The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-05
LEFT TO M'CARDY'
HE MUST EXPLAIN sTo TEACHERS
WHY FULL SALARIES ARE
NOT FORTHCOMING
SCHOOL BOARD NOT ADVISED
Telephone Intimation That Fund Is
Depleted Is Not Accepted as
Observation-Disclosures to Make
New Checks.

Communications transmitted by tele-
phone will not be accepted by the board
OF education as official. That point was
definitely decided at the meeting of last
evening; and at the same time it was in
cidentally determined by the board that
the newspapers We're equally unofficial as
means of communication. Therefore hav-
ing heard from Comptroller McCardy
only by telephone and through the news
papers as to the insufficiency of the
school fund to meet the demands of the
November pay roll, the board takes the
ground that 1t has not heard from him,
and that even if 1t had heard from him
with all due observance of formality, 1t
would not devolye upon it to take any
further action. In short the position Of
the board is, that inasmueh as the checks
for the payment of the November pay
roll were made out in proper form and
sent to the office Of the comptroller In
due season, the board and its employees
have done their duty, and the question
of the payment of the checks rests be-
tween those to whom they are payable
and the city comptroller and treasurer
Without any formal introduction the
board entered upon a discussion of the
pay roll question, progressing to that
from some other matter of a financial
character. Some of the members were
disposed to take issue with Mr.. McCardy
upon some of the statements credited to
him in an evening paper of Tuesday. In
spector Wait was particularly incensed
at what he considered Mr. McCardy.s
readiness to proclaim the school board
in the wrong, and to say that the board
had been overdrawing its appropriations.
He was warming UP well to his subject,
and had already said a few caustic things
about Mr.. McCardy having been sat
upon several times by the courts" when
President Zimmerman told him to cheer
up, for it might not be true, as the only
authority for the belief that Mr. Nc
Cardy had made any such statements
was an evening newspaper which was
not absolutely reliable.
Wait Until Howl Goes Up.
Inspector Bassford, in his characteristic
direct way of putting things, said: "My
idea Of 1t would be not to spend any
money for anything except when they
will allow it to us, and then let the peo-
pie howl. That will bring them to their
senses President Zimmerman said that
On behalf Of the board he had spent con-
siderable time with the conference COM
mittee, and It had been suggested that
there would be no trouble with lack of
funds if the fiscal year of the school de-
partment were made to conform to that
of all the other departments of the city.
AS bearing upon the question President
Zimmerman read legal opinion Of con-
siderable length furnished to the board
by City Attorney Markham, in 1898, when
the same plan was proposed. This opin-
ion, which is exhaustive in Its treatment
of the subject and quotes extensively
from the law, is to the effect that the
fiscal school year could not either prac-
tically or legally, be made to conform to
the fiscal year of the rest Of the city de-
partments, which is from Jan. to Jan.
1. He quotes the law to show that the
board is required to furnish to the coun-
Gil, on July Is, of each year, the number
of school employees for the preceding
school year, from Sept. / to July /, and
the appointments and recommendations
as to salaries to be paid to school en-
ployes for the ensuing year, from Sept. l
to July 1. This, he said, could not be
done if the fiscal year of the schools was
made from Jan. 1 to Dec 81. He said
there were other provisions of the school
law which showed that it was not in
tended that the fiscal school year should
conform to that Of the other departments.
In closing he recommended that the
board should not attempt to make any
change in it's fiscal year.
Some further discussion started as to
the statements in the published interview
with Mr.. McCardy, but President Zim-
hermann cut them short by inquiring if
there was any official communication
from McCardy to be presented to this
board. Mr. Healy replied that he had
only heard from Mr.. McCardy by tele-
phone and the president replied: "Tele-
phone messages will not be accepted by
this board as Official
Mr. Healy reported he had asked the
n 10 a RI aIx ing
new checks for half of the respective
amounts due, and had been advised to
leave them as they were. President Zim-
hermann said: "Mr. McCardy has the
checks, and 1 suppose that If there is not
enough money in the city treasury to pay
them they will be held until there is
enough"