OCR Text |
Show 1 S A WAV OU r OF THE DIFFICULT". fM A jiketic. of tht) school trustees I of this city is called by the county superintendent for this evening at S o'clock in the Thirteenth District schoollioiifc. The olject or the meeting is laudable. It is to unite unomcntan toseltlcllic serious elifiiculty which has arisen in rrla-tion rrla-tion to tho srcial school taxes as-se-eseei for the preacnt year. The trouble arises from these facL: That when the special school taxes were assessed in the different school districts of this clty.it was no known that a law w ould be enacted amalgamating all the districts, and turning ovir to.a Beard of Kduca-tion Kduca-tion all the property of the several districts. That when the law was osse-el, these varied assessments as-sessments were not apparently apparent-ly taken into account, or the j- lw was not made sufficient!' plain J f In regard to their disposition. j That the very high valuation placed 3 ',f upon property by the Assessor was - J.. not anticipated when the special - ' & E school taxes were levied, and that " C- : fi much more money than is necessary K HI be squeezed from the taxpayers Wk 5 if the taxes are collected. That fEj g while the amouut obtained in some fct B districts will be enormous, in others lh ':j they will amount to comparatively 'J H little, and if they are turned into a 't: " common fund, great Injustice will Jm'- 1, result to different taxpajers. That Wt J? u, Collector does not feel justified Mg by the Liw in turning over the re- Jn - t-ults of these several le les to the jS !. Hoard of Kducation, and will prob- S ; ably decline to do so. That if the money should be collected and turned over, it nil! be much more ' ' than is required for educational ,, lurpoesinthecity for the current T: V; 3',ar- & j- tj' Tlie great question it-, what can be ji '.. done to settle tlie difficulty? The S f -" Jaw requires the ecial taxes levied IS ft J? to be collected as otlier taxes are. jj . jT, This wchavealreatly explained and SS A J proven. Itut may there not be some pi : i" judicial discretion which, In a court j r of equity, can be exercised for the In . correttkm of the evil tiiat every- j r . Itojy can see 5s arising? We think P i i?- such wwer exist", and believe that Eh if jnoperly invoked it will lie used Pf s eyj in the required ilirectiou. ! ?M Courtsof equity may interpose by i j m way of iniuuetion to correct mu- f?$ ' ii- takes or prevent fraud. There is no I i j ! allegation of iraud in this case. Cut t ? f theru is evidently a grave mistake-. : j q fe Ami the mistake is intone of law, ' f K" which the court will not perhaps j .. jj correct, but one of fai-twliiili the , y ft' court may correct. " ' t" Tlio mistake arose through the ex- j . pectatlou on the irt of the trustees ' g rf in certain eli-triets that a levy of a '- ! lc! one 'r ceti" or :i OBO au a quarter '' f CCD" tax would ouly secure 1-1 ' amrju" necessary in the j' .K district for educational ir- ; m& rose?, and the supiioitiou tliat J- ffl it would be expended In the district f f 'Hr " 0r d'5'r'tf dwl purposes. The -'is 3k pMBage of the new choul la p' Mfc. ' diaugad alt tho conditions, and the fir 'Wk. diniculties arisiDg are tlie conse- - - wB quence. jmL A-n IpJauc'1'n against the Col- S lector restraining the collectiou or US 4kF these special school taxes weuld cor- " f :i w rec tno mista,;c' prevent the con. HW '.' & Hit arfcing between school trustees pQ . I? anJ Uieltoard of IMuuation, aud Kg l- accomplish a public good in secur- F9k I ing peace and harmony In school fcj airalri And as all taxation must be ' uniforai in order to lie legal, a court - S, of equity would probably inttrKt-lo inttrKt-lo prevent the wrong which would be the cocseimence of the enforcement enforce-ment of these unequal assetsments. It is l-elieved that the increased valuation of property will cause a tulllcieiit revenue to lw raised for school purposes uuJer the Hjard of Educatiuii, until tint body can r make a new estimate of expenses S$ 1 1 for another year. In that case tlie E - g; enormous amount to come from BS , i IheseuuetmU special taxes can be tk '': K di-pensed with, the public mind K" - I ftilluequietel.thepublicpacketwill B' - hemudi relieved aud the trouble EH ? "will bo dis-ipated. A "friendly g; fc JUif'agiinst the Collector to enjoin Jj vB the collection of the special taxes, if ftj -.J, K successful, would "calm thetroubled W S Wl" l-clieve thit if the trustees BSB 3r ami Hie Board of Kducation will Mm fff; come to a common understanding iy; :". aiiJia'-rtualagre-ementoutlnsiioiut, fe- U'o difficulty will go no further. RJ1 I'' Wo hojic this agreement will be ft, fc, readied. A combination of forces It i W w'" tllK,Ir w-i-er and more & & etrectlve thin any individual effort. tw - $ Tlie tnisttn.-s should endeavor to . " jfe settle the matter amicably. It is I & "t a P'rty question. All party s - : feelicg huuld be banished in the ' Ml dl-cussion of this issue. Tile old V WT truste-es and the new board should f ; ,i:lvc oa'y fhe jublic iu'-erestand -r . jfc. Uie cause of education in view. Iet 14 ' SI us have peae, etpjity, harniony and JS '''' free and compelent eduratiou. |