USA > Indiana > A history of education in Indiana > Part 15
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// Mr. Jefferson's bill "for ascertaining the mode of locating and disposing of the lands in the Western territory," May 7, 1784, was, three weeks later, indefinitely postponed. Prac- tically the same bill was again reported, March 4, 1785, and referred to a committee of one member from each State, who, the following month, reported a new bill, with the essential features of the former, but including, as a new clause, the provision that there shall be reserved "the central section of every township for the maintenance of public schools, and the section immediately adjoining for the sup- port of religion, the profits arising therefrom in both in- stances to be applied forever according to the will of the majority of the male residents of full age within the same." This is substantially the provision of the ordinance as passed May 20, 1785, with the clause concerning the support of religion left out.
This reservation for schools marks the beginning of a regenerative policy, for the suggestion of which we are doubtless indebted to Colonel Timothy Pickering as much as to any one man. The sentiment, however, was not widely appreciated.
Under date of March 8, 1785, Colonel Pickering, in a pri-
170
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
vate letter, laments that the new bill of Mr. Jefferson makes "no provision for ministers of the gospel, nor even for schools or academies." On July 27, 1787, just two weeks after the passage of the now famous "Ordinance of 1787," the United States Government concluded a sale of land to the Ohio Company represented by Dr. Manasseh Cutler, in whose provisions was a reservation of one section for the support of religion, one for the common schools, and two townships for the support of a " literary institution."
In the enabling act of Congress, April 19, 1816, to which reference has already been made, proposition one, submitted to the Indiana Territorial Convention, required that every sixteenth section throughout the State be reserved "to the inhabitants for the use of schools,"* and one townshipt in the State for a university.
Article IX of the Constitution, subsequently adopted,; said in accordance with the above :
"It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for the improvement of such lands as are, or here- after may be, granted by the United States to this State for the use of schools, and to apply any funds which may be raised from such lands, or from any other quarter, to the accomplishment of the grand object for which they are or may be intended. But no lands granted for the use of schools or seminaries of learning shall be sold by the au- thority of this State prior to the year eighteen hundred and twenty ; and the moneys which may be raised out of the sale of such lands, or otherwise obtained for the purposes aforesaid, shall be and remain a fund for the exclusive pur- pose of promoting the interest of literature and the sci- ences, and for the support of seminaries and public schools."
For the next quarter of a century no small part of the legislative care appeared in the frequent, almost annual be-
* None for religion.
+ One township had already been set apart in the State at the organiza- tion of Indiana Territory.
# June 29, 1816.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 171
cause always tentative, enactments for the preservation of these lands, their improvement, their leasing, their final sale, and how judiciously to invest and make secure the funds arising and hoped for from this magnificently con- ceived endowment. Already, in 1808 and again in 1810, the courts had been empowered to lease school lands acquired under territorial organization. Land trustees had been ap- pointed, one to each township, who might let out the land, not more than one hundred and sixty acres to one man, and for a maximum period of five years.
The first State Legislature (1816) appointed a superin- tendent of the school section in each township, extended the lease to seven years, and, in order to the improvement of the property, required of the lessee that, in addition to the quota of clearing, he put out an orchard of specified size and selection. In 1821, persuaded of the gravity of the situa- tion, the facility of financial blundering among ignorant officials, and perhaps informed of waste of funds, the State Senate appointed a special committee to investigate the con- dition of the school lands, and to report a safe plan for de- riving a revenue therefrom. Various policies were consid- ered-cash sales, credit sales, short, long, and permanent leases, and forms of investment. The disastrous experience of Ohio with leases, as well as a shorter but equally unsatis- factory one in our own State, led to a recommendation of cash sales of land and the investment of the proceeds in State securities.
Three years later, in 1824, township trustees were substi- tuted for the superintendent of the school section, and au- thorized "to dispose of lands to the best interest of the schools." These local officers were thus left large discretion and the law was subject to great abuse. Nevertheless, it was a step nearer schools.
In his message to the Legislature, December 8, 1825, Gov- ernor Ray, in a presentation of the school question, reported the common-school lands at 608,207 acres, which, at two dollars per acre, would produce a fund of $1,216,414. In
172
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
that year the population of the State was about 250,000. It was just beginning to recover from the financial prostration of 1821, was looking forward to certain coveted internal im- provements, and had a small debt, a growing tax-list, but no schools. Indeed, so various was the official control that, while no lands could be sold,* almost every other possible management or mismanagement of them might find illus- tration somewhere in the State and at some time-the term of lease varying from five to ninety-nine years and the con- ditions changing with the locality. To correct the former evil the Legislature provided the year following (1825) that all leases thereafter should be limited to ten years. The time was subsequently still further reduced.
In 1827 the General Assembly, following the lead of Ohio, petitioned Congress for leave to sell the school lands. The request being granted, the State Legislature (January 24, 1828) authorized the sale of all congressional township lands held for school purposes, the proceeds to be loaned and the interest used as tuition. Prior to this the rents of such lands had already been so applied, under the school law of 1824. But the results were very unsatisfactory. The new law was only permissive. Many of the townships re- tained their superintendent of the school section, and much of the land still remained under lease. The proceeds of sales and leases were loaned in the township on local security, and the superintendent or trustees nominally held responsible for its preservation. But the moneys were far from safe. Negligence was common and perversion of funds occasional.
By the school act of 1831, in place of the local manage- ment was substituted a School Commissioner, who was finan- cial agent for the entire county and who held his office for three years. Moneys were to be loaned on real-estate mort- gage only. at six per cent, and for not longer than three years. Where lands were still retained the length of the lease was reduced to eight years. A State loan office was
* Prior to 1828.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 173
established at Indianapolis, and, upon vote of the inhabit- ants of a township, the commissioners might, in place of local loans, deposit the proceeds of land sales in this central office, and so have the State's guarantee of security. This seemed a wise provision. Already within ten years of the first authorized sale of lands thousands of dollars had been lost. Other moneys remained idle and interest was unpaid. Nevertheless, official records show that less than half a dozen townships availed themselves of the provision and greater security. The State Treasurer's report for 1844 shows but two entries, these townships having deposited in the aggre- gate $837.27. The limit of lease was again reduced, this time (1833) to three years. Legislation was constant, but the dissipation of funds went on. Governor Bigger, in 1832, had said: "The returns from a portion of the counties show their school funds to be well managed. In others they may be safe, but the accounts are in so much confusion that no correct opinion can be formed. In some cases the whole fund has been totally and irretrievably lost."
In consequence of this condition of the school finances and to preserve the funds from further loss, the Legislature of 1843 ordered that all moneys should be deposited with the county treasurer and by him loaned ; providing, further, that " the several counties shall be held liable to the inhabit- ants of the respective congressional townships for the pres- ervation of these funds and the payment of the annual in- terest thereon, at the rate established by law."* This, in theory, was a real forward step. While, even under the first Constitution, the management of the congressional township land and fund was fairly productive, the proceeds were far less than should have accrued from 650,317 acres.
1. The administration throughout the period t was lack- ing in uniformity. The optional feature which left it to the voters of the township to sell or lease, to loan their money through the agency of the State, with the Commonwealth
* Seven per cent.
t From 1838 to 1852.
174
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
for security, or to local borrowers in small sums, and the frequent changes of policy through ill-considered legisla- tion, were a most fruitful source and occasion of incompe- tent public service, withdrawal of general confidence, and unequal interest.
2. Then the system was expensive. "The whole concern as it has been heretofore managed," said a member of the Constitutional Convention and a friend of free schools, look- ing back upon the history of these funds, "is utterly odious in every respect." It neither commanded respect nor in- vited confidence. "The funds have been intrusted to an army of officers," he continued, "whose fees and perquisites must necessarily consume a large part of the income of the various funds, if they be ever so well managed. ... Our present system is extravagant and wasteful, the manage- ment of our school funds costing us annually one third as much as that of the State government."
3. The management of the lands was partial and unequal. Vigo County, with 8,960 acres of school-section land, as against Johnson County, having 12,000 acres, has realized three and one third times as much in permanent funds. Randolph County received originally 11,520 acres, and has derived a fund of $32,354; Bartholomew, with one half the same grant, has a present fund therefrom of $55,115. The Lawrence County grant was three fourths that of La Porte; its invested fund is but one fourth as much. "In one town- ship," said State Superintendent Larrabee in 1853, in his first official report, "the school section happens to be valuable, and sells for a large sum ; in another it is worthless. In one township the section falls on the prairies of the Wabash, where the soil is the richest ever shone on by the sun or wet by the dews of heaven; in another it falls in the swamp or a lake, or on a rocky bluff, where six grasshoppers could not find a living. In one township the fund would support, without a tax, schools all the year; in another there would be little, if any, fund at all."
Such management, a loose and optional system, expen-
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 175
sive administration, and a glaring inequality of privileges, opened the way for losses, and invited peculation. Within fifteen years from the first sale the shortage had reached nearly $30,000.
A table is appended exhibiting the condition of the fund in the several counties at the close of the year 1856, imme- diately following the separation of the two funds, as required by the decision of the Supreme Court in 1854. The state- ment is made to include (1) the number of sections sold, (2) the average proceeds per section, and (3) the total fund from this source.
Table of Congressional Township Lands and Funds, 1856.
COUNTIES.
Sections sold,
Average yield.
Total fund.
1. Adams
11
1,771
$19.551 97
2. Allen.
17.5
2,446
44,027 78
3. Bartholomew.
....
....
14,826 92
4. Benton .
25,222 84
5. Blackford
4
1,728
6,903 47
6. Boone
.. .
.....
18,060 59
7. Brown.
.. ..
.....
30,751 50
9. Cass.
....
...
32,280 14
10. Clark.
....
1,234
6,526 80
11. Clay.
11
1,943
21,781 55
13. Crawford
7
1,312 1,404
16,808 30
15. Dearborn
11
1,707
19,506 30
17. De Kalb
12
1,474
17,684 00
18. Delaware
12
1,907
22,891 26
19. Dubois
·
12
3,346
40,158 13
21. Fayette
5
3,011
15,210 63
22. Floyd
3
4,645
13,963 55
23. Fountain
11
4,062
44,692 45
25. Fulton.
9
1,623
16,011 88
26. Gibson
12
2,557
30,688 54
28. Green .
9
2,319
22,072 47
30. Hancock
.. .
12,070 50
31. Harrison
...
20,194 76
32. Hendricks
...
26,628 58
.. .
15,557 30
12. Clinton.
9,876 00
14. Daviess
11
28,223 62
16. Decatur ..
7,925 80
20. Elkhart.
24,703 57
24. Franklin.
23,632 71
27. Grant.
17,690 84
29. Hamilton
....
.....
8,480 53
8. Carroll
176
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
COUNTIES.
Sections sold.
¡Average yield.
Total fund.
33. Henry
....
34. Howard.
7
2,621
18,430 60
35. Huntington
11
2,640
29,045 85
36. Jackson
16,419 55
37. Jasper
....
19,667 00
38. Jay ..
. . ..
39. Jefferson
10
3,016
24,891 23
40. Jennings
9
1,185
16,266 19
43. Kosciusko
14
1,812
25,377 96
44. La Grange
12
1,438
17,256 80
45. Lake
10
1,207
12,070 56
46. La Porte.
....
52,062 08
47. Lawrence
14
1,824
25,541 00
49. Marion
16
1,390
24,287 83
50. Marshall.
11
1,508
17,430 40
51. Martin
10
2,907
29,381 99
53. Morgan
11
2,685
26,619 98
55. Montgomery
13
1,656
21,118 72
56. Noble
4
3,841
14,928 09
58. Orange
9
1,727
15,960 00
60. Parke
12
2,798
33,580 58
61. Pike .
7,849 99
62. Perry
13
1,972
25,636 56
64. Posey
8,170 35
65. Pulaski
...
.
11,697 40
66. Putnam
15
1,556
24,345 03
67. Randolph
16.3
1,830
30,162 42
68. Ripley
....
.....
18,276 44
69. Rush
....
.....
28,680 91
70. Scott
9,731 87
71. Shelby
12
1,665
20,261 15
72. Spencer.
9
1,380
12,425 30
73. Starke.
5,849 14
74. St. Joseph
...
.....
21,686 67
75. Steuben
....
...
12,322 16
77. Switzerland.
9
1,666
12,266 96
78. Tippecanoe
·
6
3,790
8,642 48
80. Union
4
5,525
23,601 67
81. Vanderburgh.
7
2,727
18,497 35
82. Vermilion
12
2,586
31,047 50
83. Vigo
11.5
4,817
52,368 49
·
.
8,890 84
59. Owen.
·
.
14,281 08
63. Porter
.....
3,784 48
52. Miami.
14,101 77
54. Monroe.
17,756 25
57. Ohio
14,702 00
48. Madison
9,938 11
41. Johnson
17,706 87
42. Knox ..
...
.....
16,278 74
76. Sullivan
31,430 60
79. Tipton.
17,356 10
23,176 34
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 177
COUNTIES.
Sections sold.
Average yield.
Total fund.
84. Wabash
....
.....
15,057 31
85. Warren
22,288 21
86. Warrick .
13
1,510
19,635 28
87. Washington
1
1,036
27,500 73
88. Wayne
12
3,155
45,845 82
89. Wells
1
3,938
24,550 28
90. White
26,444 00
91. Whitley
.
. .
18,948 23
..
The total amount of Congressional Township Fund accu- mulated up to January 1, 1857, was $1,874,430.04, an average of $20,600 to each of the ninety-one counties, and $2,055 for each of the nine hundred and thirty townships. Four hun- dred and seventy-seven townships had sold all their lands at various rates, from $1,036, or $1.62 per acre, in Washington County, to $5,525, or $8.63 per acre, in Union County. In but eleven counties did the average proceeds of the sales exceed $3,000. In twenty-seven the average was less than $2,000.
Although the records are very incomplete, and the con- clusions from them more or less unsatisfactory, the few facts gained are both interesting and suggestive. In Allen County, having 19.5 sections, there had been realized from the sale of 17.5 sections $19,500, or a thousand dollars less than the average of all the counties, while Wells, having ten sec- tions, had sold but one, and yet could report an invested fund from rents and sale of $24,550, or four thousand dollars above the average. Again, Madison, Monroe, Vermilion, and Warrick counties had each left unsold one section only out of an average of fourteen sections, reporting but $25,710 to each county; while Washington County, having fourteen sections out of fifteen unsold, is credited with $27,500. The differences were very great.
The management of the funds and the lands being more or less optional, and always local, gave rise to great diversi- ties and inequalities, necessitating, after 1855, as will appear
178
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
elsewhere,* the proportionally unequal apportionment of other, or the common-school funds, to equalize the revenues throughout the State. As showing this inequality, the fol- lowing table presents, for ten representative counties, the amount of Congressional Township Fund held by each, per capita of the school census:
COUNTIES.
Amount of fund.
School census.
Per capita.
1. Marion
$20,852
51,512
$0 40
2. Vanderburgh
19,325
21,442
90
3. Clay
10,375
9,270
1 12
4. Floyd ...
18,611
9,528
1 95
5. Jackson
16,632
8,286
2 00
6. Benton
39,431
3,947
10 00
7. Union
28,625
2,532
11 31
8. Warren.
46,485
3,907
11 89
9. Jasper.
45,533
3,525
12 92
10. Newton
41,035
2,708
15 15
The difference in the amount per capita of this fund held by the various counties may be accounted for, according to Superintendent J. H. Smart,t in four ways : 1. In some counties the original value of the sixteenth section was greater than in others. 2. In some counties the lands were kept and sold at a time when prices were high, while in others they were disposed of at an early day. 3. In some counties the population has largely augmented since the congressional lands were sold. 4. In one or two cases the lands were held until large towns were built in or near them, and they thus became very valuable.
As early as 1876, townships in seventy-four counties had sold all their school sections, certain ones in the remaining eighteen ; counties holding 9,245 acres, valued at $90,369.
* Sce page 151.
t Sec Report for 1878. p. 88.
Bartholomew, Fountain, Fulton, Gibson, Huntington, Jackson, Jasper, Lake, Monroe, Newton, Posey, Pulaski, Randolph, Spencer, Starke, Vanderburgh, Wabash, Warren.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 179
Of this, the two counties of Bartholomew and Vanderburgh alone held 944 acres, or one tenth of the whole, worth $53,- 120. Two years later but 8,039 acres remained; that is, there had been sold, in the forty-five years, 567,961 acres, at an average price of $4.18 per acre. By the State report for 1887-'88, 5,161 acres are reported from twelve counties, as shown in the table:
Table of Unsold School Lands, 1888.
COUNTIES.
Acres.
COUNTIES.
Acres.
1. Fountain
354
7. Pulaski
219
2. Fulton
80
8. Starke
240
3. Gibson
320
9. St. Joseph.
840
4. Huntington
320
10. Steuben.
100
5. Jasper
1,280
11. Vanderburgh.
308
6. Newton
800
12. Warren
300
As at present managed, the Congressional Fund is local- that is, township in its application-is received and disbursed by the county officers, the auditor loaning the money on real-estate security, and distributing the revenue to the ro- spective townships, keeping with each a separate account. The book-keeping, incident to this management of the fund, is complicated, and the occasion for losses frequent.
The aggregate fund for the State from this source is ap- proximately two and a half millions of dollars, representing a growth since 1852 of $700,000, or nearly 50 per cent. It constitutes about one fourth of the entire permanent fund, and yields a handsome revenue.
The accompanying table exhibits the annual increase of the fund since 1866, and such aggregates for the years prior to that date as can be accurately determined. Of course, the value of the unsold lands is only approximate, and has been variously estimated in successive years. These lands yield an annual revenue from rents, but not at all in proportion to the values set upon them:
180
UNDER TIIE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
Table showing Growth of Congressional Township Fund.
YEARS.
Total Congres- sional Town- ship Fund.
Estimated value of un- sold lands.
YEARS.
Total Congres- sional Town- ship Fund.
Estimated value of un- sold lands.
1850. . .
$1,764,853 45
$250,000 00
1878. . .
$2,372,175 41
$80,931 38
1854 ..
. .
1,676,717 35
1879. . .
2,372,085 72
133,960 29
1856 ..
1,874,430 04
1880 ..
2,372,285 69
76,857 00
1866 .. .
2,128,227 34
135,179 00
1881.
2,375,261 88
95,092 00
1868.
2,211,867 76
101,502 25
1882. . .
2,365,895 20
65,998 04
1870.
2,232,953 67
135,427 90
1883.
2,404,186 72
65,332 07
1871 ..
2,263,352 66
111,969 00
1884.
2,402,528 55
65,809 00
1872. . . .
2,281,076 69
94,245 00
1885.
2,404,936 82
65,788 00
1873. . . .
2,289,183 76
83,697 18
1886 ..
2,408,469 96
63,388 00
1874. . . .
2,295,778 63
102,293 40
1887.
2,487,806 39
60,802 00
1875 .. . .
2,330,823 37
105,177 25
1888.
2,502,125 27
44,646 3S
1876. . . .
2,351,732 18
90,368 71
1889.
2,450,671 79
45,000 00
1877. ..
2,370,657 94
82,278 88
1890 .. .
2,461,778 97
32,326 00
Of all the States of the Northwest, Indiana, being small- est, received least land; but, excepting Wisconsin, has real- ized also less per acre for it, the average proceeds in Ohio being $5.58 per acre; in Indiana, $3.69. Moreover, the esti- mated value on school lands remaining unsold in Indiana is about $30,000; in Illinois, $2,500,000. For the five States the aggregate proceeds from this congressional grant alone to elementary schools is something more than $20,000,000. This includes a conservative estimate put upon unsold lands, and is, perhaps, too small.
The following table, adapted from Dr. Knight's History of Land Grants for Education, will present other details for study by those interested:
Table of School Lands and Funds in the Northwest Territory.
STATES.
Grant.
Acres sold.
Proceeds.
Average per acre.
Ohio.
704,488
664,488
$3,720,000
.$5 58
Indiana
650,317
648,487
2,500,000
3 69
Illinois.
985,066
976,553
3,700,000
3 78
Michigan
1,067,397
715,761
3,300,000
4 58
Wisconsin
1,458,649
1,204,110
2,430,000
1 87
0.170
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 181
CHAPTER XIV.
SCHOOL FUNDS (Continued).
2. The Saline Fund.
THE enabling act of Congress, looking to the admission of Indiana as a State, provided that the salt springs within the State, and the lands required for their working, not to exceed 23,040 acres, should be granted to the State, subject to the directions of the Legislature. The same act pro- hibited their sale, or their lease for a longer period than ten years at any one time. Along with other conditions im- posed, the lands were conveyed and accepted, even in excess of the proposed grant-23,829} acres, or 37.24 sections.
Some of these properties were worked by the State in the following years, yielding a fair profit; but the proceeds were turned into the general treasury. In 1831 the total rents from the salt springs reserves reported to the State were $143.50; in 1835 they were $234.12. In 1832 Congress was petitioned by the State for the privilege of disposing of these lands. The request was granted, and at once the Legislature was empowered to sell them "at a price not less than public lands " (one dollar and a quarter per acre), "the proceeds to be applied to purposes of education." The year following, having been surveyed and formally appraised, the lands were put upon the market. The proceeds, by act of the Assembly, were to be paid into the State treasury, securely loaned, and ultimately "devoted to education." In 1834, by special act, the proceeds were regarded as a per- manent fund and the "income devoted to the use of com- mon schools." Not for ten years, however, were the moneys so applied to educational or other uses. They were merely allowed to accumulate in anticipation of a time when they might be sufficient in amount to justify their distribution.
Their aggregate accumulation up to 1835, including pro- ceeds of sales, rents, and interest on loans, amounted to $6,041.56, of which more than half ($3,800) was derived from
13
182
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
the Orange County reservation. This was loaned, generally in small sums ($60 to $100), to farmers throughout the State.
But the accumulation was slow. The land offered was not of the best. Much of it, indeed, was almost worthless, though parts were fertile and desirable for settlement. The grant comprised certain springs and the lands about them, chiefly in Washington, Orange, Jackson, Monroe, and Mor- gan Counties. French Lick (since famous as a health and pleasure resort), Royse's Lick, and Jackson's Lick were the best known, and environed by some really valuable land. This sold early, the proceeds being held in the State treas- ury, or loaned with other moneys with mortgage security. But there is a still better reason why the proceeds were withheld from active employment in the schools-there were no schools. This was in that dark decade in Indiana from 1830 to 1840, when, for a period, every year witnessed a more dangerous illiteracy and more discouraging promise. There was abundant legislation but little schooling.
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