The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-09-11

All County Superintendent
Should have Mere Expens-
es Than at Present.

SonirontS the county SuperintendentS
almost daily with some interesting
results. 1t Is commonly supposed
that the superintendent travelling en-
penses are provided for in some
equitable way. either by repayment.
as is done by Wholesale houses to
their commercial travelling men, or by
allowing a certain rate per mile for
distance actually and necessarily
travelled in the discharge Of duty.
The latter method Is in fact adopted.
but hardly equitable. The rate paid
is 10 cents per mile.
On the face of it his seems album
dant. but the superintendents for
years have testified tina they can not
Set out whole at that rae unless they
maneuNer a very great deal or have
some unusual advantage such as can
hardly be figured in a business trans
action. However. when effort has
heretofore been made in the legisla-
ture to secure an enactment which
would meet the situation fairly. deftn-
lite evidence has probably been too
meager to convince many that a
change actually has been needed. In
fact. some legislatures have shown a
disposition to lower the rate to S cents
per mile.
Leads to skipping" System.
Nevertheless. some investigation
thNht Nv tSSCAAS
rate is the cause for at least one OBJ
~Jectlonahle custom of all county sup
erintendents: namely. that Of skip
ping from place to place instead Of
making a systematic tour of inspec-
ton of the school conditions in the
various districts. No superintendent
can profitably inspect a school before
O'clock in the afternoon. Thus he has
pretty short hours for field work. At
least n hour is required for any,
thing like an adequate checking-up OF
school property n a discriminating
appraisal of the professional work
being done by the teacher.
Hence II travelling out by team
from a nearby town can make only
about twenty-five miles a day, which
at 10 cents per mile would return him
$50. But livery rates are about Is
cents per. mile or 81 or more for a
DAYS use irrespective of miles COW
cred. and 1t is common knowledge
that the average liveryman Is not
getting rich at that rate by any
means. Auto generally find
!hat. IN the course of FIVE years or so,
them at that rate. If the place from
which n drive originated is not the
sunerintendent's home town. there
Will he hotel charges. One driving
who stops for noon in the country has
to- provide for his team feed and his
dinner. and nobody wants to sponge
from the farmers" Hence the super
!ntendent finds that he needs all of 10
cents per mile. or Z 1-2 cents more
than his possible railroad fare per
mile to make up for living expenses
while away from home. To expect
this is not unreasonable any more
tnan 1t would be with the commercial
traveller. The house always stands
such expense one way or another.
Thus the average superintendent falls
behind just abouE'Fhe' difference be-
tween the 10 cents which he gets n
the 10 cents which he pays the livery
man and auto drivers.
IT n runs his own rig. the ex-
pense is In the end about the same,
Tor he has no free pasture, hay. ETC.,
as the farmers figure them, but must
ultimately pay cash for everything.
the same as hverymen do. The rapid
deterioration of automobile values lie
notorious. Moreover, they are not
serviceable in many counties when
o needed. which is in the late fall,
winter and early spring.
Only Where Account is Kent.
superintendent Barnes has collected
data so far from the counties where
the superintendent have kept track
OF thei travelling expenses. Others
do not seem to know definitely what
losses are. but all who study into the
situation recognize that the discrep-
ency is actual n great. The twen-
ty-three reports show a total income
of 10 cents a mile OF $5,O33.65, and
corresponding travelling expenses Of
ss.ol4.33. or a rate of IS income to
80 expense. This means mat when
ever the average superintendent
nnn6C ~ e. all --L -
lars on official travel he can hope
to get hack only the IS bill.
is 1t n wonder then that superin-
tendents hike" over the highways in
a vain hope that. by increasing the
miles covered. they will at least get
back a part of those silver dollars?
Humiliating Experience.
Doing away with mileage altogeth-
er and substituting therefore the re-
payments of actual and necessary ex-
penses has been proposed. This plan
mas desirable features; but the aver
age superintendent breads having his
bills criticised by the county commits
sioners and would prefer not having
to tell all about why he saw fit to
spend. a few cents more or less in
travel here and there. or why he
nose TO stop at such and such a hotel
instead of some other one where pos
sibly rate was 4 little different
not hat he has anything to cover up
bat 1t Is unduly huimilagintct
but 1t Is unduly humiliating. The
actual M necessary expenses might,
however. be repaid in a manner sim.
liar to those Of the state superintend-
ent, which would be monthly on the
warrant of the county auditor. upon
h superintendent filing with him
an itcmized statement properly veri.
fed.
A second plan would be like that
under which the sheriff can be paid.
They will get 10 cents mileage and
actual team or auto fees up to IS
per day. counting forty miles driven
as a day. Fully as much reason ex-
lists for allowing this to the superin.
tendent as to the sheriff, and especial.
ly because they have restricted hours
for field work.
Auditors Reports.
Reports from thirty-three out Of
fO%rty-nine auditors and superintend.
ents indicate that s25.02s.11 was paid
last year for county superintendents'
ratio Of IS mileage income ( So ac-
tual travelling expense is correct (and
it almost surely isl something like
$40.0 900 should have been paid. to the
county superintendent or eight-ffths
Of ~$25.02s.11. The total number of
schools in h thirtv-three reported
counties was 4.491. Hence the aver
age cost Of inspection was the quo.
tient Of $~25.028.11 divided by 4.49l.
or about So annually. The actual cost
to the superintendents must have
been almost $40 on the average. The
total for salaries paid the superin.
tendents OF h thirty.three reporting
counties was S53.4l5. Since the cry.
ing complaint is that the one-room
school does not receive supervision
anouRh II MIGHT he uiso Ia ailou, fhe