public domain of the state; and all the proceeds of the sales of the same.574 It is impossible at the present writing to state how much of either the capital or the income of the Permanent School Fund has been lost since its establishment. Some years ago A. Loss J. Baker, in his biennial report, estimated that the Permanent School Fund had failed to receive land due it amounting to about 9,879,921 acres.575 A special committee appointed by the legislature to investigate the matter concluded that this was incorrect.576 Charles Rogan, Land Commissioner, in his Report, 1899, writes as follows: "The Permanent School Fund has not received its share of the public domain, and as some doubt exists as to the amount to which it is entitled, I have prepared two tabular statements . . . from which, in my judgment, the deficiency must be determined." In the tabular statements which follow, Commissioner Rogan gives three estimated areas of the lands due the Permanent School Fund in 1899, and which it had not received, namely, 4,470,335.27 acres; 6,470,335.27 acres; 7,331,775.27 acres.577 The Permanent School Fund has been deprived of a large sum of money through selling public lands for less than their real value. Under Acts of 1879 and 1881 known as the "fifty cent land acts" the price of public lands was reduced to fifty cents an acre; 2,618,286.10 acres were sold at this price, the proceeds of one-half, 1,309,143.05 acres, being added to the Permanent School Fund.578 In the years 1899 to 1900 the nominal income of the fund was $1,157,000; the real income amounted to about $885,000. The loss was due to the fact that about $275,000 per year of interest on land notes was not paid. The defaulted interest amounts (1900) to at least $700,000.579 574 Constitution of Texas, 1883, Art. VII, Sec. 2; B. A. Hinsdale, Documents Illustrative of American Educational History, p. 1381. 575 J. J. Lane, History of Education in Texas, pp. 41, 42. 576 Ibid., pp. 43, 44. 577 Report of Texas Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1899, p. 21. 578 Ibid., pp. 24, 25. 579 Report Supt. of Public Instruction of Texas, 1899-1900, p. xlvii. The chief sources from which the permanent common school funds of Texas have been derived may be represented briefly as follows: ACRES 4,162,320 588 County School Funds, lands granted prior to 1906 Permanent School Fund, special grant, 1883 2,000,000 573 21,865,714.11 580 Appropriations ("three to five million dollars") 42,053,058.11 $4,000,000 581 Sources of The sources which are provided for increasing the capital of the Permanent School Fund and the County School Funds are the proceeds of the lands set apart for these respective funds by the constitution.582 The County School Funds are managed by the counties to which they belong. The Permanent School Fund is managed by the State Controller,583 as a member of the State Management Board of Education, which is authorized, under the direction of the legislature, to invest the proceeds of the Permanent School Fund lands.58 584 The revenue is apportioned among the counties on the basis of school population by the State Board of Education, consisting of the Governor, Secretary of State, and the Controller.583 Apportionment The revenue must be used for the support of public schools. The specified objects for which it must be used and the conditions which must be fulfilled in order to share in it are not stated in the laws or the Objects. Conditions of constitution.* * Cf. Idaho foot-note 122. 580 Report of Texas Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1899, p. 21. 581 Subject to correction. 582 Constitution, 1883, Art. VII, Secs. 2, 4, 6. 583 Ibid., Sec. 4. 584 Report Supt. of Public Instruction, Texas, 1899-1900, p. xii. CHAPTER LII UTAH Title. Condition, 1902 and 1904 STATE SCHOOL FUND The Utah permanent common school fund, officially known as the State School Fund,585 consisted in 1902 of $291,205 586 and a reservation of (1) 65,908 acres of leased lands estimated at $96,850 586 and (2) 2,026,318 acres of unleased school lands, estimated at $2,026,318 586 making the total prospective value of the fund $2,414,373.* The principal of the fund is intact. It is invested chiefly in school district bonds, municipal bonds and first mortgages on improved farms. The rent derived from the leasing of school lands is added to the annual revenue of the fund.587 In 1902 the rent from school lands amounted to $24,412.92 587 and the annual interest on the principal of the fund to $324,343.08,587 making the total income from the fund $348,756, approximately twenty-one and two-tenths per cent (.212)* of $1,645,551.07,587 the total common school revenue (1902) derived from all sources. In 1904 the total common school revenue from all sources was $1,927,998.38.587 The revenue of the State School Fund exclusive of land rents was $393,038.83,587 annual rent of common school lands, $28,712,587 total income from State School Fund $421,750.83, approximately twenty-two per cent (.219)* of the total common school revenue. The reports of the United States Commissioner of Education and the state reports do not report separately the revenue derived from the State School Fund, but include it in state taxes.344 * Computed. 585 Constitution of Utah, 1895, Art. X, Sec. 3. 586 Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1902, Vol. I, p. xcii. 587 Statement received Oct. 22, 1906, from A. C. Nelson, Utah State Supt. of Public Instruction. The State School Fund provided for, pursuant to the provisions of the Enabling Act, by the constitution adopted 1895,585 became established upon the admission of Utah into the Origin Union in 1896. The original capital consisted of 6,007,182 acres of land, the same being composed of sections two, sixteen, thirty-two and thirty-six of every township 588 granted by the United States for the use of schools.589 Sources of The following sources for increasing the principal of the State School Fund are provided by the constitution: 585 (1) proceeds of all lands granted to the state by Congress for common schools; (2) proceeds of all property accruing to the state by escheats or forfeitures; (3) all unclaimed shares and dividends of any corporation incorporated under the laws of the state; (4) proceeds of the sale of timber, minerals, or other property from school and state lands other than those granted for specific purposes. The State School Fund is managed by the State Board of Land Commissioners, consisting of Governor, Secretary of State, and five resident citizens, who manage Management The revenue is distributed among the school districts upon the basis of school population 585 (six to eighteen years).591 Apportionment Objects. The revenue of the State School Fund can be used for teachers' wages only 501 No district shall receive any apportionment of school moneys unless it shall have maintained a school for at least twenty weeks during the next preceding year; fire, flood, and other uncontrollable causes excepted.502 A district must submit to the state superintendent the annual returns required by law.593 Conditions of 588 Taken from tables of General Land Office, Mar. 12, 1896. 589 Enabling Act, 1894, Sec. 6, p. 29; Rev. Stats., 1898; Const., 1895, Art. X, Sec. 2, p. 56; Rev. Stats., 1898. 500 Rev. Stats., Utah, 1898, Secs. 2321, 2327. 591 Ibid., Sec. 1867. 502 Ibid., Sec. 1868. 603 Ibid., Sec. 1775. CHAPTER LIII VERMONT PERMANENT PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND Permanent Public School Fund is the title provided by law for the permanent common school fund of Vermont; 594 it is also sometimes referred to officially simply as the Permanent School Fund. In 1906 the principal of the fund amounts to $1,120,218.20 595 composed as follows; Title. Condition, 1906 United States Deposit Fund Huntington Fund Spanish War Claims Fund $669,086.74 211,131.46 240,000.00 The Spanish War Claims Fund is said to be intact. As will be explained later, about $535,269.39, eighty per cent of the U. S. Deposit Fund, has been absorbed by the towns 596 to whom it was intrusted in 1837,597 leaving as the amount of the fund intact $133,817.35. The State Superintendent of Education states in his report, 1906,598 that the Huntingdon Fund is intact, but the Vermont Special Commission on Permanent Common School Fund writes: "It appears, therefore, that the Huntington Fund was borrowed by the state and used and that the state is liable for the same subject to six per cent interest." 599 The real condition of the Permanent Public School Fund appears to be as follows: Funds 594 Acts of Vermont, 1906, No. 54, Secs. 1, 2. 595 Statement received from Mason S. Stone, Vermont State Supt. of Education, July, 1907. 590 Information furnished by Mason S. Stone, Vermont State Supt. of Education, in letter dated Nov. 9, 1906. 597 Act Nov. 17, 1837. 598 Extract from p. 13 of advance sheets of Report of Vt. State Supt. of Education, in preparation, Sept., 1906. 599 Report of the Special Commission on Permanent School Funds of Vt., 1906, pp. 21-22. |