The Holt County sentinel., 1902-06-13
Grasping the School Fund Issue.

The misapplication of the large funt
belonging to the public schools Of Mis-
souri, was deed of crookedness tina
passed through several stages and GOV
cred good many years. It was marked
by increasing audacity on the part o.
the schemers who worked the quarry
and they never rested until the assets Of
the schools were deprived of every cent
of money value and of q constitutional
status. For long time the ring was
able to complicate the subject and con
fuse the public mind, but. seeing a bad
snag ahead, the ringsters got up a con-
stitutional amendment which the voters
of Missouri will pass upon at the polls
next November. That amendment pro.
poses to confirm" the school fund in
its present shape as an obligation OF the
state, and also to extend and perpetuate
this form Of debt, for which there is no
confirmation or recognition of any kind
in the present organic law. The pro
posed amendment has set the people Of
Missouri to thinking. II they approve
the amendment they condone Q viola
ton Of the state constitution, perpetuate
a form of debt admitted now to be irreg-
ular, open . way to increase the debt in
definitely. and impose upon themselves
q new tax to pay the interest.
Resolutions adopted lately il Repub.
lican county conventions show how
clearly the school fund misapplication
is now understood, and how futile have
been the frantic efforts Of the ring to
middle the issues and hide the truth
about the gross betrayal Of trust. The
Randolph county Republicans declared
in their platform adopted last Monday:
I'VE arraign the Democratic party OF
Missouri for frittering away q magnifi-
cent school fund, largely bequest from
the national government, and represent
ing it by certificates of Indebtedness Of
20 commercial value, for which We are
taxed to pay interest, contrary to the
express terms of our state constitution,
which certificates of indebtedness We
are brazenly called upon to legalize. in
crease and perpetuate by constitutional
amendment" That resolution is q fine
example of the truth fully mastered and
expressed with lucid terseness. The Re-
publicans or Macon county on the same
day adopted resolution denouncing as
criminal the conversion Of government
bonds belongings to the schools into
worthless certificates of indebtedness,
upon which taxpayers are compelled to
pay high rate Of interest" The plat
form declares that the offense is the same
as for the Macon court ito call in the
interest bearing school fund
Of Macon county and use the same for
expenses and issue q certificate
Of Indebtedness and collect taxes in
stead Of interest. We believe it better
to cut coupons from bonds than to pay
taxes from our pockets" The proposed
amendment was totally
1t is gratifying to see that the voters
Of Missouri have familisrized themselves
with the details of the juggle by which
. large income from the treasury at
was changed into a charge
upon the taxpayers of this state. In
stead Of drawing interest from the ma
tional treasury. taxpayers furnish $780,
BOO a year out of their own pockets, and
this is the only income that remains
from the missing school fund. The
ringsters say they took the money be-
longing to the innocent school children
Of Missouri and used it to cancel a cor
amount of state bonds. It
IS false. Only about 100000 of state
bonds were thus Cancelled, whereas the
certificates Of indebtedness amount to
y, 397 .S39. When the government bonds
belonging to the schools were sold no
detailed account of the transaction was
put on the books Of the state, and none
las ever been obtained from any source.
But the people have investigated the |
wrong committed and will smash the |
ugglers' amendment 1T the fall election. |
Globe Democrat.