The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1901-08-10
A Hopeful Sign.

Inc opelOuSaS correspondent
of the n. O. Times-Democrat,
writing u9der date of August Sd,
gives an account of an interview
with Hon. Thos. H. Lewis, mem
Der of the State Board of Educa-
ton, in which the following ap-
pears:
unanimously adopted fixed the salaries of the
treasurGr5 of the parish school funds by a
graded percentage. according to the State law.
| The salaries Will not exceed 2 1-2 per cent OF
| the amount disbursed. The rule of this parish
| has been to allow maximum compensation Of
2 IL per cent on the amount disbursed
| Judge GuiOn, the Attorney General, stated in
| his parish thatonO charge was made for the
custody and disbursement of the school fund.-
as his pay as parish treasurer fully compen-
| sated him. Mr.. McClendon. member of the
| State Board of Education from Claiborne
stated the local bank willingly took charge
without any compensation. III this parish (St.
| Landry the treasurer has been paid annually
$500 for the disbursement OF nearly 100000, and
| he has received annually for the custody and
| disbursement of public school funds the sum of
$780, and its disbursement is only about $29, 600
| No blame is attached to the treasurer Of the
school fund in this parish for taking maximum
| amount OF compensation allowed by the School
| Board, but the necessity is admitted for estab
| fishing tho uniform rule OF compensation i'll ac-
| cord with the State law.
While this extract gives the
reader an insight into some mat
ters of which large majority of
the people are ignorant, and while
its reproduction will for that
reason serve Il good purpose, its
allusiens to the relation of the
Parish School Board of St. Lam
dry to the matter are likely to
leave wrong impression on the
mind of the imperfectly posted
reader. For instance, Il natural
inference from the statements
that "the rule of this parish has
been to allow maximum compen-
sation of 2 1-2 per cent, - and that
"no blame is attached to the
treasurer of the school fund IN
this parish for taking maximum
amount of compensation allowed
by the school board" would be
that the Parish School Board had
legislated upon the matter and
had actually fixed the compensa-
tion to be allowed for the dis
bursement of its funds. This is not
exactly the case. The truth is
that the State Board of Educa-
tion is primarily responsible for
the astounding fact that for many
years we have paid about $1,000
per annum for services that would
be literally rewarded by the pay
ment of one-third that sum, and
that the Parish School Board is
only responsible for the per-
petuation, since year or more,
at least, of this remarkable con-
dition. A brief recital of a few
facts will make this clear.
The law (scc. so of act 81 Of
1889 makes it the duty of the
State Board of Education to fix
the compensation of the various
parish treasurers for the disburse-
ment of the school funds sac
cording to the territorial area of
the parish and the amount to be
disbursed, said compensation not
to exceed 2 1-2 per cent. Some
thing more than year ago [ dis
covered that the State Board had
failed to legislate upon the sub
ject, thus leaving all the parish
treasurers in the State at liberty
to charge the maximum of 2 1-2
per cent if they saw fit, and that
our parish treasurers had for years
received that maximum. Believ-
ing that the salary of $500 per
annum paid by the police jury to
the parish treasurer was ample
compensation for all his duties as
such, and that the extra $500
could be better spent for the ed
ucation of the children under our
care, / promptly offered at a
meeting of the School Board q
resolution reciting these facts and
petitioning the State Board to fix
the commission for st. Landry
at Il merely nominal sum. With
out any effort having been made
to amend it, the resolution was
overwhelmingly voted down.
That settled me-for Il while cat
least-and this settles stho-,>,aatter
of responsibility more clearly than
the extract quoted above.
[ heartily congratulate Mr.. Lewis
upon his success in effecting Il
considerable saving in our school
funds, mot only here but throug hout
the State, and the reflection that
this saving is not made at the ex-
pense of men who are dependent
upon the emoluments Of this Of
fee for q livelihood adds hearth
ness to my congratulations.
In conclusion, Mr.. Editor, let
me say at the risk of trespassing
too much upon your valuable
space, that this action of Mr.
Lewis is a hopeful and auspicious
sign, one that should inspire all
earnest, patriotic men with re-
newed hope for the future of our
parish and State; and that I was
pleased to note in your last issue
the encouraging and eulogistic
words with which you hailed this
move, which is so clearly in the
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