Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-02-18

(BS Ii, W, Nlothicr' iiNo'N'
THE chairman Of the State
Taxpayers. association has given
wide publicity to his idea Of con
solidatinp educational institutions
in This state. In the hope that MS
agitation would not be taken sefi-
onslv nv the thinking people OF TINS
state and might die a natural death'
The writer Of this article has thus
faF refrained from taking any part
in the discussion; but believing now
that q one-sided discussion of the
question has proceeded far enough,
he requests the use of your columns
for the purpose of presenting the
other side of the question. II
"The first necessary step in the
presentation of this discussion IS
an analysis of that part of the re-
port of the special revenue COM
mission which refers to the state
institutions, found on page 3l9 OF
the report First, let it be said that
revenue commission se,lt out blank
missionaries to the presidents OF
the institutions, calling for eX-
nenditures, attendance, etc, at the
institutions for the year ending
November 80, 1919, and estimates
for the year ending November ~,
1920. The bookkeepers at the, A.
and M. college were away on vaca-
tion at the time and the president
of that institution tried to make out
n compromise report giving data
for the year ending July l, 1870,
and estimates for the year ending
July /, 1921. He has since found
that there was some overstatement
of expense in that report, due to
duplication of certain accounts. In
a letted to Mr.. Jerns, which may
appear in that gentleman's MINOR
ity report, he pointed out few
Of the most glazing errors IN the
report Of the commission, assum-
4 ing that it had been made up from
his report for the year ending July
l, 1920. 1
Used Another Report.
"Since the commissions report
has come to his desk, however, IT
is evident to him that the revenue
commission used the report of our
auditor to the governor, dated No
vember so. 1919.
ION page Z of that report the
total disbursements of the A. and
M. college for the year ending No
vember 30, 1919, are shown to be
1886, 060.05. The revenue commits
sion states them to be $421, S38.43,
an error of $36,77S.3S, due largely
to the fact that expenditures made
out of $4,000 borrowed money are
t,,g he nc
and then the whole amount is
charged up a second time when the
money is paid back.
I'm addition to this error, there
are several other items charged
against this institution, such as
board and room paid for by stu
dents, etc, that are not properly
included in the cost of running an
educational institution and are not
so charged in any other educational
institution in the United States
Including these items, the errors in
the commissions report for the A.
and NJ. college alone are as follows:
Overstatement of dis
bursements ......,.. $36, 1883
Board and room. ....... 1856. :
Revolving sales fund. 7,706.15
Cross bills, one depart
ment against another, 4,342.07
Paid by students for their
activities ............ 1890
Total overcharge ...sS9,706.12
Total Overcharges.
The overcharges for board and
room alone at the school of mines
. and the university We're S5,619,S SO
and s14,64S.3S, respectively; maxi
ing O total overcharge for the
three institutions of $109,973.S3.
Deducting this sum from the total
Of s665,781.26 stated by the reve-
nue. commission leaves $555, 1914
. as the legitimate charge for ex-
penditures at these three institu-
tons for the year ending Novem-
Der 80, 1919. The corresponding
expenditure in the University of
Arizona for the same year was
S7S0,019.37 The University of
Arizona is a consolidated institu-
ton. 1t enrolled 72S students,
while the revenue commission
states the enrolment in the three
institutions in New Mexico at SCI.
The gross cost per student in
Arizona was s1,07S.7S. The gross