Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1889 — THE SCHOOL BOOK LAW. [ARTICLE]

THE SCHOOL BOOK LAW.

A Case Tnat Excites Surprise—The Governor's Letter. Indianapo'is News, Nov. 25. The school book ring is rejoicing in a decision by the Benton County Circuit Court that the new school book law is unconstitutional and void. The decision is a surprise. That such a suit was pending was unknown, both to the Attorr ey-General of the_ State and to the School Book Company, which, except the-people, is the most directly interested of all tho parties concerned. The case has apparently been “railroaded” by attorneys to its present status. Before it goes through the Supreme Court—whither it is bound—all parties will have had a chance to be fully heard. This decision leads to interesting disclosures. In ihe first place, it sels at naught the conclusions reached by the At-torney-General in his recent bpinidb. He held that the school book law is absolutely mandatory. It appears, also, that the Attorney-General, at the request of the Governor, has been on the lookout for just such cases as the one decided, in order that he, as an officer of the State, might defend it in cases involving the validity of its laws. The following is a copy of a letter from the Governor to the Attorney-Gen.: Hon. L. T. Michener, Attorney-General; Dear .-nr—My a tection ha been cal.cd to the fact that an effort will be made to know that the law passed by the last General Assembly for the purpose of securing for use in the common schools in the State of Indiana a series of tex t books is unconstitutional. I have never doubted the constitutionality of the measure or else I should have vetoed it. I have be- n requested by one of the contractors with the State to ask you, as Attorney General, to appear in the cases when the question of the constitutionality of the law is involved. You'S truly. _. _ Alvin P. Hovey. Governor Hovey was asked by a News reporter this afternoon concerning his opinion of the school book law. “It did not exactly suit my ideas when it was passed by the Legislature,” he said, “and I should have vetoed it had I seen my way clear to do so. In my study of it I became convinced that it is constitutional . The chief points on which Judge Ward declared the law unconstitutional I oelieve to be not sound. When a Trustee takes HIS OFFICE HE TAKES IT WITH ALL THE BURDENS WHICH ARB ATTACHED TO IT. The DISPOSAL OF THE SCHOOL BOOKS IS AS MUCH ONE OF THE TruSTEES’s DUTIES AS IS ANY OTHER THING WHICH HE IS CHARGED WITH. Then the point that the School Book CONPANY IS A MONOPOLY IS SIMPLY NONSENSE. It is a monopoly exactly as the successful bidder who furnishes supplies to the Insane Hospital, or who gets the contract to grade the State House grounds is a monopolist, no more, no less. I suppose, of course, the Attorney-General will defend the constitutionality of the law when it comes to the Supreme Court.”