CHAPTER XXXIV MONTANA PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND The permanent common school fund of Montana has two official titles; the laws name it the State School Fund,355 but in the consti Title. tution it is called the Public School Fund.356 In Condition, 1905 1905 the principal of the fund amounted to $871,802.62.357 This principal is invested chiefly in state, county, municipal, and school district bonds;357 2,781, 181.49 358 acres of common school land (valued at about $4,000,000 342) belonging to the State School Fund remain unsold, the proceeds of which added to the present principal will give a principal of nearly five million dollars.342 The annual revenue (1905) consisted of $27,032.36, interest on the principal,357 and $172,375.06, annual rent of common school lands,357 making the total annual revenue $199,407.42, or approximately three and six-tenths per cent (.0362) * of $5,506,127, the total public school moneys received that year, excluding balances on hand and proceeds of bond sales.344 A Congressional act, February 28, 1851, reserved in each township of the territory, for the use of public schools, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six, amounting in all to Origin 5,112,035 acres. 10 The "Enabling Act" approved by Congress February 22, 1889, proposed the establishment of a permanent school fund to be derived from the proceeds of these lands and from five per cent of the proceeds of the sales of public lands granted to the state, and also that none of these lands should be * Computed. 355 School Laws of Montana, compiled at the office of the Supt. of Public Instruction, 1903, p. 94, Sec. 1940. 356 Constitution of Montana, Art. XI, Sec. 2. 357 Statement received Nov. 26, 1906, from Montana State Treasurer, J. H. Rice. 358 Mont. State Treasurer's Report, 1905-06, p. 8. sold at less than ten dollars per acre.359 These propositions were accepted by Constitutional Ordinance No. 1 adopted August 17, 1889, and became effective upon the state's admission into the Union, November 8, 1889. Sources of The following sources for increasing the State School Fund are provided by law: (1) appropriations and donations by the state to the State School Fund; (2) bequests and donations by individuals to the state or common schools; (3) proceeds of land and other property escheating or forfeited to the state; (4) proceeds of all property granted to the state when the purpose is not specified or is uncertain; (5) funds accumulated in the treasury of the state for the disbursement of which provision has not been made by law; (6) proceeds of the sale of timber, stone, material or other property from school lands other than those granted for specific purposes; (7) all moneys other than rent recovered from persons trespassing on state lands; (8) five per cent of the proceeds of the sales of lands within the state belonging to the United States; (9) the principal of all funds arising from the sale of lands and other property which have been or may hereafter be granted to the state for common schools; (10) the principal of such other funds as may be provided for by law. The State School Fund is managed by the State Board of Land Commissioners composed of the Governor, President of the Board, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secretary Management 361 of the Board, and the Attorney-General. This Board has direction, control, and power to lease or sell any of the school lands of the state. The revenue of the State School Fund is apportioned by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction among the Apportionment 362 several counties in the state in proportion to the number of children of school age in each (six to twenty-one years).363 359 Secs. 10, 11, 13, Enabling Act, (p. lxxii, Montana Civil Codes, annotated, 1895, Vol. 1). 360 Ibid., p. cxxxiii. 361 Civil Code of Montana, 1895, Part III, Title VIII, Art. I, Secs. 3470, 3472. 362 School Laws of Montana, 1903, Chap. VI, Art. I, Sec. 1714. 363 Constitution of Mont., 1889, Art. XI, Sec. 5. The State Treasurer pays the district quota to the county treasNo distinction is provided for by law between the money thus paid in and money derived from taxes. The dis urer. Objects trict trustees may devote money lying in the county treasury and credited to the district to the following objects of school expenditure: 364 (1) furniture; (2) repairs; (3) rent; (4) insurance; (5) text-books for indigent children; (6) transportation of pupils. No district shall be entitled to a share of the State School Fund revenue which does not maintain a free public school for at least Conditions of three months during the year, for which distriParticipation butions shall be made.365 No sectarian, partisan, nor denominational doctrine may be taught, nor any publication of such a character be used or distributed in any school or made a part of its library.366 364 School Laws of Mont., 1903, Chap. VI, Art. 5, Secs. 1797-1818. 365 Ibid., p. 14, Constitution of Mont., 1889, Art. XI, Sec. 5. 300 Ibid., p. 77, Sec. 1863. CHAPTER XXXV NEBRASKA Title. PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND The permanent common school fund of Nebraska, officially known as the Permanent School Fund 367 consisted in 1905 of $6,238,381.27 368 and of 1,920,955 acres 342 of comCondition, 1905 mon school lands, estimated at $12,002,000,342 making the total estimated value of the fund $18,240,381.27.* Of the unsold school lands only 497 acres, estimated at $2,000, are not leased.342 The Permanent School Fund is invested chiefly in state bonds of other states, Nebraska general fund warrants, county bonds, and some United States bonds.368 Nebraska has borrowed from the Permanent School Fund $1,477,070.78, on which the state pays four per cent interest, deriving the money from "the same sources as all general expenses." 368 The rent of common school lands is added to the annual revenue of the Permanent School Fund; 368 in 1905 this rent amounted to $176,043.99,368 and revenue derived from principal to $476,871.84.368 The total Permanent School Fund revenue was therefore $652,915.83,* approximately eleven and nine-tenths per cent (.119)* of $5,447,362.21, the total receipts for common schools from all sources in 1905.30 368 On April 19, 1864, Congress reserved for the use of public schools, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every township in Nebraska.10 The total area of the lands thus Origin granted amounted to 2,702,044 acres,10 and these lands became the property of the state three years later upon her admission into the Union. The establishment of the Permanent School Fund was provided for by the first constitution adopted by * Computed. 367 Report Neb. Dept. of Public Instruction, 1887-88, p. 16; Index to School Law. 368 Data furnished Sept. 1, 1906, by Neb. State Supt. of Public Instruction, the state.30 369 The constitution of 1867 provided that none of these lands should be sold at less than $5.00 per acre (the constitution of 1875 raised the price to $7.00), thus fixing the minimum value of the original capital at $13,510,220. Four sources are provided by law and by the constitution for increasing the principal of the Permanent School Fund: (1) five Sources of per cent of the proceeds of sales of United States public lands lying within the state; 370 (2) estates escheating to the state; 371 (3) the proceeds of the sales of sixteenth and thirty-sixth section lands; 371 (4) proceeds of the sales of saline lands (Laws of 1893).368 The first investments of the moneys belonging to the Permanent School Fund were made at a loss of $1,547.04. Investments Loss made in the year 1868 resulted in an aggregate loss of $3,439.67.372 In the year 1897 the Permanent School Fund lost $259,842.87 through embezzlement.368 It may well be added that sums borrowed by the state and on which the interest is paid out of taxation thwart one of the most important purposes for which the fund was established, namely, to lessen taxation; to borrow the principal and tax the people for the interest is a direct violation of the spirit if not of the letter.* The Permanent School Fund is managed by a “Board of Educational Lands and Funds" under the direction of the legislature. The Board consists of the Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney-General, and Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings.373 Management Apportionment The revenue is apportioned among the counties upon the basis of school population.374 *For a full discussion of this matter see Part I, also the other states, e. g., Minnesota. 300 Report U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1892-93, II, 1355, Art. II, Secs. 1, 2. 370 School Land Laws of Neb. as revised in 1899, and the School Laws, p. 127, Sec. 30. 371 Constitution of Neb., Art. VIII, Sec. 3. 372 Report Neb. State Supt. Pub. Instruction, 1869-70, pp. 70-73. 973 Constitution of Neb., Art. VIII, Sec. 1, and p. 118, Sec. 1, Neb. School Laws, 1899, p. 9. 374 Ibid., p. 48, Sec. 9. |