The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1922-05-25
PUBLIC SCHOOL COSTS

PUBLIC SCHOOL COSTS
For the year ending June 80,
1910, it cost $53.57 per pupil to
conduct the public schools Of the
state. Pretty expensive, Ell? But
they say we had better schools in
those days.
Well, for the year ending June
80, 1920, it cost US $106.61 per
pupil-twice as much. But bless
you, we had, and still have, Min
ME j. Nelson. During the same
time, the expenditu S for all
school purposes increased from
$4,S29,232 per year to $12,-
716,526.65-a net increase of
nearly eight million dollars per
year.
Will our l. V. A. friends charge
this mere bagatel!e to the Nom
partisans, too? Well, hardly: but
they would dearly love to, for it
would sound so much more i'm
pressive-as compared to the
Drake mill losses or poor Bill
Lemke's house. When the I. V.
A. prattle about high taxes, they
tell you everything except the
real cause.
The above clipping is taken from
the Courier-News this morning.
While the Times Record is holding no
brief for Minnie J. Nelson it might
be we'll for the en-. editor to remem-
Der that, while school costs have been
climbing during Miss Nelson's ten
ure of office, the Nonpartisan League
controlled the state government and
levied the taxes. These taxes were
levied under laws passed by the nom
partisan legislature. The Courier
News editor certainly cannot class
Miss Nelson as a nonpartisan and we
fail to see how she can be connected
with the increase in school expendi-
lures.
Mr.. Northridge, candidate for the
legislature from the Fifteenth dis
trict, says that he is not going to pub
fish in print just where he stands po-
litically and that if the Times-Record
wants to know where he stands he
will have to wait until Mr.. Northridge
goes to Bismarck. This is lodging the
issue right, we will say. But we want
to advise the gentleman that it is a
long way from here to Bismarck and
seeing that he has not yet been given
the certificate of election we might
add that there is "many a slip twixt
cup and the lip, as the saying is. Mr..
Northridge says we know where he
has stood for the past five years. We
have thought we knew but later devel
opments have convinced US that we do
not know. Mr.. Northridge has been
claiming all along to be bitter fight
er against the nonpartisan league pro-
gram. Now he seems to be trying to
get under the wing Of the fellows he
: has been opposing. We find him in
the rather strange attitude of having
the nonpartisan leaguers circulating
his petitions, we find everywhere we
go the same bunch boosting his candi-
dacy for the legislature-and they are
not boosting him ,allss they think
they can use him should he land in
the legislature, so we rightly come to
the conclusion that Mr. Northridge is
either standing with the league bunch
or he is not and if he elects NOT to
make a declaration he cannot blame
anyone but himself if he be classed or
labeled according to the company he
seeks. The people have a right to
know Just where he stands and in
what bunch he will land if he should
be elected, or he cannot expect them tc
vote for him. This idea of saying you
!are one thing and then doing the Other
is not the best way of conducting any
business-political or otherwise. The
: state is now trying to recover from
5 some hard knocks imposed upon it by
: the last administration. Taxes have
r been more than trebled in the pas
three years and the people seek relic:
, from heavy taxation and they are go
). ing to expect the next legislature tt
t enact Legislation that will relieve
= them so far as possible. To that enc
= a legislature must be elected that will
k pledge itself to do these things. Al
d independent candidates will go befor
:, the people on just such an issue-jus
e the same as we are going before tn
d people-for strict economy to NEE
= present conditions and for reduction
It in valuation and limit in rate. TIL
It nonpartisan ticket nominated at Far
r go and headed by Mr.. Baker, for gov