Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-04-20
BONDING Is PRRslATUKR.

AAeeAHA@A
TIE sehocs board hsbd q special
meesfng last evening In the hack Of
the store ~ the Winn- BARR halney
company. and the Press and al edi-
t0riai on the bonding question. Which
appeared IN the last issue. vas the
ehksf sVb5set Of discussion. The
Press vas accused Of being pTefu-
diced and the chairman paid his re-
sDeets 70 u. but the paper Il not the
issue except in 20 far as IL represents
the interests Of the people and pub
fishes the nsws. much Of which the
school board eTidsntIy would prefer
70 not have UubhAhed. The state
Inent vas made last evening that a
site would be secretly purchased for
the high school building. because IL
u were made public people would
jump up the prices. but sueh methods
are contrary 20 custom. as eOmpeti-
tive offers would have q tendency 10
lover the prices. and The rule Is fol-
loved ia ali departments Of govern
ment. The fact that 40 member Of
the board knew what kind of build
ing IL was proposed 10 erect. or on
what plans or style OF architecture,
and that they wanted $4,000 10
spend II SUFFICIENT ground to defeat
the bonding proposal II there were
no other reasons. The truth Il that
the people are heartily sick Of the
custom Of tFaBsaeting public business
~ secret and spending their money
without their knowledge. They do
not appreciate the secret purchase Of
school sites costing thousands 81 dol
lars. the securing o. plans without
competition and the Transaction Of
other business IN the same way. The
trustees claim that these methods are
IN the interest Of the public. but a.
they are the servants OF the public
u would seem that they should take
the public into their confidence, and
~ publicity avoid the criticism that
follows the secret methods. But these
things can b remedied Is the time
comes for doing 20. and the question
~ present - whether the district IA
IN position 70 take up an additional
burden az $4,000.
While no one viii deny that there
~ need Of better high school facilities
and equipment. the question 10 whe-
Their we should bond for the limit Of
Indebtedness now or walt = year or
20 20 zee what the future brings In
the way Of increased pOpupiatiOn.
Occur d'Aiene h on the ere Of great
changes II prospective railway and
other enterprises are carried out and
the time h inoppoFtune for the cree
tiOn Of building costing 500. Geo.
and u the contemplated develop
ments DO not come the debt IL entire
" too much TO be placed on the dis
trict, when > much smaller amount
would anfaeo.
We arm reformed that there ere
one or two vacant school rooms In
the city 1t present and that some OF
the teachers are now teaching from .
10 rs pupils. which would indicate
that = Encouragement OF the schools
might place them In condition
where the district could very conyen-
iontiy get along without an additional
expense. or nntfl conditions change
and something more definite could
be determined In the way Of high
school needs. Last evening tho Press
EAve some good reasons why The
bOnds should be- voted down. and
whtlo tho members Of the school
board called Il a talsifier and other
mean terms Ut ita meeting last even
ing. they did not answer our argu-
menta and we will nov Offer them
the aas OF these columns for any ar
gumant they may advance 70 the
pnblle In defense OF their action. n
they have an argument this Il their
oppostunity 60 present Il to the peo-
pic.