Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1918-02-06
STATE CAPITOL LETTER
st. Paul. MIMI. Ian 90 1

of the school funds which will be hailed
with delight by all the friends of the
common schools in the state The court
decided that the money appropriated
for the support Of schools during the
present year cannot be used to make up
the deficit caused by the governors
veto of the item Of $1,O7O,OOO which
the legislature intended should be ap-
piled upon deficits accruing in 1914 and
1915. The case has been in the courts
since last fall, when Judge Brill of the
Ramsey county district court granted
an injunction to J. F. Nutshell of Foley,
a taxpayer of Benton county.
The decision Of the court is in a way
an endorsement of the state board of
education, for G. G. Schultz, superin-
tendent Of education and a member of
the state high school board, } voted
against using the 1913 money to pay
1914-1915 debts. By the same token the
victory of the little red school house is
a defeat for President Burton of the
state university, whose first official act
was to vote to use the money to pay the
old debts
All the trouble started last winter
when the legislature insisted that the
governor should comply with the law
which requires him to supervise the ap-
preparation of money to the extent of
investigating the necessity for the de-
mands Of the different departments for
money for the coming years. This law
is the budget law, and the governor had
evidently planned to pass the buck right
up to the legislature, until within few
days Of the date fixed for him to make
his recommendations upon the budgets.
He hastily suggested considerable
pruning and among other things cut
billion dollars out Of the estimates for
school support. His friends thought
that this cut was simply an attempt to
reduce the aggregate amount of money
to be raised by taxation, and never
dreamed that he was in earnest, until,
following the adjournment of the legis-
lature he cut out the item of 81 ,O70, 900.
Such storm of protest followed this
act that he made a public statement to
the effect that he was of the opinion
that the distribution of school aid was
unfair, and that this item could be
made up out of this years appropria-
ton for school support. and that if next
year any deficit existed, the 1919 legis-
lature could make it up. This, Of
course, would simply be postponing the
evil day, but the plan was sanctioned
by the attorney general, and later the
state highsschool board, of which Presi-
dent Blu ton is a member, voted to take
Efrom money now in the treasury for
school purposes the $1,070,000 lost by
| the governors veto. ~ 4 4
The taxpayers of Benton county, in
Guiding one district which had no in
terest in the vetoed item but was en-
titled to a portion Of the present ap-
preparation interviewed, hired Harris
Richardson of St. Paul as it's <attorney,
and finally prevailed.
| TO state it mildly, the governors veto
was never popular affair, and the
delay caused by the litigation has piled
up heavy interest charges, the public
examiner estimating that the interest
on money the different districts have
been compelled to borrow amounts to
500 per day.
The money would have been available
/ the first of October, but now cannot be
had much before the first of April. be-
cause Of the plan to include the March
settlement with the remittanceS to the
various districts so there is charged up
to his eXcellency, besides the loss OF the
$1.070,0O0 and the interest thereon from
May, 1917, until the next legislature
meets, the sum of about $1,000 interest
upon the money withheld from the dis
tricts this fall and winter.
The appropriation for school aid fOl
this year is $2,637 900. This was avail
able to pay aid earned in the schoo
year ending last June. But the state
high school board, of which president
Burton of the university is a member
and which is controlled by the governor
voted, over the protest of G. G. Schulz
state superintendent Of education, tt
pay the item Of 81, 100000 vetoed by the
governor, and later to pay the high anc
| =
1917 appropriation the further sum OF
81 ,456, O00 leaving for the little rec
country school house apathy $500, 900.
If present apparent political inactivi
ty which is principally featured in al
almost unprecedented lack of filings fol
state Offices counts for anything, those
who have been advocating and praying
for politicaless year would seem to be
due to have their hopes realized; still
it might not be well to chuckle too soon
The district horizon gives promise Of {
storm. Though January is well ad
vanced, when this letter was in tn
making only one filing for state Office
was recorded in the Office of the secre
tary Of state and it had to do with {
district judgeship. The names q
Thomas Frankson, Secretary Of Stat
Schmahl, Chas. L1ndbergh, Free
4 Wheaton, Judge Stanton and number
Of others mentioned in connection will
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