Arizona republican., 1921-02-19
SCHOOL FUND ON. ATTENDANCE Is. SRGED BY SENATE
Bill Appropriating $30 For Each Child Recommended
 By Committee - Three New Bills In The House

The chief event in the legislature yes tcrday and one of the most important phases of legislation of the session was the recommendation by the senate com mittce of the whole, of senate bill S3 for the purpose of creating a state school fund. This bill differs from one offered in the house which provided for the appropriation of $50 for each child of school age as disclosed by the school census. The senate bill also proposed 8 s30 per capita appropriation but based it upon the average attendance which is regarded as much more fair. The bill from the outset encountered strong opposition from the large min ing counties which are chronically op- posed to the creation of state funds and when the bill was in course of reading yesterday Dr. Sims of Cochse offered an amendment reducing the per capita to $15. He described in an address the growth of the state school fund from 9 modest beginning until in the last legis- lature it had reached hree-quarters of million dollars. It was the ultimate aim. he said, of the advocates of it to bring about the entire support of the schools by the state to the total relief of the counties.
 He had prepared some figures show ing what would have happened last year under such bill as senate bill S3. He showed that Cochise would have drawn less than half of it's contribution to the fund. Nearly all of the mining sSounties would nave fared as badly. bb7e contribution, he said, of 1aricopa Hfn the fund would have been $201, 900 while this county would have drawn s53s,0o0 from the fund.
 Declares Bill for Progress
 Mir Lines spoke at length in reply. He said that the bill was in the direc- ton Of progress which had been steady from the time that only the children of the rich were educated. Later, for the good of the state, it was decided that out of their wealth should contribute to the education of the children of the poor and out of that grew the public school system. It was now proposed to make the rich counties assist .a the education of the pupils of the poorer counties.
 pr. Sims had stated that the bill pro- posed to provide practically total per capita for the education of the chil- &sfn of the state. MT. Lines took ex- A btlQp to that statement and said thai yre dverage cost per pupil in the state Was about s60 so that the bill proposed to furnish only about half the per capita cost. The rest would be fur nished by the counties, each for its own.
 President Wilkinson said that the counties were not divisions of the state with respect to wealth. They were di- visions only for the purpose of admin : istration. The wealth belonged to the whole state and 1t was the duty of the state to educate it's future citizens.
 Mir. Larson touched upon the fac that the rich counties those containing the large mines, generally had few children so that under county systen their expenses for the education o their children would be negligible
 I'm nh nr +I, waste of the school funds under ou present system which placed no re straint upon school trustees. Tn creation of state fund, he said, woul be less objectionable under system O centralized control. To that MT. Line replied that progress was also bein made in that direction. After som further debate, Dr. Sims withdrew hi amendment and the committee withou division agreed to a recommendation C the bill.
 Pass Fire Insurance Bill.
 Another important action of the sen ate late in the afternoon was the pass age of the bill for the regulation of fir insurance companies. That had bee agreed to several days ago in the com 1nittee of the whole, but Mir. Schleime the introducer of it the day before. ha consented to an amendment whic would relieve the rates of insuranC OA COtlOu AIOIu lcS uldllOu pTlOT lO dI uary 1 next year. That amendmer was made and the bill was passed yes terday.
 The morning session of the senat after the prayer by MT. Crutchfiel the house chaplain, opened with a con cdy in the introduction of a measul known as Substitute Senate Bill which happens to be the number of u omnibus bill. The new bill bore u name of Mir. Larson as introducer
 dealt with the subject of China egs and proposed. among other things. th in every nest there should be a rubb stamp for the proper dating of Il eggs and for designating their u either for domestic purposes or f nest eggs. A violation bv hen or roost of this provision of the bill was pul ishable by enforced attendance upt the gallery of the senate and submi sion to the gas test thereby imposed
 Midway in the reading of the bill N Larson rose and inquired where tn stuff had come from. He demanded t name of the introducer who had talk his name in vain. It was uncerta whether MT. Larson's indignation w genuine or simulated, but he persist