Vht  RURAL  NE'V-YORKER 
807 
The  School  Bill  and  Its  Discussion 
No.  2. 
ONTINUING  our  analysis  of  the  proposed 
school  law,  the  machinery,  as  we  have  seen, 
consists  of  a  rather  complicated  system  of  commis¬ 
sions  and  boards,  with  a  considerable  number  of  sal¬ 
aried  officers.  The  cost  of  administration  will  evi¬ 
dently  be  greater  than  under  the  present  plan.  We 
could  not  seriously  object  to  that  if  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  new  plan  will  give  our  children  better 
schools,  better  teachers  and  greater  efficiency  in 
every  way.  The  Committee  of  Twenty-one  feels  sure 
that  such  would  be  the  case,  but  the  plan  is  radically 
new  and  untried.  One  criticism  of  the  committee  has 
been  that  the  experts  employed  to  make  the  survey 
upon  which  the  report  and  the  new  bill  were  based 
were  all  Western  people — personally  unfamiliar  with 
rural  conditions  in  New  York.  It  is  evident  that 
some  of  the  authorities  in  the  State  Department  of 
Education  do  not  personally  know  much  of  rural  life 
conditions.  We  understand  that  at  least  some  of 
them  want  to  get  out  into  the  country  this  year  and 
study  actual  conditions.  In  spite  of  the  optimism 
shown  by  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one  no  one  seems 
to  know  just  how  this  system  of  commissions  will 
work  out.  Before  this  bill  becomes  a  law  we  should 
be  told  frankly  whether  its  purpose  is  to  take  power 
from  the  officers  and  patrons  of  the  old  school  dis¬ 
trict  into  a  form  of  centralized  government,  or 
whether  the  district  will  have  greater  power  over  the 
local  school..  Is  it  possible  greatly  to  improve  our 
rural  schools  from  outside  the  district  unless  the 
people  in  that  district  can  be  made  to  take  greater 
interest? 
The  bill  states  that  the  schools  in  a  community  dis¬ 
trict  shall  be  free  to  the  children  of  school  age  resid¬ 
ing  in  that  district.  The  children  may  be  required 
to  attend  such  school.  The  community  board  may 
“in  its  discretion  and  for  sufficient  cause,”  upon  rec¬ 
ommendation  of  the  district  superintendent,  provide 
for  the  transfer  of  pupils  from  one  school  to  an¬ 
other. 
There  has  been  some  controversy  over  the  high 
school  proposition  in  this  bill.  We  therefore  print 
entire  the  paragraph  on  this  subject  as  it  is  given 
in  the  amended  bill: 
Section  1282.  High  School  atul  Special  Instruction. 
— The  pupils  residing  in  a  school  district  within  a  com¬ 
munity  district  shall,  upon  the  completion  of  the  courses 
<>f  study  maintained  in  the  school  in  such  district,  be 
permitted  to  attend  upon  instruction  in  advanced  sub¬ 
jects  in  other  schools  in  the  community  district.  The 
community  board  shall  either  establish  or  maintain 
within  the  district  a  school  wherein  a  full  four-year 
course  of  high  school  or  academic  instruction  may  be 
given  to  the  pupils  of  the  district  who  have  completed 
the  elementary  courses  of  instruction  in  the  schools  of 
the  district,  or  shall  make  provision  for  such  instruction, 
or  part  thereof,  in  the  schools  of  another  community 
district  or  of  a  union  free  or  city  school  district. 
Of  course  the  object  of  this  is  to  provide  high 
school  instruction  for  all  pupils  who  desire  it.  The 
community  board  is  given  power  to  contract  for  such 
instruction.  In  case  of  a  disagreement  over  such 
contract,  the  State  Commissioner  of  Education  will 
decide.  In  determining  the  cost  of  such  instruction, 
the  per  capita  cost  of  maintaining  the  schools  and 
of  the  instruction  of  pupils  may  be  used  as  a  basis. 
When  it  can  be  shown  that  in  order  to  accept  the 
new  pupils  a  school  would  be  obliged  to  provide  addi¬ 
tional  teachers  or  make  substantial  alterations  or 
enlargements,  no  contract  can  be  forced  upon  the 
school.  We  think  one  result  of  that  would  be  the 
building  of  many  new  high  school  houses,  on  the  plea 
that  those  now  in  use  are  overcrowded. 
During  the  past  years  we  have  had  many  com¬ 
plaints  from  parents  about  the  way  their  children 
were  treated  when  transferred  from  one  school  to 
another.  We  therefore  quote  the  entire  paragraph 
of  this  law  covering  such  transfer,  and  the  protection 
offered  to  parents  and  children: 
Section  1287.  Review  of  Action  as  to  Transfer  of 
Tu nils. — The  board  of  education  of  an  intermediate 
district  may  review  the  action  of  the  board  of  educa¬ 
tion  of  a  community  district  within  such  intermediate 
district,  in  transferring  the  pupils  of  such  community 
district  to  another  community  district  or  to  a  union 
free  or  city  school  district,  or  in  failing  or  refusing 
to  make  such  transfer  upon  the  request  of  the  parents 
or  guardian  of  the  pupils,  or  of  the  trustee  or  a  quali¬ 
fied  elector  of  the  district  in  which  the  pupils  reside. 
Such  review  shall  be  had  upon  the  petition  of  the  par¬ 
ents  or  guardians  of  the  pupils  so  transferred  or  desired 
to  he  so  transferred  or  of  the  trustee  or  a  qualified 
elector  of  the  district  in  which  the  pupils  reside.  A 
copy  of  the  petition  shall  be  served  on  the  president  of 
the  community  board,  and  the  original  shall  be  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  district  superintendent.  The  interme¬ 
diate  board  shall  give  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  a 
hearing  on  such  petition  to  the  petitioners  and  the  pres¬ 
ident  or  secretary  of  the  community  board  whose  action 
is  sought  to  be  reviewed.  Upon  the  termination  of  such 
hearing,  and  after  consideration  of  the  facts  presented 
thereon  and  such  investigation  as  the  intermediate 
board  may  see  fit  to  make,  such  board  may  make  a  de¬ 
termination  as  to  the  advisability  of  transferring  such 
pupils  from  the  community  district  to  another  com¬ 
munity  district,  or  to  a  union,  free  or  city  school  dis¬ 
trict.  Such  determination  shall  be  subject  to  review 
on  appeal  to  the  commissioner  of  education,  and  unless 
such  appeal  is  taken  it  shall  be  final  and  conclusive.  If 
it  be  determined  that  the  pupils  should  be  transferred, 
the  intermediate  board  shall  notify  the  community 
board  to  such  effect,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such 
board  to  take  the  action  herein  required  to  obtain  a  con¬ 
tract  for  the  instruction  of  such  pupils  in  the  schools 
of  the  proper  community  district  or  union,  free  or  city 
school  district. 
The  Situation  Over  April  Milk 
THE  Dairymen's  League  Co-operative  Association 
reported  a  price  of  $2.15  per  100  lbs,  for  April 
milk.  The  general  expense  of  operation  was  7% 
cents,  and  the  deduction  for  certificates  of  capital 
fund  was  15  cents.  The  net  cash  return  for  3  per 
cent  milk  in  the  200-mile  zone  was  $1,025.  In  some 
local  inland  cities  like  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Albany 
and  Scranton,  the  price  is  modified  by  local  competi¬ 
tive  conditions.  No  general  formula  can  be  given 
for  such  localities. 
The  Sheffield  Farms  and  Non-poolers’  groups  re¬ 
turned  a  flat  price  of  $2.50  for  April.  Some  of  the 
independent  groups  are  setting  aside  a  surplus  be¬ 
cause  of  the  large  volume  handled  at  this  season,  to 
equalize  handling  costs  in  months  of  smaller  supply. 
The  highest  returns  reported  were  $2.46,  but  the 
tendency  has  been  for  independent  buyers  to  return 
as  closely  as  possible  to  the  lowest  quotation.  In 
some  local  sections  where  producers  are  not  organ¬ 
ized,  or  imperfectly  organized,  the  buyer  sets  his 
own  price  and  is,  of  course,  governed  by  the  supply. 
In  one  instance  a  substantial  premium  was  paid  in 
January  to  increase  the  supply.  In  April  the  price 
was  cut  below  the  group  prices.  The  monthly  com¬ 
parisons  with  the  1910  record  are  carried  out  in  the 
following  table: 
April 
Milk 
1016 
1017 
1921 
1922 
1923 
Borden’s  . 
.$1.31 
.... 
.... 
•  .  .. 
.  .• 
League  . 
. 
$2.05 
$2.10 
$1,235 
$1,025 
Co-op.  unit,  high... 
.  1.67 
.  .  .. 
•  •  •• 
.... 
2.21 
Ind.  group,  high.... 
.  .  .  .. 
.... 
.... 
«... 
2.50 
lb  and  o.  value.... 
.  1.68 
2.27 
2.12 
1.678 
1.958 
Butter,  ets.  per  lb.. 
.  .3003 
.4421 
.4540 
.37<»3 
.4617' 
Cheese,  ets.  per  lb. 
.  .1725 
.25875 
.2150 
.1875 
.1786 
It  will  be  observed  that  in  1910,  when  the  price  of 
milk  was  made  by  Borden’s,  the  producers  received 
for  the  month  of  April  37  cents  less  than  the  butter 
and  cheese  value  as  estimated  by  the  formula.  In 
1917,  the  first  year  of  the  League,  the  price  was  22 
cents  less  than  the  butter  and  cheese  value;  in  1921 
it  was  2  cents  less;  in  1922  it  was  44  cents  less,  and 
in  1923  3  cents  less.  If  the  higher-priced  groups 
were  included,  the  average  for  April  would  evidently 
exceed  the  butter  and  cheese  value.  The  one  lesson 
to  dairymen  in  these  studies  is  not  the  apparent  ad¬ 
vantage  of  one  group  over  another,  which  could  he 
only  temporary  at  best ;  but  the  importance  of  a 
united  organization  to  stabilize  the  industry  and  to 
put  the  production  of  milk  on  a  paying  basis.  All 
agree  that  this  is  a  necessity,  and  the  movement 
cannot  well  be  longer  delayed. 
New  Road  Construction  Held  Up 
A  BULLETIN  from  Albany  says  that  in  face  of 
the  fact  that  the  estimate  for  road  building 
has  been  materially  increased,  the  .State  is  receiving 
no  real  competition  from  contractors.  Contractors 
are  reluctant  to  submit  proposals.  The  Department 
of  Highways  has  therefore  decided  to  curtail  further 
new  construction  until  necessary  repair  work  has 
been  provided  for. 
The  bulletin  continues: 
The  State  has  now  in  force  217  highway  contracts, 
amounting  to  more  than  $28,500,000,  on  which  less  than 
$95000,000  of  work  has  been  performed,  leaving  $19,- 
500,000  of  unfinished  work.  In  addition  to  this  large 
amount  of  uncompleted  work,  the  department  will  make 
every  effort  to  award  contracts  amounting  to  $5,000,000 
for  the  reconstruction  of  old  roads  which  have  gone  to 
pieces.  This  proposed  reconstruction  work  added  to 
new  contracts  now  unfinished  will  reach  a  total  of  $24,- 
.">00,000,  which  is  more  road  work  than  the  department 
has  ever  accomplished  in  any  one  year. 
The  conditions  which  have  made  necessary  the  cur¬ 
tailment  of  new  construction  are  freight  embargoes, 
scarcity  of  materials  and  shortage  of  labor. 
The  Commissioner  realizes  that  a  policy  of  continu¬ 
ing  to  raise  prices,  in  an  effort  to  encourage  contractors 
to  submit  bids,  would  not  only  make  it  impossible  for 
firms  which  now  have  work  at  lower  figures  to  complete 
their  contracts,  but  would  rob  the  already  undermanned 
farms  of  necessary  labor.  It  has  been  determined, 
therefore,  that  except  for  a  few  important  connecting 
links  and  some  heavy  grading  contracts,  which  by  the 
use  of  machinery  will  require  but  few  men,  there  will 
be  no  more  new7  construction  attempted  until  the  ab¬ 
normal  conditions  in  transportation,  material  and  labor 
have  returned  to  a  level  at  which  it  is  advantageous  for 
the  State  to  proceed  with  its  highway  program. 
This  postponement  of  new  work  means  that  $16,000,- 
000  of  contemplated  highway  construction  is  deferred. 
Co-operation  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
HE  R.  N.-Y.  staff  had  a  most  enjoyable  visit  last 
week  with  Mr,  George  G.  Roeding,  the  noted 
horticulturist  and  business  developer  of  California. 
Mr.  Roeding  is  a  strong  advocate  of  true  co-opera¬ 
tion  as  a  means  of  marketing  farm  products,  but  he 
observes,  as  the  rest  of  us  do,  that  we  have  too  many 
ill-advised  experiments  and  too  many  selfish  pro¬ 
moters  in  the  co-operative  movement  for  its  perma¬ 
nent  development.  This  condition,  ho  says,  makes 
the  system  too  costly  in  the  West,  as  well  as  in  the 
East.  He  finds  the  feeling  in  the  East  that  co-op¬ 
eration  in  California  has  reached  a  degree  of  perfec¬ 
tion  that  does  not  exist  there,  though  the  system  has 
undoubtedly  made  greater  progress  on  the  Pacific 
coast  than  in  other  sections  of  this  country.  He 
was  entirely  in  accord  with  the  co-operative  policies 
of  the  late  Harold  Powell,  and  with  the  principles 
always  advocated  by  this  paper.  Men  who  are  too 
small  for  their  jobs,  are,  he  says,  the  danger  to  co¬ 
operation.  Members  who  do  it  themselves  are  the 
hope  of  its  permanent  success. 
New  York  State  Notes 
At  a  meeting  of*thc  Western  New  York  Fruit  Grow¬ 
ers’  Co-operative  Association  recently  held  in  Rochester, 
the  question  of  the  relative  prices  received  by  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  association  and  those  that  sold  independ¬ 
ently  was  discussed.  So  many  rumors  have  been  over 
the  western  part  of  the  State  that  Manager  N.  R.  Peet 
sent  a  questionnaire  to  570  fruit  growers  w7ho  were  not 
members  of  the  association.  The  reports  on  these  ques¬ 
tionnaires  were  used  as  a  basis  of  comparison  with  the 
prices  which  the  association  members  received.  The 
report  showed  that  in  some  individual  cases,  in  the 
case  of  peaches,  plums,  prunes,  quinces,  Keiffer  pears 
and  Duchess  apples,  more  was  received  by  the  inde¬ 
pendent  growers,  but  for  all  other  fruit  the  association 
received  higher  prices.  The  report  concluded  as  fol¬ 
lows:  “But  for  all  other  fruits  the  association  received 
higher  prices.  We  can  hardly  hope  to  sell  at  a  higher 
Price  in  every  instance.  In  general  the  association  ob¬ 
tains  higher  prices  for  products  of  its  members.  We 
sold  Fall  apples  for  a  higher  price  than  the  independent 
growers,  and  Winter  apples  at  a  decidedly  higher  price. 
Out  of  the  66,685  barrels  of  Baldwin  apples  the  asso¬ 
ciation  sold  at  $3.31  per  barrel,  against  $2.85  as  the 
unorganized  growers’  price.”  The  meeting  discussed  in 
detail  plans  for  handling  “trouble  cars.”  Organization 
of  new  locals  at  Horton,  Hamlin  and  Holcomb  \yn-e 
discussed. 
If  one  might  judge  by  the  attendance  at  the  meeting 
at  Syracuse  on  May  14  in  preparation  for  the  National 
Dairy  Show,  the  meeting  this  Fall  is  an  assured  suc¬ 
cess;  450  delegates  of  business  and  farm  interests  met 
at  the  Hotel  Onondaga  for  the  purpose  of  greeting  Mr. 
Skinner,  manager  of  the  association,  and  listened  to  the 
plans  which  he  has  for  carrying  on  this  large  under¬ 
taking.  In  the  morning,  representatives  of  the  boys' 
and  girls’  clubs  met  and  drew  up  plans  for  carrying  on 
their  show,  demonstrations  and  competitions.  This 
phase  of  the  show  is  one  that  will  be  emphasized  this 
year  more  than  ever.  Ample  space  has  been  provided 
for  the  display  of  the  calves  owned  by  boys  and  girls. 
In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Skinner  presented  before  the  dele¬ 
gates  of  farmers  from  the  various  counties  and  the  ex¬ 
tension  men  of  the  various  agricultural  colleges  of  the 
East  what  part  they  might  take  in  helping  to  promote 
the  dairy  show.  In  the  evening  450  men  and  women, 
for  the  women  were  active,  sat  down  to  a  dinner  in 
honor  of  Mr.  Skinner.  Mr.  Skinner  went  into  great 
detail  in  explaining  what  every  phase  of  the  show  was 
for  and  how  it  would  work  out.  One  interesting  thing 
which  he  brought  out  was  that  more  attention  would 
be  given  to  the  grade  cow  than  ever  before.  Cows  from 
the  farms  of  the  producers  of  the  major  part  of  the  milk 
of  the  country.  He  stated  that  while  emphasis  would 
also  be  placed  on  the  purebred  stock,  which  are  essen¬ 
tial  as  seed  stock,  yet  the  value  of  grading  up  would  be 
a  very  important  feature.  Rings  of  various  grades 
were  enlarged  in  the  premium  list,  which  is  under  re¬ 
vision.  This  list  also  provides  for  the  use  of  cow  test 
association  records  for  grade  cows.  The  judging  of 
such  classes  would  be  partly  on  their  record  of  perform¬ 
ance,  as  well  as  on  general  conformation.  Mr.  Skinner 
stated  that  the  entire  fair  ground  equipment,  as  far  as 
exhibit  buildings  is  concerned,  will  be  utilized,  and  that 
nothing  will  be  permitted  on  the  grounds  that  will  de¬ 
tract  from  the  show,  which  is  to  consider  every  phase 
of  the  dairy  business. 
On  May  15  Dr.  R.  8.  Copeland,  United  States  Sena¬ 
tor,  spoke  before  the  State  conference  board  of  farm 
organizations,  lie  came  to  discuss  the  coal .  situation 
in  the  State  and  to  explain  what  he  believed  at  the  basis 
of  the  conditions  last  Winter  when  sections  could  not 
get  sufficient  coal  for  their  needs.  '  He  predicted  that 
there  was  every  evidence  that  with  the  condition  of  the 
lolling  stock  of  the  railroads  conditions  this  Fall  and 
Winter  would  not  be  any  improvement  on  last  year. 
His  reference  was  made  in  connection  with  the  anthra¬ 
cite  situation  only.  He  declared  that  the  failure  of 
eight  of  the  railroads  carrying  coal  out  of  the  anthra¬ 
cite  region  was  responsible  for  the  condition  which  the 
consumer  faces.  This  condition  was  brought  about 
through  the  failure  of  the  railroads  to  sign  an  agree¬ 
ment  with  the  organized  laborers.  The  price  which  was 
offered  was  agreed  to  by  the  laborers,  but  the  railroads 
would  not  recognize  collective  bargaining.  Senator 
Copeland  stated  that  his  investigation  of  the  matter 
had  revealed  that  there  was  plenty  of  coal  at  the  mine 
if  the  railroads  could  have  delivered  it.  This,  he  said, 
was  further  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  a  record  of  many 
of  the  mines  showe'd  that  men  were  employed  only  ap¬ 
proximately  one-fourth  of  the  time  that  was  possible 
for  maximum  production.  To  emphasize  the  condition 
that  one  railroad  was  in  with  regard  to  their  rolling 
stock.  Dr.  Copeland  pointed  out  that  at  one  time  there 
was  71  per  cent  of  the  locomotives  in  need  of  repair. 
With  this  condition  only  a  small  amount  of  coal  could 
possibly  be  moved.  Dr.  Copeland  stated  that  he  did  not 
advocate  public  ownership,  but  that  railroads  were  pub¬ 
lic  utilities,  that  they  were  clothed  with  public  neces¬ 
sity,  and  that  they  had  no  right  to  carry  the  fight  out  at 
public  expense.  In  presenting  his  case  Dr.  Copeland 
was  emphatic  and  pointed  in  his  remarks,  and  supported 
his  statements  with  plenty  of  figures.  He  advocated  the 
union  when  sanely  conducted,  and  stated  that  since  the 
union  had  come  into  existence  the  plane  of  the  miners 
had  been  materially  raised.  e.  a.  F. 
