Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1885 — IMPORTANT DECISION [ARTICLE]

IMPORTANT DECISION

The Supreme Coart of Indiana Affirms tliw Constitutionality <f the School Tax Law. [lndianapolis telegram.] The Supreme Court to-day rendered a de- ' cision in a case of much importance, holding that the present statute, authorizing the various public school corporations of tbe State to levy taxes for tuition purposes, » constitutional and valid. The suit was originally brought in Switzerland Couhty to enjoin the Treasurer from collecting such a tax, and the injnnctiou was granted This decision was reversed in ,the Supreme Court to-day, Judge Elliott writing the decision, which Was concurred in by all the other Judges. A great number of cases are reviewed in the opinion, showing that the case of Greencastle Township vs. Black, 5 Indiana, Rep. 537, was, in principle, long since overruled in so far as it decides that the law delegating to local school officers the power to levy taxes for tuition purposes is in conflict with the provision of the Constitution which requires the Legislature to establish “a general and uniform system of common schools. ” The decision overruled is the one which, in 1851, overthrew the school system. In tbe opinion great stress' is pi iced upon the purpose of the Constitution and the Court says: “ With the plainly declared purpose of the people before us, and with the knowledge that the system which has ] revailed for eighteen years has carried our schools to a high state of prosperity and usefulness, we she aid do a great wrong, if, without the strongest reasons, we shonld overwhelm that system and compel the adoption of another which would shatter into inefficiency the whole common school system.” Much weight is also given to the long line of decisions, beginning in 1857, which held that taxes may be le vied by local officers to build and equip schoolbeuses, and it is held th it there is no difference between taxation for that purpose and for the purpose of paying teachers, the Coart using this illustration: “If the te&cher of a private school were to send to the father of one of his pupils on account for tuition and afterward a bill for use of the place where the school was conducted, the position of the teacher would, on principle, be precisely the same as that occupied by those who affirm that the power to levy a tax to erect school-houses may be delegated, bnt the power to levy a tax to pay teachers cannot be.” It is further said, in the course of the opinion, that “a system which grants to all the various subdivisions of the State eqnahnffL uniform rights anA prmleges, leaving only to the local authorities the right to govern the local affairs, is a general and uniform system. ” Postmasters’ Salaries. [Washington special.! The salaries of Postmasters at all offices of the first, second, and third classes have been readjusted for the next fiscal year. This is tbe first readjustment based on the returns from the 2-cent letter rate of postage for an entire year. The following is a list of all the offices of the grades named Id Indiana, where there is a change in salary. At offices notin this list the salaries remain as at present. The salary for next year is given in the first column and the present salary in the second column: New Old salary, salary. Ang01a....... $1,20 j si,3eo Auburn..... j. 1,300 1,400 Aurora 1,C0) 1,700 Bedford..* 1,:&0 1,400 Bloomington....*:. ■»............. 1,500 1,(00 Bluffton 1,400 1,500 Brook vi11e..... 4thclass 1.000 Butler -.. 1.000 .1,100 Cambridge City 1,000 1,200 Covington..,.,- 1,000 1,100 Crown Point, 1,100 1,200 Decatur 1,200 1,300 Fort Wayne.' f 1... 2,890 2,900 Fowler. ..............,4th class 1,000 Goshen.. 2,2u0 Greencastle 1,900 1,800 Greenshurg 3,6<j0 1,700 Hartford City 1,000 1,100 Huntingburg 1,000 .... Jasper .* 4th class I,MO JettersonviUe I,7W> 1,800 Kent land *...,. 4th class 1,000 Knightstown...., 1,200 1,300 Kokomo.* 1,800 1,900 Lafayette » 2,600 2,700 La Grange 1,200. 1,300 Lawrencebnrg 1,400 1,500 Lebanon t,soo 1,4159 Liberty l.mo 1,200 Marion '. 1,700 1,800 Martinsville 1,100 1,200 Mishawka 1,400 1,500 Mitchell 1,000 1.100 Monticello 1,200 1,300 Mount Vernon 1,400 1,500 Muncie 1,800 1,900 Newcastle*..... 1,400 l,£oo Noblesville. 1,500 1,4t0 North Vernon 1,100 1,900 Notre Dame 1.600 1,500 Plymouth * 1,500 1,600 Portland 1,400 1,600 Rensselaer.... i.OOO 1,100 Rochester 1,490 JJtoO Rockville 1,200 1,300 Seymour...- 1,600 1,700 Spencer 4thcla?a 1,100 Sullivan ’ 1,200 1,300 Thornton. ..4th class 1,100 Valparaiso 2,100 2,200 Warsaw. A;. - 1,600 1,700 Washington.. IJSOO 1,600 Waterloo 4th class 1,000 Winchester 1,400 1,500 Winamac 4th cla is 1,000

State Items. —W. J. Kiplinger, grocer at Loogootee, has failed. . ■ ' _ ' ' „ " ' " > - —Among the cadets at Annapolis Naval Academy who will graduate this year is Arthnr H. Dutton, of Indiana. —At Wabash, the passenger depot of the Cincinnati. Wabash and Michigan Bailroad at that point was destroyed by fire, which originated in the lnnch-room adjoining. Tne ice-house of William Collins, adjoining, was also partially consumed^ —A farmer Jivipg in Oregon Township, Clark County, thought the cold winter had killed all of his peach trees. He cut most bt them down in the spring, but those he left standing bear fruit. The mistake has caused him much loss, as his orchard was a valuable one, and would have yielded a big crop. The cold weather did not injure peaches in Clark County. —Mr- Jonas Howard, of Jeffersonville, has announced his intention of building a wagon and street-car bridge connecting Louisville and Jeffersonville. He has had this project in view for some time, and has interested some of the capitalists of Jeffersonville in the scheme. If he can accomplish as mnch with the moneyed men of Louisville plans will be matured immediately looking to the building of the bridge. —Conrad Plank, a wealthy and influential resident of CassUounty, was killed by a runaway on his farm. He was thrown against a gate-post, and, a splinter penetrating his abdomen, he died almost instantly. —Edward Gordan was fatally shot by the driver of a Columbus street-oar, who chums it was an accident, his p|stol striking the brake-handle. ’ . —John H. Wiley, a wealthy lumber dealer of Indiw&polis, was killed by a train.