Show NEW SCHOOL administration next nelt thursday the new school board will enter upon the control of the school system of this city it is a fine system one that every citizen of capital is proud of and desires to see maintained at a high standard no deterioration nor retrogression in it will be tolerated but the campaign which resulted in the election of the new school board developed one thing with emphatic plainness namely the fixed determination of the taxpayers to insist on economy in the expenditures of public funds defiance of public sentiment in this regard will be followed by manifestations fe of the resentment of the people this Is the last year they will bear with pat tence the burdens of taxation they axe are carrying the significance of all this to the new school administration is that while necessities must be provided luxuries must be dispensed with there must be no fancy trimmings affixed to the school system no fancy prices paid for any thing connected with it nor must salaries be fixed at fancy figures all t accessories not actually indispensable must be omitted and all expenditures must be cut to the lowest possible figure that will secure good quality in the thing paid for 1 there are rumors about town of prospective friction in the school bo board aad on account of differences difference rA of religion and politics let the public once perceive that friction resulting from any such a cause has been suffered to develop in the board and the confidence of the people in that body is a minus quantity more even the obligation to be economical in the expenditure of public money if that were possible Is the other duty resting upon the board to exclude from its acts labors and deliberations every vestige of political and religious bias the schools is must be kept out of polities politics and religious bias must be kept out of the schools including the board the doctrine that public works should be constructed by days labor instead of by contract is fast becoming a prominent issue in the economics and politics of many states in the union it is a doctrine that has peculiar pecullar claims upon the careful and thorough consideration of the school board for the reason among others that the annual increase of the school population of this city is so great as to necessitate the expenditure of a large sum each year in school buildings in 1897 there were about more school children than in 1896 and an even larger increase may be expected next year and the next and so on A school building that will accommodate pupils will cost including the site about and the board must figure on spending at least this amount each year for this purpose whether it will be put into one or more structures is a matter for the board to decide inasmuch as so large an amount of building must be done every year would it not be a good plan for the beard to employ its own supervising architect foremen and workmen do its own purchasing of material and dispense with contractors and middlemen entirely the poor workmanship and large profits of the contractor which often are incidental to the contract system would be avoided and if the employed emp loyes of the board were faithful and honest the school would get th the most and best for the money expended but there isa question whether incorruptible honesty and the highest ability could always be secured in a supervising architect and in agents purchasing materials and there is the further question whether as much work could be gotten out of workmen if they were employed by an agent of the board as contractors get out of them but ore of the ablest financiers utah ever produced who did a great deal of building did almost all of it by the days work system he employed a competent firm of builders in whom he had perfect confidence to employ and supervise the workmen and he drew his own checks for the payroll the news takes no definite stand or on this question but is of opinion that the school board should look carefully into it |