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The  School  Bill  and  Its  Discussion 
THE  rural  school  bill  proposed  by  the  Committee 
of  Twenty-one  was  introduced  in  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  and  known  as  the  Downing  bill.  At  a  hearing 
in  Albany  it  was  amended,  reprinted  and  finally 
passed  by  the  State  Senate.  The  Assembly  decided 
not  to  pass  it,  but  to  let  it  go  to  the  people  for  dis¬ 
cussion.  The  general  agreement  was  that  it  should 
be  introduced  in  the  next  Legislature.  The  R.  N.-Y. 
favored  this  postponement,  because  we  felt  that 
many  or  most  country  people  did  not  fully  under¬ 
stand  just  how  they  will  stand  should  the  bill  be¬ 
come  a  law.  Having  promised  to  develop  a  full  dis¬ 
cussion  of  this  bill  we  shall  attempt  to  do  so — not 
through  any  special  pleading,  but  by  the  most  open 
and  thorough  analysis.  We  shall  take  the  position 
of  absolute  neutrality,  seeking  only  to  have  the  bill 
fully  understood,  so  that  the  question  may  be  set¬ 
tled.  Such  things  are  too  often  settled — by  author¬ 
ities  who  presume  to  say  what  country  people  need — 
without  giving  these  same  country  people  credit  for 
knowing  what  they  want. 
The  bill  as  amended  makes  a  pamphlet  of  10S 
pages.  It  would  require  practically  all  the  space  in 
an  ordinary  copy  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  to  print  it  entire. 
We  can  only  give  a  brief  synopsis  of  it  now,  though 
we  expect  to  give  entire  sections  of  it  through  the 
year. 
Briefly  stated,  the  bill  puts  the  system  of  rural 
education  in  charge  of  a  system  of  committees  or 
commissions.  The  existing  school  districts  are  to  be 
continued,  though  the  trustees  pass  out  of  office  as 
their  terms  expire.  There  are  to  be  created  a  series 
of  community  and  intermediate  districts  which  may 
contain  several  of  the  present  school  districts.  To 
start  with,  there  are  to  be  20S  of  these  districts  in 
the  State.  These  rural  districts  are  to  include  all 
territory  outside  of  districts  having  a  population  of 
4,500  or  more.  Thus,  as  will  be  seen,  most  of  the  so- 
called  rural  towns  will  be  included.  In  making  up 
census  returns  the  distinction  between  “rural”  and 
“urban”  is  made  with  towns  of  2.500. 
A  State  commission  is  to  consist  of  the  State  Su¬ 
perintendent  of  Education  and  two  other  members, 
to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor.  These  members 
shall  be  residents  of  school  districts  covered  by  the 
act,  and  at  least  one  shall  reside  in  a  common  school 
district.  These  members  serve  until  their  duties  are 
completed.  Their  duties  and  powers  are  clearly  out¬ 
lined.  About  all  they  do  is  to  advise  and  prescribe 
rules.  They  are  to  receive  $20  per  day  (not  exceed¬ 
ing  100  days  in  each  year)  and  expenses. 
County  commissions  of  four  members  are  provided 
for.  These  commissions  are  to  establish  community 
districts.  These  commissioners  are  to  be  appointed 
by  the  board  of  supervisors.  Each  county  commis¬ 
sion  appoints  a  secretary,  with  clerks  and  other  as¬ 
sistants,  and  fixes  their  compensation.  This  county 
commission  is  to  study  the  situation,  give  hearings, 
investigate  and  decide  what  present  school  districts 
are  to  be  put  together  to  form  a  community  district. 
It  shall  also  determine  the  membership  of  the  board 
of  education  of  community  districts.  In  fact,  the 
county  commission  is  given  very  wide  powers  in  ar¬ 
ranging  the  new  districts.  The  members  of  the 
county  commissions  are  to  receive  $10  per  day  for 
actual  duty  (limited  to  40  days  in  any  one  year)  and 
actual  expenses. 
It  will  be  seen  that  this  proposed  system  creates 
a  large  number  of  new  salaried  offices.  The  expense 
will  be  considerable.  Complaint  \yill  also  be  made 
that  in  this  proposed  arrangement  the  people  or 
school  patrons  have  little  or  nothing  to  say  about  the 
formation  of  these  community  districts.  The  whole 
matter  is  to  be  arranged  and  organized  for  them.  It 
would  seem  that  the  law  is  really  designed  to  give 
the  individual  patrons  as  little  as  possible  direct 
authority  in  organizing  and  maintaining  the  new 
system.  There  is  to  be  an  intermediate  board  which 
shall  consist  of  one  member  from  each  county  dis¬ 
trict — to  be  elected  by  the  boards  of  education  from 
the  county  districts.  There  must  be  at  least  three 
members  in  each  of  these  intermediate  boards.  Their 
duties  are  outlined  in  the  law.  They  “advise  and  co¬ 
operate,”  determine  text  books,  transfer  school  dis¬ 
tricts  or  parts  thereof  from  one  county  district  to 
another,  condemn  school  buildings  and  sites,  advise 
about  new  buildings,  and  also  employ  medical  in¬ 
spectors,  school  nurses,  physical  trainers  and  instruc¬ 
tors  in  agriculture.  The  district  superintendents  are 
to  remain  in  office  with  distinct  powers  outlined  in 
the  proposed  law. 
As  for  consolidation,  the  new  law  states  that  the 
superintendent  shall  not  have  the  powei\  which  he 
now  possesses,  to  force  consolidation  at  his  pleasxire. 
Under  the  terms  of  this  proposed  law  the  superin¬ 
tendent  may  issue  a  “preliminary  order”  dissolving 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
one  or  more  districts  and  annexing  one  or  more  of 
them  to  anothei*,  but  this  must  be  voted  on  by  the 
electors  in  each  district,  and  the  superintendent 
gives  a  final  order  for  consolidation  “if  each  district 
affected  by  the  oi’der  shall  have  voted  to  accept  the 
changes  proposed  therein.” 
Our  folks  will  want  to  know  just  what  that  actu¬ 
ally  means.  Suppose  the  plan  is  to  throw  three  or 
four  districts  together.  What  would  happen  if  three 
districts  voted  in  favor  and  one  opposed?  Could 
the  thi’ee  voting  in  favor  be  consolidated,  and  would 
not  this  practically  force  the  other  one  to  come  in? 
There  is  to  be  in  each  community  district  a  board 
of  edxxcation  which  shall  be  a  coi’poration  holding 
title  to  all  school  property.  The  number  of  mem¬ 
bers  is  to  be  fixed  by  the  county  commission.  Each 
member  mixst  be  a  qualified  elector  and  be  able  to 
read  and  write.  The  first  board  xxnder  the  pi’oposed 
law  will  be  elected  by  the  voters  of  each  school  dis¬ 
tinct  at  the  annual  school  meetings.  Tliei’eafter  the 
votei’s  of  each  community  district  are  to  decide 
whether  the  members  of  this  board  are  to  be  elected 
by  the  school  districts  separately,  or  on  a  general 
ticket  by  the  entire  community  district  at  large. 
Clear  rules  for  conducting  school  meetings  and  elec¬ 
tions  are  given,  and  the  duties  of  hoax’d  membei’s  are 
outlined. 
It  is,  of  coui’se,  impossible  in  this  brief  summary 
to  give  all  details  of  oi’ganization.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  new  law  proposes  a  radical  change  in  the 
system  of  governing  rural  schools.  It  seems  to  us  a 
cumbei’some  system,  taking  most  of  the  power  away 
from  the  individual  school  district  and  going  far  to 
the  limit  of  centnilization.  If  you  can  see  thi-ough 
the  working  of  such  a  system  it  will  give  these 
various  and  complicated  boards  and  commissions 
greatly  increased  power  over  the  individual  rural 
schools.  If  this  power  is  exei’cised  fairly  and  with 
full  sympathy  we  can  see  that  it  might  in  time  help 
to  provide  better  teachers,  finer  text  books  and  a 
higher  grade  of  school.  We  are  yet  to  be  convinced, 
however,  that  all  this  network  of  detail  and  all  this 
delegation  of  power  to  boards  and  commissions  will 
not  take  something  from  the  present  system  for 
which  the  proposed  improvements  cannot  wholly 
compensate.  There  is  clearly  a  good  chance  for  argu- 
ment  here  in  spite  of  the  opinions  of  noted  educatoi’s 
and  wise  men.  That  is  why  we  want  a  full  discus¬ 
sion.  We  shall  outline  other  pi’ovisions  of  the  bill 
next  week.  This  week  we  have  merely  tried  to  give 
a  general  idea  of  the  pi’oposed  school  machinery. 
Borden  Milk  Profits:  Lessons  from  Them 
THE  Borden  Company’s  financial  report,  recently 
issued,  is  a  matter  of  interest  to  New  York  milk 
pi’oducers.  The  gi’oss  income  for  the  year  1922  was 
$99,S79,887,  and  the  net  operating  pi’ofit  was  $5.S09,- 
593.  After  paying  income  tax  and  all  taxes  and 
dividends  on  pi’efex’i’ed  stock,  there  was  a  balance  of 
$21.94  profit  on  every  one  of  the  21,36S  shares  of 
common  stock.  This,  of  course,  was  the  balance 
after  all  salaries  of  officials  and  expenses  of  every 
kind  were  deducted.  It  looks  like  a  very  substantial 
profit  on  the  raw  material  of  the  farm  in  a  year 
when  pi’oducers  of  the  pi-oduct  found  it  hard  to  make 
ends  meet  without  profit.  It  was  nearly  double  the 
net  returns  reported  the  previous  year.  Buying 
milk  on  the  classified  plan  is  evidently  satisfactory 
to  the  Borden  Company. 
We  have  no  disposition  to  criticize  the  Borden 
Company  for  its  business  and  financial  success. 
That  success  is  mox-e  to  be  imitated  by  farmers  than 
envied.  Dairymen  who  sell  milk  to  Borden’s  and 
have  a  pi'ofit  of  $21.94  on  every  one  hundred  dollars 
of  capital  invested  in  farm  and  equipment,  after 
paying  libei'al  salaries  to  themselves  and  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  family  who  help  produce  the  milk,  and 
also  after  paying  all  other  taxes  and  depreciation 
on  equipment  and  buildings,  have  no  cause  for  com¬ 
plaint.  Those  who  have  a  less  profit  on  their  invest¬ 
ment.  after  paying  all  expenses  and  salaries  to  them¬ 
selves  and  others,  have  a  right  to  demand  a  new 
deal  for  the  future.  We  think  that  will  come  close 
to  inclxxding  the  whole  body  of  pi’oducers  in  the  New 
York  territory.  Probably  not  less  than  90  per  cent 
of  milk  producers  in  the  New  York  milk  zone  are 
members  of  one  of  the  four  existing  farm  organiza¬ 
tions.  It  seems  to  us  that  it  would  be  good  business 
for  these  producers  to  put  up  a  screen  against  their 
past  differences,  look  squarely  at  the  situation  as  it 
exists  today,  and  calmly  and  sex’iously  set  them¬ 
selves  to  the  task  of  finding  a  way  to  sell  milk  that 
will  give  themselves  as  much  profit  for  production  as 
Borden’s  and  other  dealers  get  for  disti’ibution. 
What  possible  argument  is  there  against  it?  What 
excuse  for  delay? 
The  Slow  Process  of  Law 
ARDSHIPS  resulting  from  the  slow  processes 
of  law  are  illusti’ated  in  the  pending  cases  of 
daii’ymen  in  Crawfoi’d  County,  Pa.  It  will  be 
l’ecalled  that  the  Rieck-McJunkin  Dairy  Company 
of  Pittsburgh  maintained  a  milk  shipping  station  in 
the  county,  and  paid  dairymen  by  check  on  a  private 
bank  at  Conneautville.  The  December,  1921,  bills 
were  paid  by  check  in  this  way  in  the  month  of 
January,  1922,  but  the  bank  failed  befoi’e  all  of  the 
checks  were  pi’esented  fox’  payment,  and  the  com¬ 
pany  refused  to  make  the  unpaid  checks  good  on 
the  theory  that  the  dairymen  had  been  negligent  in 
presenting  the  checks  to  the  Conneautville  bank  for 
payment. 
The  prepondei’ance  of  legal  judgment  is  that  the 
delay  in  these  cases  was  not  sufficient  to  place  re¬ 
sponsibility  on  the  dairymen,  and  that  the  company 
can  be  held  for  the  unpaid  milk  bills.  On  this  as¬ 
sumption  the  bills  were  sent  to  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  for  collection.  One  -bill  was  collected  on  a 
technical  point,  but  the  company  steadfastly  refused 
payments  on  the  others.  A  test  suit  was  then 
brought  in  the  local  courts  in  Crawford  County  on 
behalf  of  two  of  the  dairymen,  and  a  judgment  was 
secured  for  both  claims. 
The  Rieck-McJunkiu  Dairy  Company  then  ap¬ 
pealed  the  case  to  the  coxirt  of  common  pleas  of 
Crawford  County.  Pa.  It  has  been  pending  now  for 
some  months,  and  our  attorneys  report  that  they 
will  not  be  able  to  get  a  detei-mination  of  the  case 
until  September  next.  In  the  meantime  the  dairy¬ 
men  ai’e  kept  out  of  the  A  money.  Everything  pos¬ 
sible  has  been  done  to  hurry  the  decision,  bxit  the 
law  insists  on  its  own  deliberate  course.  Consider¬ 
able  interest  has  been  manifested  in  this  case,  as  it 
involves  a  technical  construction  of  law  as  well  as 
a  practical  hardship  to  dairymen.  Everything  pos¬ 
sible  is  being  done  to  hasten  a  determination  of  the 
case.  We  hope  now  to  have  a  decision  by  September. 
New  York  State  Notes 
The  syrup  of  the  Maple  Producers’  Association  is 
rapidly  being  assembled  at  their  warehouse  at  Syracuse 
It  is  expected  that  practically  all  of  the  product  from 
the  different  local  associations  throughout  the  State 
will  be  shipped  by  the  first  of  June.  The  short  season 
and  the  irregularity  of  the  sap  flow  will  result  in  a  les¬ 
sening  of  the  crop  pooled  this  year.  Orders  are  being 
taken  by  the  association  for  both  immediate  and  future 
delivery.  Before  the  organization  of  the  association 
there  was  generally  a  dumping  on  the  market  of  the 
entire  crop.  The  spi’ead  over  the  entire  year  should 
result  eventually  in  a  higher  average  price. 
Although  the  mercury  dropped  to  29  degrees  above 
zero  on  May  9  in  the  fruit  section  of  Western  New 
York,  yet  it  is  believed  by  those  who  have  examined  the 
buds  _  closely  that  they  have  not  been  injured.  The 
severity  of  the  frost  was  diminished  by  the  amount  of 
wind  and  cloudiness  on  that  day.  One  thing  that  the 
cold  snap  did  was  to  reduce  the  number  of  insects  that 
were  about  to  become  active. 
The  Livingston  County  board  of  supervisors  has  de¬ 
ferred  action  on  the  matter  of  appropriating  money  for 
the  tuberculosis  work  in  that  county  until  the  Fall  ses¬ 
sion.  The  prominent  breeders  of  the  county  have  been 
anxious  to  join  with  the  neighboring  counties  and  estab¬ 
lish  a  tuberculosis  free  area  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  State.  They  are  now  waiting,  pending  the  action  of 
the  board  of  supervisors. 
The  advance  prize  list  of  the  New  York  State  Fair 
farm  product  department,  in  which  vegetables  are  in¬ 
cluded,  has  been  printed  and  is  available  for  the  growers 
of  the  State.  This  is  the  earliest  that  the  list  has 
been  published,  and  is  of  aid  to  growers  wrho  ax’e  making 
plans  for  exhibiting  in  their  Spring  planting.  Neai’ly 
$S00  is  available  in  this  department  over  last  year.  The 
minimum  amount  that  has  been  allotted  for' first  pre¬ 
mium  has  been  advanced  to  $4.  Several  changes  ha-ve 
been  made  in  the  collection  classes,  in  order  to  give 
growers  of  similar  kinds  of  vegetables  on  different  soil 
types  opportunity  to  compete  on  fairer  terms.  Sepa¬ 
rate  prizes  are  offered  for  celery  and  lettuce  from  muck 
and  upland  soil.  Similarly  two-collection  classes  of  eel- 
ery  are  offered,  one  for  muck  and  one  for  upland  soils. 
A  new  class  has  been  added  in  the  collection  display, 
consisting  of  the  best  collection  of  vegetables  grown  on 
muck  soil,  for  which  $50  in  prize  money  is  offered.  The 
premium  money  on  organization  collections  has  been 
increased  to  $350.  This  class  is  open  to  any  local  asso¬ 
ciation,  society,  club,  Grange,  school,  church  or  other 
town  or  county  oi-ganization.  In  addition,  a  trophy  of 
a  silver  cup  is  offered  by  ,1.  D.  Barnum  of  Syracuse  for 
the  best  Grange  exhibit.  With  these  added  inducements 
it  is  hoped  that  more  Granges  and  other  organizations 
will  plan  to  exhibit  in  this  class.  Two  other  vegetable 
collection  classes,  one  for  commercial  gardeners  and  the 
other  for  home  gardeners,  should  attract  more  interest 
than  in  the  past.  The  premium  money  for  the  com¬ 
mercial  class  has  been  increased  to  $270,  and  that  for 
the  home  garden  class  to  more  than  $50. 
After  June  1  it  will  be  unlawful  for  beekeepers  to 
keep  bees  in  hives  the  frames  of  which  are  not  readily 
removed  for  inspection.  This  means  that  bees  in  box 
hives,  and  even  frame  hives  with  cross  combs,  cannot 
be  used.  Violation  of  this  law  is  punishable  by  a  fine 
of  $25  for  the  first  offence  and  by  $200  for  the  sec¬ 
ond  offence.  This  may  seem  like  a  strenuous  measure, 
but  when  we  consider  the  value  of  the  bee  industry  of 
the  State  we  must  admit  that  some  strict  measure  must 
be  followed  if  any  inroad  is  to  be  made  in  the  disease 
that  has  been  increasing  for  the  past  few  years. 
The  Farmers’  Field  Days  at  the  State  College  will  be 
held  on  June  27,  28  and  29.  In  addition  to  the  regular 
inspection  of  the  experimental  fields,  there  will  be  a 
large  program  for  the  boys  and  girls  who  are  members 
of  the  Boys’  and  Girls’  Clubs.  E.  A.  F. 
