Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1915-10-23
INCOMPETENT UPLIFTERS DO EVIL
Usher Discusses Referees Report ON
MisappropriatiOn of School
Lands.
BY Ellis b. sher.


by the decision of the court which
held that certain laws which had set
aside lands for forestry purposes were
unconstitutional and that the admin
stration of those laws had violated
state school trusts and otherwise
mixed up state finances. The refer
ee's report shows, without going into
minutiae, that the general fund of the
state now owes, as the result of this
INSTRUMENTATION: to the school
fund S1,517, 514.23; to the common
school fund 81 ,564 $40 900; to the uni
versity fund $4,000; to the Agricul-
tural College fund, $50, 600, in all So,
253, 654. %. The nature of this indebt-
edness is illustrated by the normal
school fund, which contains items for
LANDS given away without compen-
sation, p" money in income fund and
spent, - money taken and used as
general funds, proceeds of sale of
lands placed in general funds; PRO
ceeds of sale of lands placed in forest
reserve, and Interest" due on these
several Interpretations.
This is startling showing. This
maladministration of funds belong
ing to various trusts was considered
in the name of progress by experts,
and with the endorsement of our
scholars and institutions of learning.
Unchecked for few years more it
would have resulted in tangle that
would have debauched some of these
trusts permanently. Altogether it is
beautiful illustration of the way
evil of most serious and enduring
character may be accomplished in the
name of uplift, and by the most en-
thusiastic and most incompetent up-
lifters. 1t ought to be an eye opener
to the cool and oyerburdened taxpay-
ers of Wisconsin.
IMPRACTICAL REPRESENTATION.
This work fell according to the 1911
special report of the Tax Commission
under heading defined by "the work
of Pro. Ii. c. Adams on Public FL
nances" under classification EMIT
led: The function of developing the
physical basis of the state in so far as
that cannot be judiciously accomp-
lished by private enterprise. " That
is an illustration of the beatific pur-
poses of reforestation and of new for
estati0n conducted on an impractical
plan that reminds one of the famous
remark of Flanagan of Texas-"T
with the constitution. We want the
offices. " Probably the educated ex-
perts who brought the educational
finds of the state into the depleted
condition in which Judge Hastings
and the supreme court found them
would insist upon the purity of their
motives and the desirability of rob-
bing the school children of today for
a wood pile for future generations,
but there is an old adage somewhere
about the use of good intentions for
paving the hot place, that will occur
to some people who think that we
want less vocal music from our schol-
astic centers and more attention to
such education as the average boy and
girl needs for contact with their or
binary life duties.
l. A
The special report of the Tax Com
missiOners contains lengthy review
of the affairs of the public schools
which indicates, plainly, the top hea-
Wy and inefficient character of the
system, or lack of system, in WiscOn-
sin. For example, the report shows
that a common school maintained
for seven months of the year gets as
much state school money as one
maintained for nine months, and that
the details of school finances are so
loosely kept as to make a clear ac-
counting impossible. 1t says too,
that lit has been found that gross
inequality exists among the high
school, the graded school and the
common school districts" Another
significant statement is as follows:
THE clerical administrative work
of the school districts is handled at
the present time by district clerk
and treasurer. There are 1000 such
school districts in the state, the cler-
zeal officers of which receive no pay
and in consequence give the public
matters entrusted to them very little
attention.
1t is not surprising that our COM
mon schools are Inefficient, when
their monies are thus the prey of con
stitution breakers and the waste of
indifferent and unpaid local officials.
The wonder is that we have any coun-
try common schools worthy the name.
Our nauch Wanted Wisconsin "effiei-