The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-03-02
SAY BOARD RULE
IS EXPENSIVE.
FRIENDS OF UNIVERSITY ARE
MAKING COMPARISONS.
Registrar johnson Conducts an Investi-
CATION Of tho Expenses Before and
After tho Board Assumed Control and
Says It Is Not an Economical Method
of Administration.

Friends Of the university will not
stop with the mass meeting to be held
Friday when personal appeal will be
made to all students to exert every eff
fort to interest the legislators in plan
for relief from the domination Of the
board of control.
Supplementary this action, figures
and statistics combating the argument
that the board of control has been a
money saver to the state, have been pre-
pared by z. 3. johnson, former regis
has been the mainstaay. Of those hostile
to the removal Of the board and Mr..
Johnson has collected interesting figures
contradicting the statement.
Mr.. johnson has made careful COM
parison between the amounts spent in
conducting state institutions before the
board Of control system was adopted
has been in existence. In order to make
his argument stronger he does not in
clude the university or normal schools
in the comparison, but claims that even
without reference to these institutions
the board has been money loser to the
state.
The two periods, Of four years each,
previous to the creation Of tie board of
1901 are compared with the four-year
period 1901-1904, in which the board
has managed the institutions. Each in
stitution is taken UP separately and the
following results are given D.
1sss-es. 1ss7-oo. 1eo1-o4. Vi
pen,e $500 $4,000 So s4e 7es4s &4,25e, oss. o4
per Year $40, 1892 50 se1,ee1.s7 1,oe4, 77o.7e
Increase over previous
Ssslsa saving due board e eoa'
troll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. S,749.4o
The annual cost of. the board Of con-
troll, however, including the salaries Of
the members, is over 100000 year,
and, deducting the apparent saving
from this amount, Mr.. Johnson shows
that the board has cost the state $751;
| 250.54 per annum, which, in four years,
shows loss to the state Of over $85 900.
Quotes from Dun. -.
In discussing these figures, Mr.. John
showing an apparent saving of 100000
is based upon suppositions and "ifs.'
Stress is laid on the fact that the board
! cannot plead an increased cost Of sup
plies in answering the charge that they
have not saved money for the state.
Dun's figures are used in proving that
the cost Of living for the years 1s01-04,
as compared to the cost of living in
1897-0o, does not show a more rapid
| AAASA Oe"o0 oOAAA
parison Of the figures for 10000 with
those Of 1896. =,
In the last report Of the board there
is an interesting table showing a COM
parison of the expenses per capita of
the inmates Of the various institutions
under the control of the board. Com
pairing the year 10000, year in
VIII ich the board had only partial CON
troll, with 1901-O2, when the expendi-
hco1 p%o al IN ho ho 6o nj.
the board, a saving Of 1854 per capita
is shown. Mr.. johnson does not Tower
look this part of the report, and asks
4 why the board did not make a similar
comparison for the subsequent years
Of it's control, He has carried on. the
investigation on his own account and
gives figures showing that in. l902-03
ia over 10000, and in 1903.0 4 the
increase over 10000 was $14.97 per
capita. It is suggested that the board
saw an opportunity, to make show.
ing in 1901-o2 by laying in supplies
in 10000. '"t '-.-.' -
,.'. -, Uses tho Boards Figures. ..
In conclusion the article states that
according to it's own figures during the
four years Of its life, the board has
lost to the" state $252,166.41, while it
has made saving or lUo,olo.oo-s
net loss to the state of $146, $50. 46
The cost Of maintaining the board fol
the four years Of it's existence lis not
included in these figures: Adding this
cost, which has been 500, 491.60, Mr.
johnson states that the total loss tt
the state has been $24O,052.05.
It Is probable that the materia
which has been collected by Mr.. John
son will be made into university cam
paign tracts and circulated. thruout thu
legislature. It will be printed in tn!
next number Of the Alumni Weekly ant
sent to all graduates Of the university