Askov American., 1931-02-19
AsKOv AMERICAN, AsKov, MINNESOTA
that the promoters would not have the

that the promoters would not have the
spending Of it.
If it were possible to have law
passed that would automatically re-
lease every member of the board from
further service after bond election,
I am quite sure the people would be
less burdened with debt.
In every village there are a num-
ber of non-taxpaying voters. Usually
they outnumber the property owners
and actual taxpayers, and they sell
dom fail to show up at the polls to
vote bonds, because they know they
will not be caught when the bills
come in. This is a serious question
of good citizenship and the question
of common decency and fairplay should
enter into the matter and those who
must carry on and face the costs
should have some protection. Some
people refuse to vote who are non
taxpaying, when the bond hounds have
"treed a fox" but they are few.
Nearly all villages have their school
districts to include several square
miles of farming country around the
village and here is where the farmer
gets it both ways. The village out
votes the rural people and puts over
any expensive program that the pro-
moters suggest. Under the present
system of taxing, the farms carry the
heaviest load and in one district in
Pine county. l have been told there
are 14O farms now abandoned No
body who looks into the local condi-
tions will buy farm thus handi-
capped.
The majority of non-taxpaying resi-
dents of every community are strong
hackers of the promoters. They are
always hollering for this or that ex-
ira equipment in the school, or this
or the other improvement or building.
They are also jumping about like
frog-legs on a hot skillet when there
is little local work to be handed
out so that they can grab few dol
lars. And, mostly, they pull the wool
over the eyes of the assessor and get
away with a few cents P. P. tax.
Such people will always be a
menace to our real progress. We can
not help this condition, but we can
organize local property holders COM
mittees whenever it becomes known
that bond statesmen are loose in the
land. And, by the way, am told
that their big cars have been gliding
in and out of our villages for the past
month or so. They are singing the
deadly siren song, not for your bene-
fit, friends. Not for your benefit, but,
maybe, to your undoing.
We want good schools, and we need
good teachers, but we can live few
years without fads. Let our conserva-
ton be along the lines of voting no
more bonds; cutting out fads in our
schools; and seeing that our property
is taken care of, thus reducing re-
pair bills. Pay your teachers well and
give them plenty of good text books,
then see that the pupils are held re-
sponsible for damages to books and
buildings, other than the usual wear
and tear. In a big school I know,
there has been several thousand dol
lars spent yearly on repairs but the
pupils have never had books enough.
The teachers have nearly always been
handicapped by need of good text
books. The board has called that
economy. 1t just happened that build
ing material interests had representa-
tives on that board but the text book
companies did not
w. r. NEWMAN,
Hinckley, Mimi, Feb. 16, 1881.