Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-04-19
SCHOOL BONDS.

n&M hSHuOA BuHuAANg tue more urn
~ are we convinced that the district
cannot and will not assume the in.
debtedness al this time. According
to the statement furnished the Press
by the school clerk, the present as.
sessed valuation in the district f.
1886. 900, and the limit OF indebt-
edness would BIO st57,2sO. The
present bonded indebtedness Ia S62,-
500. and II we add to this the pro-
posed $4,000, 1t leaves margin OF
$3.50 above the limit OF indebted
ness allowed by law. The
statement shows that there Is money
on hand to pay on s11.5OO of the
present bonded indebtedness, which.
u is claimed by the clerk. would
leave q margin Of s16,2S0 for which
the district could be bonded after
voting the proposed $4,000. This
statement IL probably correct under
present flguFes. but there will be a
material decrease In the assessed val
uatlon this year, estimated to be
about s39O, 900 In this school district,
which will leave the amount subject
to taxation 91.5T6.O00. instead OF
9l,966,00O AZ at present. This re-
duCes our bonding capacity to 8128,-
0s0 from s1bT,2SO as stated by the
clerk. This would, II we vote the
$4,000 bonds. leave the district oy-
erbOnded s14sS20. and before more
bonds could be issued, no matter
what the emergency, 1t would be nee
aasaTy for the district to walt until
the increased valuation equaled an
amount sufilcient to wipe out this
Oyer~iasue and accumulate a surplus.
These figures are based on facts az
furnished by the clerk. from books
% the district. and any person can
take the statement and verify them.
The falling on In valuation Is based
upon a decreased assessment of 20
per cent which ID not too great, az
can be ascertained from the county
ofAoiala. With this condition con-
fronting this district we believe
u would be unjust to plunge
into such an indebtedne
and In taking this stand we do so
with knowledge Of the fact that ad-
ditional school facilities are needed
and must be provided. but they
should DO based on business princl-
Piles, and the whole situation taken
into consideration. The public should
analyze the figures and decide this
matter on its merits rather than on
any prejudice that may exiat against
members OF the board on account of
other matters OF differences.
The people have other objections
70 voting the issue. some claiming
that the board In the past has not
shown proper economy. or complied
with the law In the expenditure OF
public school funds. and In support
Of this they advance the argument
that the district has 94O0 worth OF
stoves stored away In the central
school basement which were pur-
chased couple of years ago and
proved 10 be a failure. There are
other complaints Of a similar nature,
and objection IL made to the secrecy
with which public business Is tran
aacted: TO the action OF the board |
In making the superintendent prls-
oner In hla Office instead of dlsmis. |
aing him II. In their Judgment. they
considered him incompetent 10 con-
tinae the management of the schools |
for the short SIX weeks then remain
ing; for deciding TO select a high |
school site and purchase the ground |
secretly instead OF calling for open
composition and thereby securing the
best location a competitive price
and we do not mean by this the low
est prlce-.but the best. all things
considered. There are many other
objections raised TO the methods of
the beard. some with good reason
and others without. In some In
asancea the criticisms are not iastl-
aNa oy the fAets. because the men,
eers Of the board occupy a very try
Ing position and there are always per-
sons ready to eritleise. but much of
n mikAt be avoided u the board
would come out in the open aud take
the public into It's confidence In mat
tsra where the people foot the bills.
Haa this been done and the purchase
og eao0 worth OF stoves been adveF-
tised for with competitive bids. the
district would probably not now have
them stored In the basement. Such
action would have at least freed the
beard from the public criticism that
n0w results.
The above are some OF the reasons
Why the people intend to vote down