duties of board of education. SEC. 8. The board of education of said district shall have Powers and power and authority to designate and purchase schoolhouse sites, erect buildings and furnish the same, emply legally qualified teachers, provide books for district library, make by-laws relative to taking the census of all children in said district between the ages of five and twenty years, and to make all necessary reports and transmit the same to the proper officers as designated by law, so that the district may be entitled to its proportion of the primary school interest fund; and said board shall have authority to make all needful regulations and by-laws relative to the visitation of schools; relative to the length of time school shall be kept, which shall not be less than five months in each year; relative to the employment of teachers duly and legally qualified; relative to the regulation of schools and the books to be used therein; and generally, to do all things needful and desirable for the maintenance, prosperity, and success of the schools of said district, and the promotion of a thorough education of the children thereof. When in any contiguous territory of said township district there are ten or more children of school age, living not less than three miles, nor more than eight miles, from any schoolhouse in said district, the board of education shall, upon the petition of a majority of the parents or legal guardians of said children, provide school advantages for such children, either by establishing a sub-district, or by providing transportation to some school already established within the township. termine SEC. 9. At each annual school meeting held in said township. Who to dethe qualified voters present shall determine the amount of amount of money to be raised by tax for all school purposes for the school tax. ensuing year: Provided, That in case the voters at any annual Proviso. school meeting shall neglect or refuse to determine the amount to be raised as aforesaid, then the board of education shall determine the same at the first regular meeting thereof, which amount the secretary shall, within thirty days thereafter, certify to the supervisor of the township, who shall spread the same upon the regular tax roll of said township, and the same shall be levied, collected and returned in the same manner as other township taxes: Provided, That for purchasing school Proviso. lots and for erecting school-houses no greater sum than three mills on the dollar of all the taxable valuation of the real and personal property in said township shall be levied in any one year. on roll. SEC. 10. All taxes assessed within said township for school How set forth purposes shall be set forth in the assessment roll of said township, in a separate column, apart and distinct from all other township taxes. urer to report SEC. 11. The treasurer of the township shall, at any time, When treasat the written request of said board of education, report to to board. said board the amount of school money in his hands, and shall, on the order of the secretary of said board of education, coun Annual state tersigned by the president, pay to the treasurer of said board. all or any of such money. SEC. 12. The said board shall annually, prior to the second ment of board Monday of July in each year, make a detailed statement of the number of schools in said district, the number of teachers employed, the number of pupils instructed therein during the preceding year, the expenditures of said board for all purposes, the resources and liabilities of said district, and also an estimate of the necessary expenses for the ensuing year exclusive of the income from the primary school interest fund and one mill tax, which report or statement shall be entered at length in the record of said board and shall be publicly read by the president of said board, or in his absence by the secretary thereof, to the voters of said township, at their annual meeting on the second Monday of July. Disposal of erty, etc. Sec. 13. All school property, both real and personal, within certain prop- the limits of a township incorporated as aforesaid, shall, by force of this act, become the property of the public schools of such township, and all debts and liabilities of the primary school districts of said township, as they existed prior to its incorporation under the provisions of this act, shall become the debts and liabilities of said public schools of the township so incorporated. Certain money, eic., to belong to SEC. 14. All money raised or being raised by tax, or accrued or accruing to the school districts of said township, as organpublic schools. ized under the primary school laws of this State shall hereby become the money of the public schools of the township, and no tax heretofore ordered assessed or levied for school purposes in said township, or other proceedings, shall be invali dated or affected by means of this act. Compensation of officers. In case of division of districts. SEC. 15. The compensation of the members of the board of education other than the secretary and treasurer shall be two dollars for attendance at each regular meeting of the board. The secretary and treasurer of said board shall receive such compensation for their services as the board of education may determine, not exceeding one hundred dollars for the treasurer and one hundred twenty-five dollars for the secretary, per annum. SEC. 16. When any township district shall be divided into two or more townships, the existing board of trustees shall continue to act for all the townships until the same shall have been organized and the township boards of trustees duly elected and qualified therein. Immediately after such organization the township boards of education of each of the townships shall meet in joint session and direct an appraisal of all the school property of the former township to be made. When such ap praisal has been made, said township boards of education shall make an equitable division of the existing assets and liabilities of the school districts of such former township, basing their apportionment upon the amount of taxable property in the township divided, as shown by the last assessment roll of such former township. When a township district shall be altered. in its limits by annexing a portion of its territory to another township or townships, the township boards of education of each of the townships shall, immediately after such alteration, meet in joint session and make an equitable division of the assets and liabilities of the school districts of the township from which the territory has been detached, basing their division upon the amount of taxable property as the same shall appear upon the last assessment roll of such township. SEC. 17. The provisions of this act shall not apply or be in Application force in any school district in Iron county. of act. clause. SEC. 18. All acts contravening the provisions of this act Repealing except as provided in section seventeen, are hereby repealed. This act is ordered to take immediate effect. Approved May 26, 1903. [No. 155.] AN ACT to provide for the letting of contracts by the Board of State Auditors for heating the capitol building and the State building situated at the corner of Allegan street and Washington avenue, Lansing. The People of the State of Michigan enact: SECTION 1. The Board of State Auditors are hereby empow- Heating ered and directed to make such contract or contracts as may contract. be necessary for heating the capitol building and the State building, situated at the corner of Allegan street and Washington avenue, Lansing, Michigan, for a term of one or more years, not exceeding two years, as may be considered by the Board of State Auditors for the best interest of the State. SEC. 2. The Board of State Auditors are hereby authorized Coal contract. to make contracts for the purchase of coal to be used in the furnaces of the capitol building and in stoves in the State building referred to in section one of this act, for heating such buildings, or to make contract or contracts for heating either or both of such buildings by means of steam conveyed thereto in underground pipes. clause. SEC. 3. All acts or parts of acts contravening the provisions Repealing of this act are hereby repealed, in so far as they conflict with the terms of this act. This act is ordered to take immediate effect. 26 Establishment, name, etc. Who to procure site. for, etc, [No. 156.] AN ACT to provide for the locating, establishing and maintaining of a State normal school in the western part of the State, to make appropriations therefor and to provide a tax to meet the same. The People of the State of Michigan enact: SECTION 1. A State normal school shall be located, established and maintained in the western part of the State, at such place as the State Board of Education shall designate, to be known as the "Western State Normal School," for the preparation and training of persons for teaching in the rural district schools, and the primary departments of the graded schools of the State. SEC. 2. The State Board of Education is hereby authorized and directed to procure a suitable site of not less than twenty Amount paid acres for the building and grounds for said normal school. Said State Board of Education shall pay for such site a sum not exceeding one dollar, to be drawn on the requisition of said State Board of Education, and the warrant of the Auditor General, as other moneys and appropriations are drawn. Said State Board of Education shall procure good and sufficient deed of conveyance, with an abstract of the title thereto, showing a clear and unencumbered title, and all papers relating thereto shall be deposited in the office of the Auditor General. The sum of one dollar is hereby appropriated for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred four, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section. Appropriation, how expended. transfer of funds. SEC. 3. The sum of thirty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for the fiscal year ending June thirty, nineteen hundred four, by purposes and amounts as follows: For the erection and completion of a suitable building, the sum of twentyfive thousand dollars; for a complete equipment of the same, the sum of five thousand dollars, which building shall be ready Proviso as to for occupancy September first, nineteen hundred four: Provided, That if the amount designated in this section for either of the purposes stated be insufficient to complete the work or purchase, any surplus remaining after the completion of the other work or purchase specified may, by obtaining the consent of the State Board of Corrections and Charities and Auditor General, in writing, before any expense in excess of the specific appropriation is incurred, be used in the account or accounts where such deficiency seems unavoidable, the intent of this proviso being to make the entire thirty thousand dollars available for the purposes stated therein, if in the judgment of the State Board of Corrections and Charities and Auditor General it is deemed advisable to make the transfers for which proProviso as to vision is hereby made: Provided further, That the State Board of Education may obtain money under sections two and three of this act, before July first, nineteen hundred three, in such amounts as they may by requisition certify to the Auditor Gen when may obtain. eral are necessary for immediate use, which amounts thus advanced, shall be deducted from the total amount appropriated when the appropriation becomes available. SEC. 4. The sum of seven thousand dollars is hereby ap- Appropriation propriated for the payment of the salaries and conduct of said for salaries. school for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred five. school. SEC. 5. The said Western State Normal School shall be control of under and subject to the control of the State Board of Education, according to provisions of act number one hundred ninetyfour of the public acts of eighteen hundred eighty-nine, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the laws relative to the State Board of Education," and amendments thereto; also according to the provisions of act number one hundred seventy-five of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, entitled "An act to fix the relations of the existing normal schools of the State," which laws are made applicable to the school hereby established except as herein otherwise provided. SEC. 6. The several sums appropriated by the provisions of Appropriathis act shall be paid out of the State Treasury to the treasurer tion, how paid of the State Board of Education, in such amounts and at such times as the general accounting laws of the State prescribe and the disbursing officer shall render his accounts to the Auditor General thereunder. rated in state tax. SEC. 7. The Auditor General shall add to and incorporate in To be incorpothe State tax for the year nineteen hundred three the sum of thirty thousand and one dollars and for the year nineteen hundred four the sum of seven thousand dollars which, when collected, shall be credited to the general fund to reimburse the same for the money hereby appropriated. Approved May 27, 1903. [No. 157.] AN ACT to amend section two of an act, entitled "An act to establish a State Board of Fish Commissioners, and to repeal act number one hundred twenty-four, session laws of eighteen hundred seventy-three, act number seventy-one, session laws of eighteen hundred seventy-five, and act number three, session laws of eighteen hundred eighty-two," the same being section five thousand eight hundred thirty-four of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven. The People of the State of Michigan enact: amended. SECTION 1. Section two of an act, entitled "An act to estab- Section lish a State Board of Fish Commissioners, and to repeal act number one hundred twenty-four, session laws of eighteen hundred seventy-three, act number seventy-one, session laws of |