Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-19
Educators
Method of
Financing
SHOWS THAT FINANCIAL
QUESTIONS MUST BE SET
tiled BY LEGISLATURE,
NOT PROFESSORS LOBBY.
JUST SOME STATE history
Story Of institutional Bond
Proposition Is Retold..

IL is pain tnaL the nnanClal prob.
lens relating to our educational insti-
tutions can not be solved by the edu.
Gators, and that they must be deter
mined by, the good, hard sense of the
members of the legislature themselves
Past experience shows that the legis-
lature is not justified in accepting and
acting upon financial schemes propos.
ed by educators without question. Ed
ucators are specialists in their line,
but 1t is notorious that they are not
specialists in financial matters. AS
applied to the financial affairs of our
state educational institutions, this is
perhaps most strikingly shown by
their proposal of number of years
ago, which was approved by the legis-
lature, and under which they under
took to absorb the permanent common
school fund to their own use.
Generous Grants.
AS everyone now knows, the Federal
government, when it started us out
in statehood, treated us as it did 9TH
er states and gave us a very generous
grant of lands for educational purpos-
es. A number Of other states, which
had similar grants, had squandered the
funds. 1t was for this reason proba-
bly, that our grant was so fixed by
Congress that only the interest and
income could be used, and that a
misuse of the permanent fund was
nothing short of embezzlement by the
state. The entire grant of lands, for
all purposes, as divided by the enab-
ling act of the constitution, was as
follows: ... 49,.
Capitol buildings. $4,000 acres;
State University, $3.50 acres;s School
of Mines, 10000 acres; Agricultural
College, 10000 acres; Normal School
Valley City, $4,000 acres; Normal
School, .Mayville, 10000 acres; Deaf
and Dumb Asylum, 10000 acres; Hos
pital for Insane, 10000 acres; Soldiers
Home, 10000 acres; Blind Asylum, 3O,-
900 acres; Industrial School, 10000
acres; Scientific School, 10000 acres;
Permanent School Fund, 2,418,291
acres-total, 3OS6,371 acres"
The Capitol land grant was not re-
quired to be kept permanent. The
only limitation upon it was that it
was :for the purpose of erecting pub
lie buildings, at the Capitol for legis-
lative, executive and judicial purpos-
es."
Must be Intact.
The permanent fund created for edu
cational purposes, however, was re-
Quired to be kept intact. Section II
Of the enabling act provided: "That
all lands herein granted for educa-
tional purposes shall be disposed of
only at public sale, and at price not
less than $1,000 an acre, the proceeds
to constitute permanent school fund,
the interest only of which shall be
expended in support of said schools
# /"
Trust Fund.
Section 153. of the state constitu.
tion, in accepting the grant, stated:
ut shall be deemed trust fund, the
principal of which shall forever re-
main inviolate and may be increased
but never diminished. The state
shall make good all losses thereof"
Section 154 provides: "* And no
part of the fund shall ever be divert
ed even temporarily from this pur.
pose, or used for any other purpose
whatever than the maintenance of
Common Schools for the equal beneht
of all the people of the state * T."
Scheme Devised.
A scheme was devised to supply
building and other funds for the vari-
Gus educational institutions, and to
take these funds from the permanent
common school funds. The method
proposed was for each institution
wanting money to issue sort of ali
institutional bond and get corrre-
spending amount from the common
school fund. This scheme had the
united approval of the educational in.
stitutions of the state, and there is
no. record that any educator in the
state protested against it. The bonds
which were issued bors the signature |
of Mr.. Stockwell then state superin.
tendent, and at the head of the edu-
cational system of the state. This
(Continuod IN ma 90 ciY)