The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1904-01-09

f@'tNNN Ali tA9HAt -tlH Observation-Disclosures vi
an acre, this last being at the yearly
rate Of $2S9,115 per acre; and SO on
for others. Yet nobody is wronged.
1t is plain business proposition No
sane man pays moro rent than he
ought
Neither Is the community nor any
individual wronged any more by the
payment by the Chicago Tribune Of
$4,000 into the school board treas
ury than by the payment by the Wo-
mems Temple company of $4,000 a
year into the private pocket of Mr.
Marshall Field for the use Of lots that
were once a part of that same orig
inal section sixteen.
The story Of the Kansas school
lands is a story Of brutal and mex
cusable Indifference. and further con
firms my previous structures on legis-
lamres For her educational land
grant of 100000 acres there has new,
er been management. system or poll
.cy Governor Martin in his message
.of 1885 said to the legislature: mo
interest of Kansas has been so reck-
lessly and improvidently managed as
the STATE school lands. A more
absurd system it would be difficult to
devise Under its malign influence
.one-half the amount that should have
been and under a proper system
would have been realized from the
lands already sold Every governor
during the past eight years has direc-
led the attention of the legislature to
this reckless and improvident system
but nothing has been done 70 correct
the defects and abuses nor to protect
the magnificent school domain of the
state from despoilation" He urged
tho creation of s ate land depart.
ment 10 be under the control Of com
petent state land commissioner. Moth
ing was done In 1887 he repeats him
self showing that almost no fact re-
lating to the lands Is Of record IN any
state department-neith the amount
.of land sold the amount unsold. nor
the amount Of principal or interest
due on lands sold on time "The de-
termination of this question" he says,
involves probably four or FIVE mil
lions Of dollars, yet it has been treat
ed by every legislature for en- years
past as If it were a matter of no inter.
est to the state or its people" Ana
since that time nothing yet has been
done.
From the sale of the lands and other
sources a fund of $7,000,000 has aris-
en-; apparently enormous. until one
considers the magnitude of the grant
from which it came. This IS now held
by the treasurer Of the state and in.
vested in county. city and other bonds.
Repeated losses to this fund have oc-
Cured through embezzlement, bad
( Legislation and fraudulent or unwise
investment, while the income steadi-
ly suffered by the decline of interest
rates from twelve per cent to five and
four. Besides this the uninvested
cash balance of the common school
fund clone averaged more than sl12,-
600 year for the twenty three years
ending 1896, though happily it has
averaged under $4,000 since that
time. Moreover the fund contains
perhaps $125,000 OF worthless secur-
tiles and about $275,0O0 on which in.
terest has had to be compromised and
which may be considered of doubtful
value.
March 1st, last we had 100000
lying idle in the treasury. Something
had to be done The commissioner
conceived the idea of travelling over
the state, appealing to the people in
every manner possible to borrow This
money BY the hardest kind of work
we did succeed but it was a tremend
GUS task and If we keep on selling oui
lands as we have in the past it viii
be utterly impossible to keep the
money out even az 8 per cent AS this
money IS charged to the several coun
ties which are held responsible fol
1.-The principal. interest and collection
II will be rather difficult for us to ge
any bad paper. This summer, how
ever, we made a systematic examin
alton of every mortgage and bond hel,
by the counties in the name of tn,
state, and 10 a grear number Of casei
found a very satisfactory state of af
fairs We had to force She counties
to make good quite a number o
losses"
) This then is one thing to consider
IIf Oklahoma should get for her land
} the $2O000,00O or more that a fai
= sale price would yield how shall w
Z invest the proceeds TO produce a pub
lie revenue? Shall we In our presen
: enlightenment initiate Ohio, Michigan
: and Missouri and betray all the gen
5 erations of the future by spending tn
proceeds on ourselves? Shall we In
vest In deferred payments like Texa
and contract to sell our lands at o
below the prices of today to be PAL
for at some period In the dim an
4 distant future when the lands then
! selves shall have multiplied I'm valu
many times2 can cite you 10 schoC
lands in Blair county Texas sold a
I So 90 an acre on forty years time q
= 4 per cent, now yielding the state {
= Texas twelve cents per acre an
l yielding their present owners thre
: 90 four dollars per acre in privai
rentals. Shall we imitatp Kansas
! Nebraska and Dakota and sooner Z
later thrust this enormous fund @
2 the market for investment al sue
o terms as It can find or TO remain NJ
y invested and take ifg chances Of on