The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1918-02-06
STATE CAPITOL NEWS LETTER

STATE CAPITOL NEWS LETTER
Justice Hallam of the supreme
court this week filed an opinion in
the matter 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 sup
port Of schools during the present
year cannot be used to make up the
deficit caused by the governors veto
of the item of $1,070,0O0 which the
legislature intended should be ap-
piled upon deficits accruing in 1914
and 1916. 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..
Musel of Foley, a taxpayer of Ben
ton county.
The decision of the court is in a
way an endorsement of the state
board of education, for c. G. Schulz,
superintendent feducation and a
member Of the state high school
board, voted against using the 1918
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 win
ter when the legislature insisted
that the governor should comply
with the law which requires him to
npervise the appropriation of mo-
ney to the extent of investigating
the necessity for the demands of the
different departments for the 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, un-
TIL within few days of the date
fixed for him to make his recommen-
dations upon the budgets.
He hastily suggested a consider
able pruning and among other things
cut a million dollars out of the esti-
mates for school support. His
friends thought that this cut was
simply nattempt to reduce the ag-
gregate amount Of money to be
raised by taxation, and never dream
ed that he was in earnest, until, fol-
lowing the adjournment of the legis-
lature, he cut out the item of ST.
100000.
Such storm of protest followed
this act that he made public state
ment 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 appropriation for school sup
port and that if next year any de-
felt existed, the 1919 legislature
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 high school board, of which
President Burton is member, voted
to take from money now in the erea-
sury for school purposes the $1,070,-
900 lost by the governors veto.
The taxpayers of Benton county,
including one district which had no
interest in the vetoed item but was
entitled to a portion of the present
appropriation, interviewed, hired Har-
ris Richardson of St. Paul as it's at
torney, and finally prevailed.
10 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 the money the differ
ent districts have been compelled to
borrow amounts to 500 per day.
The money would have been avail
able the first of October, but now
cannot be had much before the first
of April, because of the plan to in.
clude the March settlement with the
remittances to the various districts,
so there is charged up to his excel
ency besides the loss of the $1,o7o,-
600 and the interest thereon from
May 1917, until the next legislature
meets, the sum of about $4,000 in
terest upon the money withheld
from the districts this fall and win.
ter.
The appropriation for school aid
for this year is $685., 1000. This was
available to pay aid earned in the
school 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 pro.
test of c. G. Schulz, state superin.
fonSorf ~ - :