Show SCHOOL legislation THREE voluminous bills have been introduced in the legislature relative to the district schools two of these were off erred in the house by mr mis allen alien and the other was a council bill of which mr collett was the author one of mr allens aliens measures provided for a free school system in cities and the other was a code for the government of schools throughout the territory both were duly considered in the house and passed by it neither of them meeting with any serious opposition they at length were placed in the hands handsol of the council committee on education and pending a report from them the council spent considerable sid erable time in the consideration of mr collett colletts a bill thle thie was a very long document and much fault was found with its verbal construction but not we believe with its intent at length the council committed colletts bill to a special committee with instructions to prepare a substitute this was done and the new bill resulting was also made a substitute for both of aljens measures the substitute is a long bill Is divided into sixteen articles and is evidently designed to be a complete school code sufficiently specific explicit and detailed in its provisions to cover all questions that can arise in connection with the district schools and the powers and duties of officers and teachers it is also the apparent intention to so frame the bill that it will be easily understood and administered from such an examination as we have been able to give the substitute we have been led to regard it as well and carefully drawn andon and on the whole commendable at least so far as its mechanical construction st jus ja concerned its fiscal features will require to be considered in connection with the revenue bill now pending in the house one provision of the substitute school bill which has had in certain quarters an effect not unlike that of a red flag upon a bunch of bovines is the one in relation to elections we reproduce it as given in section 1 article V every male person of the age of twenty one years or over who has been a resident of the school district fo for r thirty days daya immediately preceding t the he day of election and who is the P parent at nt of a child of school age residing residing in the district or who paid a territorial or county school tax in any such district flaring during the preceding year or who has been assessed for any territorial or county school tax in any such district for the year in which any such election is in held shall be entitled to vote at any district school election the fathers of children in the neighborhood and the men who pay the taxes are by this provision given a voice in the management of the school of the district in which they reside without regard to other qualifications respecting citizenship and the franchise the theory everywhere is that a school election is not a public ejection that it is an affair which whid concerns only a given and limited neighborhood but in which the public at large has no interest and that the qualifications of those who vote at it may be different ferent from those of voters for public officers there are ultra americans of foreign birth in utah who are shocked at the idea of an q alien alieu being permitted to vote unless for their ticket and the thought ti that lat a man who at any time lived with more than one woman in the semblance of marriage should be permitted permit tej to express his bis preferences by means of a ballot fills them with horror mostly feigned but a school election is more like that by the stock stockholders bolders of a corporation than one for public off officers leers and under this view it is proper to let all residents resided its of the district concerned in its school have a voice in its management one criticism we would make on the hill bill is that it does not permit females to vote at any school election whether for trustees or on a tax or bond question women who pay school taxes should be permitted to vote on a tax or bond proposition thus instead of being too broad in giving voting privileges the bill is not broad enough to meet thede the demands of natural justice |