The Julesburg grit-advocate. (Julesburg, Colo.) 1907-1972, 1910-07-14

l Inc SObOl10O St2ue leacnefS ASSOci-
alton is actively engaged in q campaign
which may result in the restoration of
one million dollars TO the public school
fund of the state.
The association proposes to do this
through the Cove amendment to the
constitution at the next general cleo
ton to be held in November. As =
means to this end the state is being
flooded with letters advocating the
adoption of this amendment. and CIV
ing the genesis of the long neglected
debt of the state to the school fund.
and some revelations as to the nature
of it.
This great heritage to the children
of the state of Colorado. according to
the letter. was unwittingly lost to them
by an unexpected and startling decision
of the supreme court.
The origin of this debt dates back to
the admission of the state to the Union.
At that time two sections of land in
every township in the public domain
within the states borders were set
aside by the Uuited States as public
school endowment.
Under the constitution of Colorado
accepting the gift the principal of this
endowment could never be impaired,
but the annual income was to be dis
tributed ca h year to all school districts
of the state in proportion to the school
population, and was thus made avail
able every year for actual and immedi
ate use.
The settlement and growth of var
ious parts of the state gave value and
made demand for these school lands,
a large portion of which have since
been sold by the state lard board, ere
ating a vast and perpetual endowment
for all the school districts in the state.
AS authorized by the statutes Of the
state, the state treasurer in 1879
with cash accrued from the sale of
school lands purchased state paper to
amount of s455, 54s.97. These warrants
which have been drawing interest more
than 20 years at 6 per cent per annum.
now amounts to more than 81 600. 600.
Almost every kind of warrant was
purchased, warrants for salaries of
state officials, buildings for peneten-
tiaries, insane asylums, soldiers and
sailors homes, etc. In plain facts these
warrants represent the operating ex-
penses of the state for parts of three
years, and are still unpaid.
The warrants were not paid because
the money raised by taxation, which
has been appropriated by the legisla-
ture for the payment of these warrants,
was used in the payment of warrants
of previous years.
This was not new departure, but
was in accordance with practice pre- ,,
vailing in numerical order. At the
time these warrants were issued the
state was in arrears for several years
on running expenses.
In 1889 the supreme court, answering
an inquiry from the governor handed
down decision that the warrants of
any year must be paid out of the same
year.
This decision came like thunderbolt
out of clear sky, and from that day
to this the warrants purchased for the
school fund have remained dead asset,
neither principal or interest available
for school purposes.
The Cove amendment provides that
the major portion of the Indebtedness
is held in the state school fund as an in
vestment, under which the constitution
of the state must forever remain invio
late and inact and loss thereof to be
supplied by the state.
Former attempts to do justice to the
matter have failed because of lack of
understanding on the part of educators
of the state.
Every teacher has been enlisted in
the present fight to regain the heritage
of the children of Colorado, and the
campaign of pulicity which has been
started will do much to swing public
sentiment in line, at the election next
November.