the completion of new
buildings for which, appropriations were
made two years ago. and upwards of
100000 for new buildings. The Yankton
asylum alone asks for $4S,G for the COM
pletion of a building which was to have
been completed and equipped for s35, OOO
These figures probably account for the
reluctance exhibited by the friends of
these institutions toi1et dollar go in any
other direction. Besides these funds adj
vanced to bring the First regiment home
from San Francisco, and in the neigh
borhood of $50. eco more, is asked for mis-
cellaneous deficiencies of various kinds.
The ordinary revenues of the state I'M
der tax levy Of L mill, are estimated
at $4,000 for the coming year For the
two years, with an emergency levy the
first year, the total revenues will proba-
bly, be $1,6000OO.
A somewhat careful review of the pend
ing general school bill does not disclose
any serious departure from the present
law, the object of it's trainers being to
compile rather than to make radical
changes. What may be considered the
main feature of the bill is that it removes
the clash between the school district of
one school and what may be called the
township school district. All are con-
Sfitnfa5 1ic,+r
trict may have as many school as 1t
pleases. When it is desired to divide
large districts with several schools into
smaller ones, the procedure to be fol-
lowed is much the same as at present.
The state superintendent is given juris-
diction over city schools, and city super
tntendents will be required to take out
certificates. The provisions of the law
with respect to Capitalization are
strengthened, the county superintendent
being made the judge of what constitutes
a reasonable distance when the school
beard is asked to transport pupils to
school. Provision is made for detaching
adjacent territory from city districts as
well as for attaching such territory Sal
aries are left at the same amounts. or
practically so; tax levies are unchanged:
elections will be held as under existing
provisions. The present bonding law,
which is thought to be unconstitutional
in some of it's features, is changed to
comply with requirements of the fun
damental law of the state No changes
are made in the provisions governing text
books, and the free text book provision
of the present law is left The compila-
ton, if it is carefully done, will fill a
long-felt want, as may be judged by the
fact that of a total Of 200 decisions given
by the attorney general last year 81 were
rendered to the state superintendent of
public instruction upon questions arising
under the school law