953 
The  School  Bill  and  Its  Discussion 
Part  VIII 
IN  order  that  there  may  be  no  posible  mistake 
about  the  financial  plans  of  the  new  school  bill, 
we  print  that  part  of  it  in  full.  This  ends  our 
synopsis  of  the  bill.  We  have  taken  more  space  than 
we  expected,  but  we  are  determined  that  no  reader 
of  The  R.  N.-Y.  shall  have  any  excuse  for  saying 
that  he  does  not  know  what  the  bill  will  do  to  his 
school. 
Briefly  stated,  the  bill  will  take  school  control 
away  from  the  local  district  and  put  it  in  the  hands 
of  various  boards  and  commissions.  Pbwer  over  the 
rural  school  is  centralized,  and.  as  we  see  it,  the 
average  voter  in  a  rural  school  district  will  have  less 
direct  power  over  the  school  than  now.  It  seems  as 
though  this  is  directly  intended  by  the  Committee 
of  Twenty-one.  on  the  theory  that  farmers  are  not 
well  qualified  to  conduct  their  home  schools. 
Our  opinion  is  that  all  these  costly  and  complicat¬ 
ed  school  boards  will  quickly  become  a  very  nest  of 
political  activity.  They  are  to  be  started  by  the 
boards  of  supervisors.  Running  all  through  the  bill 
we  see  the  thought  that  while  the  farmers  may  think 
they  are  to  control  through  these  various  boards,  in 
truth  the  State  Department  at  Albany  will  have  a 
stronger  grip  than  ever  on  the  school  system. 
While  ostensibly  a  bill  to  prevent  compulsory  con¬ 
solidation,  we  can  easily  see  many  ways  in  which 
this  bill  can  be  used  to  compel  consolidation  over  the 
heads  of  local  taxpayers.  We  intend  to  make  all 
these  things  absolutely  clear  if  possible,  and  the 
friends  of  the  bill  may  have  full  chance  to  show  up 
its  merits. 
Now,  having  analyzed  the  bill  in  this  way,  we 
shall  proceed  to  show  how  it  came  to  be  presented. 
Who  is  responsible  for  it,  and  by  what  authority  do 
they  speak? 
Whenever  a  community  district,  after  the  taking  ef¬ 
fect  of  this  article,  establishes  and  maintains  a  high 
school  or  academic  department  duly  approved  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  as  provided  in  this  chapter, 
or  where,  after  such  date,  a  community  district  employs 
in  its  high  school  or  academic  department  an  addi¬ 
tional  teacher  or  teachers,  there  shall  be  ajiport  loned  to 
each  such  community  district  the  sum  of  $-00  for  ch.cn 
-such  additional  teacher  so  employed  therein.  Such  addi¬ 
tional  apportionment  on  account  of  the  employment  of 
such  additional  teachers  shall  continue  for  a  term  of 
10  years  after  the  establishment  of  such  new  high 
school  or  academic  department  or  the  employment  ot 
such  additional  teacher.  .  .  , 
The  Commissioner  of  Education  shall  apportion  and 
pay  to  each  community  district  on  account  of  expendi¬ 
tures  made  by  such  districts  for  the  erection  of  new 
schoolhouses  or  the  enlargement  and  improvement  of  ex¬ 
isting  school  houses,  the  purchase,  construction  or  im¬ 
provement  of  other  buildings  which  the  district  is  au¬ 
thorized  to  acquire,  construct  or  improve,  and  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  transportation  equipment,  during  the  preceding 
school  year,  the  following  portion  of  the  actual  cost 
thereof  as  certified  to  him  by  the  secretary  of  the  com¬ 
munity  board  of  the  district  making  such  expenditures; 
in  community  districts  having  a  true  or  actual  valua¬ 
tion  per  teacher  of  less  than  $50,000,  30  per  cent  of  the 
total  expenditures  for  such  buildings  and  equipment  ;  if 
such  valuation  per  teacher  be  $50,000  and  less  than 
$100,000,  25  per  cent  of  the  total  expenditures  for  such 
buildings  and  equipment;  if  such  valuation  per  teacher 
be  $100,000  and  less  than  $150,000,  20  per  cent  of  the 
total  expenditures  for  such  buildings  and  equipment; 
if  such  valuation  per  teacher  be  $150,000  and  less  than 
$200,000,  15  per  cent  of  the  total  expenditures  for  such 
buildings  and  equipment ;  if  such  valuation  per  teacher 
be  $200,000  and  less  than  $250,000,  10  per  cent  of  the 
total  expenditures  for  such  buildings  and  equipment  ;  if 
such  valuation  be  $250,000  and  less  than  $300,000,  5 
per  cent  of  the  total  expenditures  for  such  buildings  and 
equipment. 
If  a  district  included  within  a  community  district 
shall  have  erected  a  new  schoolhouse  or  enlarged  or  im¬ 
proved  an  existing  schoolhouse.  since  the  first  day  of 
August,  1919,  the  Commissioner  of  Education  shall  ap¬ 
portion  to  such  community  district  out  of  moneys  ap¬ 
propriated  therefor  the  same  proportion  of  the  ex¬ 
penditures  made  for  the  erection,  enlargement  or  im¬ 
provement  of  such  schoolhouse,  as  is  provided  herein. 
If  such  district  shall  have  paid  the  cost  of  such  erec¬ 
tion,  enlargement  or  improvement  out  of  moneys  raised 
by  tax  upon  the  property  of  such  district,  prior  to  the 
first  day  of  August,  1924,  such  apportionment  shall  be 
paid  to  such  community  district  out  of  moneys  appro¬ 
priated  therefor,  during  the  year  beginning  on  the  said 
first  day  of  August,  1924.  If  bonds  shall  have  been 
issued  by  such  district  on  account  of  such  erection,  en¬ 
largement  or  improvement,  and  any  portion  of  such 
bonds  shall  be  unpaid  on  the  said  first  day  of  August, 
1924,  there  shall  be  apportioned  to  the  community  dis¬ 
trict,  in  each  year  thereafter,  in  the  same  manner,  a 
like  proportion  of  the  principal  of  such  bonds  falling 
due  in  the  preceding  school  year. 
The  Commissioner  of  Education  shall  prescribe  rules 
and  regulations  governing  the  apportionment  of  such 
quotas.  The  apportionment  herein  provided  on  account 
of  the  erection,  enlargement  or  improvement  of  school- 
houses  shall  not  be  made  unless  the  plans  and  specifica¬ 
tions  for  such  buildings  and  the  enlargement  and  im¬ 
provement  thereof  be  approved  by  the  Commissioner  of 
Education.  Such  apportionment  shall  not  be  made  on 
account  of  expenditures  made  for  ordinary  repairs,  or 
for  the  permanent  improvement  of  any  building  the  cost 
of  which  is  less  than  $500.  The  regents  of  the  univer- 
sitv  shall,  upon  recommendation  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education,  prescribe  a  standard  of  the  maximum  costs 
of  the  erection,  enlargement  or  improvement  of  school 
buildings  on  account  of  which  apportionments  shall  be 
made  as  herein  provided.  The  moneys  apportioned,  to 
community  districts  as  provided  in  this  subdivision 
shall  be  used  exclusively  for  the  payment  of  the  cost  of 
new  buildings  or  the  enlargement  and  improvement  of 
existing  buildings,  or  such  other  buildings  as  the  dis¬ 
trict  may  be  authorized  to  purchase,  erect  oi  impiove, 
Iht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
or  the  purchase  of  transportation  equipment,  or  for  the 
payment  of  the  principal  of  bonds  issued  and  outstand¬ 
ing  prior  to  the  first  day  of  August,  1924.  The  quotas 
authorized  by  this  subdivision  shall  be  known  as  build¬ 
ing  quotas  and  shall  be  apportioned  out  of  moneys  ap¬ 
propriated  therefor  by  the  Legislature. 
If  a  school  in  a  district  in  a  community  district  has 
one  teacher  and  is  declared  to  be  a  one-teacher  school 
by  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  and  such  teacher 
possesses  the  qualifications  prescribed  in  this  section, 
the  Commissioner  of  Education  shall  apportion  to  the 
community  district  an  additional  allotment  of  $10  a 
month  for  the  first  year  taught  by  such  teacher  ;  such 
additional  allotment  shall  be  increased  to  $15  a  month 
for  the  second  year  of  such  teacher’s  employment,  and 
to  $20  for  the  third  year  of  her  employment,  and 
each  year  thereafter.  Such  teacher  shall  either  be 
(a)  a  normal  school  graduate  or  its  equivalent  and 
shall  have  had  at  least  three  years  of  actual  teaching 
experience,  or  (b)  a  graduate  of  a  rural  teacher  train¬ 
ing  department  maintained  in  a  normal  school  or  other 
educational  institution  which  shall  be  approved  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Education.  She  shall  also  have  grant¬ 
ed  to  her  by  the  Commisioner  of  Education  a  special 
rural  school  teacher’s  certificate,  issued  by  the  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Education  under  the  rules  of  the  regents 
of  the  university.  In  no  case  shall  such  additional  ap¬ 
portionment  be  made  unless  it  shall  appear  that  such 
teacher  is  paid  at  least  $1,100  for  the  school  year. 
Proportionate  Apportionments. — If  in  any  year  ,  the 
amount  of  public  moneys  appropriated  by  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  for  the  support  of  common  schools  in  the  commu¬ 
nity  districts  shall  not  be  sufficient  for  the  payment  of 
the  entire  amounts  directed  under  the  provisions  of  this 
article  to  be  apportioned  and  paid  to  the  community 
districts,  the  Commissioner  of  Education  is  hereby  au¬ 
thorized  and  directed  to  apportion  to  each  community 
district  such  proportion  of  its  full  quota  as  the  amount 
so  appropriated  will  permit. 
Sheffield  Prices  for  1916 
In  a  former  issue  of  your  paper  the  question  was 
asked  by  W.  A.  M.  as  to  the  price  paid  for  fluid  milk 
for  the  year  1910  by  the  Sheffield  Co.  I  would  like 
you  to  print  rhe  price  per  month  for  the  year  preced¬ 
ing  October  1.  1910. 
New  York.  E.  w.  R. 
TIIE  prices  for  milk  for  the  year  preceding  Oc¬ 
tober,  1910,  as  made  by  the  Borden  company 
and  concurred  in  by  Sheffield  Farms  and  other  deal¬ 
ers  were  as  follows; 
October,  1915  . $1.00 
November,  1915  ...  1.70 
December,  1915  ...  1.70 
January,  1910  ....  1.70 
February,  1910  .  .  .  1.05 
March.  1910 .  1.00 
April,  1910  ; . $1.31 
May,  1910  .  1.00 
June,  1910  .  1.00 
July,  1910  .  1.20 
August,  1910  .  1.42 
September,  1910  ..  1.51 
were  selling  on  private 
Some  farm-owned  plants 
contract  at  prices  substantially  30  cents  above  these 
prices. 
A  Colored  Man  on  the  Negro  Migration 
WE  have  become  greatly  interested  in  the  mi¬ 
gration  of  negroes  from  the  South  to  the 
North,  because  we  see  in  it  a  great  change  in  the 
industrial  life  of  both  sections.  The  R.  N.-Y.  always 
tries  to  present  every  side  of  public  questions,  for  we 
feel  that  our  readers  are  quite  competent  to  get  at 
the  truth  if  they  can  hear  the  full  story.  So  we 
have  asked  the  editors  of  papers  which  circulate 
among  colored  people  to  give  their  views.  We  find 
that  there  are  214  papers  edited  and  printed  by  col¬ 
ored  people.  Some  of  their  names  are  “Colored  Citi¬ 
zen,”  “Black  Man,”  “Sunshine,”  “Whip”  and  “Black 
Dispatch.”  We  have  letters  from  a  number  of  these 
Southern  negro  papers.  Here  is  one  from  a  Georgia 
editor : 
1st — The  movement  is  not  purely  an  industrial  one 
in  which  the  negro  is  seeking  to  better  his  economic 
opportunities. 
2d — Mob  law,  economic  and  social  oppression  are 
driving  him  from  the  South  to  the  North.  The  rural 
negro  lives  in  dreadful  fear  of  bodily  harm  from  the 
white  man  in  many  sections  of  the  South. 
3d — He  has  lost  confidence  in  the  white  man’s  will¬ 
ingness  to  treat  him  right,  or  to  give  him  a  square  deal, 
and  as  a  result  of  which  he  feels  insecure  in  the  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  life,  property  and  happiness. 
4th — In  many  of  the  rural  districts  and  small  towns 
he  has  despaired  of  justice  in  the  courts. 
5th — Disfranchisement  and  the  lack  of  economic  op¬ 
portunities  weigh  heavily  upon  his  soul. 
6th — The  lack  of  educational  advantages  and  no 
schoolhouses  in  which  to  teach  his  children,  are  other 
causes. 
7th — The  poor  housing  conditions,  both  in  the  towns 
and  rural  districts,  is  another  cause — together  with  the 
shutting  of  every  economic  opportunity  that  the  white 
man  possibly  can  shut  in  his  face,  is  driving  him  away 
from  the  South. 
8th — The  crop  system  and  contract  labor  law  as  prac¬ 
ticed  in  the  rural  districts  have  reduced  the  negro  to  a 
condition  of  almost  abject  slavery — and  many  of  them 
feel  that  they  are  living  in  a  state  of  peonage,  and  can 
only  get  rid  of  debts  that  landlords  fail  to  explain  to 
them,  by  leaving  by  night. 
Georgia  appropriates  less  than  $5,000  a  year  for  the 
higher  or  technical  education  of  the  negro.  The  aver¬ 
age  pay  for  a  rural  school  teacher  of  my  race  is  not 
above  $20  per  month,  whereas  the  white  teachers’  sal¬ 
aries  average  about  $45,  with  schoolhouses  built  from 
public  school  funds  throughout  the  State,  and  automo¬ 
biles  and  trucks  are  daily  plying  the  public  roads  to 
haul  white  children  to  school,  with  no  means  of  trans¬ 
portation  for  the  negro  child,  and  no  buildings  pro¬ 
vided  by  the  State  for  schoolhouses.  Schoolhouses  are 
furnished  in  my  State  for  negroes  by  churches  and 
lodges,  and  are  poorly  equipped,  without  glass  windows, 
heat  and  ventilation. 
Wages  for  the  black  man  are  hardly  above  the  star¬ 
vation  line — I  mean  for  unskilled  labor  in  the  country. 
I  note  what  you  say  with  reference  to  many  of  your 
people  being  without  help,  and  could  employ  a  large 
number  of  my  people,  and  that  the  employment  would 
be  permanent.  I  have  to  say  that  I  am  so  much  opposed 
to  migration,  because  I  fully  realize  the  economic  loss  to 
the  South  in  the  movement  of  my  people  to  the  North, 
that  I  must  decline  to  suggest  any  way  for  any  more 
of  them  to  leave  the  South  than  are  leaving  daily.  As 
bad  as  the  conditions  are  here,  I  rather  think  it  will 
be  hurtful,  both  to  us  that  stay  South  and  to  those  that 
leave  for  the  North.  Migration  is  disorganizing  the 
social  order  of  the  South — it  is  shooting  to  pieces  our 
economic  fabric,  and  our  end  of  the  country  cannot  pros¬ 
per  without  a  trustworthy,  dependable  laboring  class  of 
people — and  the  negro  is  that  character  of  workman. 
All  he  needs  is  encouragement,  and  I  believe  that  the 
dearth  of  labor  through  which  we  are  passing  now  in 
the  South,  will  bring  the  white  man  and  industrial  cap¬ 
tain  to  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  black  man,  and  he  will 
consider  him  as  an  asset  instead  of  a  liability,  and  he 
will  do  what  he  can  to  make  the  negro  an  asset  instead 
of  reducing  him  to  a  liability  by  oppression,  mistreat¬ 
ment  and  an  unsquare  deal. 
The  Farm  Labor  Question 
I  am  inclosing  a  clipping  from  a  local  paper,  which 
shows  what  your  friends  up  here  are  up  against: 
Laborers  Wanted 
10  Hours  a  Day 
45  Cents  an  Hour 
W.  I..  &  F.  A.  Frost 
Factory  Workers,  Laborers  and  Unskilled  : 
Men  : 
Plenty  of  Work  for  Men  Who  Want  to  : 
Work  Steady.  : 
Call  at  Employment  Department  for  : 
Full  Information.  : 
No  farmer  can  bid  against  the  contractors  paid  with 
public  money,  and  there  are  four  road  contracts  in  this 
county  and  more  all  the  way  outside.  As  a  result,  hired 
men  are  jumping  the  farm,  and  many  farmers  them¬ 
selves  are  leaving,  figuring  $7.50  per  day  for  team  and 
man  is  much  more  than  they  can  make  farming.  Hun¬ 
dreds  of  farms  are  half  tilled  or  idle,  while  the  few  of 
us  who  still  try  to  keep  up  some  sort  of  production  can 
see  no  way  to  get  the  crops  in  the  barn.  A  few  of  the 
younger  men  have  tractors  and  are  putting  in  a  good 
acreage  of  Fall  crops,  but  if  conditions  don’t  change 
they  will  have  a  happy  time  gathering  before  Winter. 
It  is  hard  to  see  how  conditions  could  be  worse. 
Schuyler  Co.,  N.  Y.  B.  L.  H. 
A  Proposed  Plan  for  Grain  Growers 
The  daily  papers  have  printed  a  rather  indefinite 
statement  from  Mr.  Bernard  M.  Baruch  with  regard  to 
selling  grain  co-operatively.  Mr.  Baruch’s  reputation 
as  an  organizer  of  large  enterprises  naturally  attracts 
attention  to  any  plan  he  might  suggest,  and  he  has  sent 
us  a  statement  of  what  he  really  proposes.  Something 
should  be  done  at  once  to  enable  American  wheat  grow¬ 
ers  to  market  their  crops  profitably.  He  thinks  they  are 
facing  a  situation  this  year  which  is  even  more  serious 
than  last  year’s  experience.  There  is  great  dissatis¬ 
faction  over  grain  prices,  as  compared  with  the  prices 
which  they  are  obliged  to  pay  for  supplies.  Mr.  Baruch 
says  that  this  country  was  founded  by  agricultural 
classes,  but  it  has  drifted  into  the  control  of  other 
industries  or  interests.  He  thinks  this  is  due  not  to 
sinister  or  improper  influences,  but  largely  to  neglect 
on  the  part  of  agricultural  interests  themselves,  and  lie 
claims  that  the  correction  of  this  condition  lies  in  the 
hands  of  the  farmers.  The  remedy  is  par'Iy  political, 
but  chiefly  economic. 
The  plan  he  suggested  is  really  purchase  by  the  wheat 
growers  of  a  large  selling  concern  which  would  imme¬ 
diately  put  the  farmers  into  the  business  of  selling  that 
product  on  an  immense  scale  in  foreign  countries. 
While  no  definite  arrangement  or  promise  has  yet  been 
made,  Mr.  Baruch  says  that  he  has  talked  with  the 
Armour  Grain  Company,  and  his  suggestion  is  to  form 
an  organization  which  shall  combine  this  company  with 
a  large  co-operative  organization  of  grain  growers. 
This  would  present  a  going  concern,  the  machinery  of 
which  would  function  at  once  through  its  present  or¬ 
ganization  to  handle  American  grain. 
The  suggestion  is  to  secure  enough  farmers  who  could 
subscribe  an  amount  sufficient  to  make  large  part  pay¬ 
ments  for  the  concern.  The  balance  of  the  payment 
should  be  paid  out  of  the  cost  of  handling  the  grain. 
The  farmers  would  receive  a  certificate  of  insurance  for 
their  original  subscriptions  and  for  the  profits  made  out 
of  their  grain  until  these  profits  had  paid  for  the  pur¬ 
chase.  Under  this  plan  Armour  &  Co.  would  retain  a 
certain  number  of  directors  and  the  farmers  would  also 
have  a  certain  number,  until  gradually,  through  the 
profits  of  the  concern,  Armoyr  &  Co.  were  paid  in  full, 
or  until  the  farmers  paid  off  the  balance  in  other  ways. 
Until  this  balance  was  paid  there  would  be  no  control 
of  the  organization  except  by  means  of  a  third  class  of 
directors,  who  would  provide  the  balance  of  power  on 
the  board  and  whose  business  it  would  be  to  see  that 
the  organization  was  run  according  to  contract,  and  to 
settle  any  disputes  between  the  two  parties.  He  says 
that  had  such  a  plan  been  enforced  last  year  it  is  the 
opinion  of  grain  experts  that  the  growers  would  have 
received  an  average  of  40  cents  more  per  bushel  than 
they  actually  received. 
In  brief,  that  is  the  proposition.  The  matter  got  into 
the  papers  before  Mr.  Baruch  was  fully  prepared  to 
make  it  public,  as  he  had  not  obtained  full  reports  from 
the  farmers’  organizations.  The  advantage  that  he 
points  out  is  the  fact  that  in  this  way  the  grain  growers 
would  have  the  immediate  use  of  a  fully  organized  con¬ 
cern.  It  would  not  be  necessary  to  develop  their  own 
selling  machinery.  He  wants  to  know  what  grain  grow¬ 
ers  generally  think  of  his  plan.  It  will  be  difficult  to 
work  out  such  a  proposition  fully.  There  are  compara¬ 
tively  few  grain  growers,  we  think,  who  would  care  to 
enter  into  such  a  combination.  Some  of  the  immediate 
advantages  may  be  evident,  but,  generally  speaking, 
farmers  have  thus  far  been  opposed  to  a  business  com¬ 
bination  of  this  sort.  Most  of  them  seem  to  think  it 
will  be  wiser  and  safer  in  the  long  run  to  organize  their 
own  selling  business  and  keep  in  the  middle  of  the  road, 
rather  than  tie  up  too  closely  with  the  concerns  which 
have  thus  far  handled  their  grain  at  considerable  profits. 
There  are  probably  few  farmers  who  believe  that  in  the 
end  such  a  combination  would  result  in  fair  ownership 
of  this  big  enterprise.  Most  of  them  would  prefer  to 
organize  a  selling  operation  of  their  own. 
