A Government Text-book for Iowa Schools

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Preface

Six years ago, in response to a request of some of the county superintendents of the state, a pamphlet on Civil Government in Iowa was prepared, the object of which was to assist teachers in giving oral instruction in local government in the state. Several thousand copies of the pamphlet have gone into the hands of the teachers of the state. Teachers have given oral instruction in local government; some have had marked success in carrying out the line of instruction indicated. But from the time the pamphlet was published the author has been met by the objection, coming from the best educators in all parts of the state, that the plan requires more than the average teacher can be expected to do. It is not to be expected that the teacher can have a Code of the state at hand all the time and use it with ease and efficiency. There is need of a book containing more information, which may be used by both teacher and pupil.

In response to this demand the following Text-Book has been prepared. The author is still of the opinion that the best teaching in civil government may be done by those who learn directly from the actual government about them the lessons which they teach. No text-book can be made which can serve as a substitute for this direct observation and study. Wise teachers will illustrate the text by examples and incidents drawn from actual observations. They will encourage their pupils to observe for themselves the business and the methods of local governments about them.

iii

IV PREFACE.

A text-book may be of great value if used simply to furnish texts for original study and observation.

When Edward A. Freeman, England's great historian, visited America, he desired above all things to attend a New England town-meeting. In his opinion, the township is more important in the government and history of America than is the Congress of the United States and the Departments at Washington. Advanced scholarship is giving more attention to local government. The Federal Government is never understood by one who is not familiar with the government of a state. To attempt to give a knowledge of the Federal Government to one who is ignorant of the local government of a state, is to attempt an impossibility. In such an attempt more error than truth is likely to be taught. But both state and Federal Government are easily understood when the facts are presented in their true historical order.

Two years ago a trial edition of this Text-Book was published in pamphlet form, and a promise was made at that time that if the book should be found to meet the needs of the schools it would be put into a more permanent and convenient form. This edition is now published in fulfilment of the promise. The work has been revised and errors corrected.

Iowa Collegr, April, 1887.

The destmction by fire of the plates of this book has furnished an opportunity of again revising the work and of making such changes as recent legislation has made desirable. Since there is a permanent demand for the book in many of the schools of the state, it has seemed best to provide for its publication by a well-known publishing house. I have, therefore, arranged writh Ginn & Company for its future publication.

Iowa Colleqb, March, 1891.

Contents

PAGB

CHAPTER II. Local School Goybrnmbnt 4

Historical Sketch. Sub-District System. Elections. Organization of Board of Directors. Sab-Directors. Officers of the Board. President, Secretary, Treasurer. Independent Districts in the Country. Towns. Entire Township made into one Independent District.

CHAPTER in. Support op Schools 12

Permanent School Fund. Local Taxation. Limitations upon the Power of Taxation. Bonds.

Educational Work of the State. The University. Agricultural College. Normal School. Colleges for the Blind. Deaf Mutes. Feeble- Minded Children. Reform Schools. Orphans' Home. Hospitals for the Insane. Penitentiaries. Boards of Management.

CHAPTER X. Officers of the State 60

General Assembly. Law-Making. Governor. Secretary of State. Auditor. Treasurer. Executive Council.

CHAPTER XL The Administration of Justice 00

Essential Part of Government. Justice of Peace. Origin of the Office in England. Transplanted to America. Duties of, in Iowa. Change of Venue, Habeas Corpus. Constables,

Origin of, in Iowa. Number of Jurors. Methods of Selecting.

CHAPTER XVI. Notary Public 77

Origin among the Romans. Found in all Civilized Nations. County Officers. Duties. Commissioners.

CONTENTS, VU

CHAPTER XVIL Departments op Government 79

Three. Legislative. Executive. Judicial. Too Much Law- Making. Number of Executive Officers in the State. Governor has not much to do with the Execution of Laws. Courts as Related to Executive, to Legislation. Division of Minor Offices.

CHAPTER XVin. Compensation op Officers 86

CHAPTER XIX. Suggestions for Original Study .... 92

Reforms. School Districts. Superintendents Employed by a Board. County Engineers.

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GOVERNMENT TEXT-BOOK

Chapter I. Origin Op Civil Qovbrnmbnt In Iowa

European Claims. — Iowa was a part of that vast * territory claimed by the English government by reason of the discovery of the Cabots. In the latter part of the seventeenth century the French, who had already occupied Canada, made their way to the upper Mississippi. They explored the river from Minnesota to Louisiana, made settlements at different points along its banks, and claimed all the territory drained by it. Iowa was thus claimed by France from 1673, when Father Marquette first landed on Iowa soil, till the close of the French and Indian War, when the French gave up all their claims in America. The territory west of the Mississippi passed into the hands of Spain, was ceded back to France in 1800, and was sold to the United States in 1803. Thus Iowa was first claimed by England and by France, and afterward was ceded by treaty to Spain, then to France, and lastly to the United States.

Since Iowa has belonged to the United States, it has by law of Congress been connected with the territorial govemments of LfOnisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In 1838 Iowa was made into a separate territorial government embracing a large part of what is now the state of Minnesota. The people of Iowa adopted a state constitution and Iowa became a state in 1846.

£arly Settlement. — During the greater part of the time in which Iowa was passed around between the different territories by law of Congress, there were no white inhabitants ; the land was in the hands of various Indian tribes. From 1821, when Missouri was made a state, to 1834, when Iowa was included in the territory of Michigan, Iowa seems to have been left without connection with any government. It was during this period that the first settlements of white men were made, be- ■ ginning in 1830. In June of this year a company of • miners crossed the Mississippi and began to work the ' lead mines of Dubuque. They organized themselves into an independent civil government and adopted a brief code of laws. For nearly two years their mining operations were prevented by the United States army sent to protect the rights of the Indians. At the close of the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Indian title was extinguished and the miners were at hand to renew i their labors.

[ Self-Government. — No provision had been made for

^ the government of the territory. The land had not

I been surveyed. Yet multitudes came across the river

' and established themselves as settlers. The mining

camp at Dubuque was soon occupied by thousands of

persons. Settlements were made at Burlington, Keokuk,

Fort Madison, and other places. These early lowans

ORIGIN OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN IOWA. 3

imitated the example of their ancestors. They found a goodly land ; they settled upon it and began to plant the seeds of a free commonwealth. When our forefathers were on the " Mayflower " they drew up a simple compact and organized themselves into a free body politic ; they landed at Plymouth and planted the first New England town. The miners at Dubuque formed for themselves a free democratic government. In other parts of the state wherever the settlers came there appeared a little free civil government formed by their voluntary association.

The early settlers of Iowa were from differeiit states. Some were familiar with town government as it exists in New England; others with county government as it exists in the South; still others were accustomed to local governments in which the power is divided between township and county, such as exist in the middle states. Many of the early settlers had lived in Illinois. This state was first settled in the southern part by people from the South, who established the county system of local government.

Form of Local Government. — These various classes naturally strove to plant in the new territory their own peculiar institutions. The New Englanders favored the town-meeting and the township. The Southerners and those from Illinois favored the county. Those from Ohio and Pennsylvania naturally would divide local government between township and county. The laws made by the territorial legislature, and those made by the General Assembly after Iowa became a state, bear testimony to the mixed character of the people. At one time local government was almost entirely in the

* A GOVERNMENT TEXT-BOOK.

hands of counties ; at another time the laws provided for placing it in the hands of townships after the manner of New England. The people were generally too far apart for this latter plan to succeed, and the final result has been a division of local government between township and county.

Chapter II. Local School Government

The work of education is done in part by parents. One may employ a tutor or governess to come into the family and teach his children, or a number of families may have their children meet together, and employ one teacher for them all, or parents may procure education for their children by paying for tuition in schools established by others. Churches and religious societies have done much for the education of youth. These various agencies may be relied upon to do a part of the work, yet there is no way in which it can be made certain that all youth will be provided with the means of education, unless the work is taken up by the government.

Origrin of Public Schools. — There is an established church in England supported by the government. When Englishmen settled in America they continued the policy of supporting the church by taxation. In New England one of the first duties of a new town was to build a church and provide for the support of a pastor. An important part of the work of the church

LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 6

was the education of the youth. The expenses of both church and school were met by taxation. In course of time, as religious denominations increased in number, the church came to be supported by voluntary contribution, but the school continued to be supported by taxation. This was the origin of our public school system in America. From New England the system has been extended to other parts of the country. When Congress made provision for the government of the Northwest Territory, the education of youth was recognized as a part of the work of government. After the plan of a public survey had been adopted, the sixteenth section of land in each township was set apart for the support of public schools.

Public Schools in Iowa. — Iowa, as we have seen, was settled at a time when there was no provision for governing the territory. The settlers banded themselves together for mutual protection and government. Schools were established by the voluntary action of such as were interested in the subject. When Iowa was made a part of Michigan in 1834, the laws of Michigan provided for education by the government. Iowa became a part of Wisconsin Territory in 1836, and the laws of Wisconsin provided for public schools. When Iowa secured a territorial government of its own, the legislature in its first session passed a law for the education at public expense of all white children in the territory. The state constitution, which went into effect in 1846, recognized the education of youth as a part of the work of the state. Yet, during all this time, the schools were supported .by voluntary association. The laws for the maintenance of schools were not generally enforced until about 1855. Since that time the work has constantly grown and increased in importance.

Forms of School Government. — In the laws of Iowa there has been provision for nearly every form of local school government which has ever been invented. In the earliest times those school districts, which never existed outside of the statutes, had each seven oflScers, including an assessor and a tax collector. The laws afterward placed the work of collecting the school tax in the hands of the county or township. There are now four varieties of local school government.

The Sub-district System. — The system of local school government in most general use is the sub-district system. Every township is a district for school purposes. The district is first organized by the trustees of the civil township, who hold an election, and a school board is thus chosen. The school board proceeds to divide the township into sub-districts, usually nine in number, a tax is voted and a school-house built in each sub-district.

Election. — Five days before the first Monday in March of each year it is the duty of the director in each sub-district to post in three public places in the district a notice of election. On the day appointed the electors meet at the hour specified and choose a sub-director for the ensuing year. In this way as many sub-directors are chosen as there are sub-districts in the township. 1

The Annual Meeting of Electors. — The second Monday in March of each year is the day for a general school-meeting of all the voters in the township. It is organized by choosing a president and secretary in case

1 By statute of 1892 sub-directors are chosen for three years.

LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERNMENT, 1

the president and secretary of the school board are absent. This meeting has power to authorize the sale of school property, to determine whether extra studies shall be taught in the schools, to authorize the board to procure at the expense of the township, public roads for the accommodation of the schools, or to commit all these duties by vote to the board of directors. Any tax which may be necessary for building purposes must be voted at the annual meeting. This meeting is usually attended by few persons. The school officers come together and pass the necessary votes, and the business which the law puts into the hands of all the voters in the township is often transacted by fewer persons than is the business in the hands of the school board.

Duties of the School Board. — The sub-directors chosen at the annual election on the first Monday in March are required by law to take the oath of office within two weeks, and on the third Monday in March the sub-directors from all the sub-districts in the township meet and organize as the board of directors for the "district township." They choose a president from their own number. They choose also a secretary and treasurer ^ from their own number in case there are five or more directors ; otherwise, from the district township at large. The board of directors holds two regular meetings each year; one in March, the other in September. The school directors divide the township for school purposes ; they locate and build school-houses, and determine how many schools shall be taught. The law requires the board, before building a house, to consult the county superintendent as to the most approved plan. The board may establish union or graded schools

1 At the first September meeting.

in the townstip. They are required to provide instruction for at least six months in the year for all persons of school age. They may adopt text-books for the use of schools, but cannot change them of tener than once in three years.^ They may provide the schools with maps, charts, dictionaries, and other apparatus. Libraries for the schools may be provided by vote of the electors at the annual meeting. The directors have an oversight of the expenditures of the district township, and must require the secretary and treasurer to give bonds to secure the district against loss. It is the duty of the members of the board to visit the schools and assist the teachers in governing them.

Sub-directors. — The board of directors, as we have seen, is composed of sub-directors chosen in the sub-districts. Each sub-director, in addition to his duties as a member of the board, has some specisd duties in his own sub-district. The board of directors determine what wages shall be paid to teachers, and each director in his own district selects and employs a teacher. The teacher and sub-director govern the school, subject to any rules and regulations the board may adopt. The consent of the board is required before a pupil can be permanently excluded from school.

Officers of the Board. — The officers of the school board are president, secretary, and treasurer. The president is chairman of the board of directors. He draws all drafts upon the county for money, and signs all orders on the treasury. He signs all contracts made by the board, and he appears on behalf of the district in all cases at law.

LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERN ME^T. 9

The Se<a«tary keeps a record of all the proceedings of the board of directorB. He couBtersigns all drafts and orders drawn bj the president, and keeps a record of the same. He keeps an account of the expenses of the district township, and rejx)rt6 the same to the boaitl ; gives notice to the county sujjerintendent of the beginning of each term of the school and the length of term- Between the fifteenth and twentieth of September of each year the secretary is required to make a report to the county superintendent containing the following items : The number of persons in the township between the ages of five and twenty-one ; the number of schools and the branches taught; the number of pupils and the average attendance in each school ; the number of teachers and the average compensation ; the length of school and the average cost per week of tuition for each pupil; the text-books used; the number of volumes in the library, and the value of the apparatus belonging to the township; the number of school-houses and their value; the name, age, and address of each blind, deaf and dumb person in the township between the ages of five and twenty-one ; the number of growing trees in each school-house yard. If the secretary fails to make this report he forfeits the sum of twenty-five dollars, and is required to make good all losses resulting from his failure, and his bondsman is held for the payment of this sum.

The Treasurer receives from the county treasurer money belonging to the district, and pays it out on orders signed by the president and secretary. The treasurer is required to keep an account with three distinct funds ; the school-house, the contingent, and the teachers' fund. He is required to register all orders on the treasury. On the third Monday in September of each year he is to make a full report to the school board, and send a copy of the same to the county superintendent. It will be seen, by comparing the duties of the secretary and treasurer, that each is required to keep a full account of the money received and paid out by the district.

Independent Districts. — The district township or sub-district system was adopted by our legislature in 1862. At the same time the law provided for the organization of towns into independent school districts. Where large numbers are to be educated in one district, it may be better for its own directors to decide about the number of school months, the branches taught, the grading of the school, and other things in which its policy may differ from that of the country school. The question as to whether a town or village, with such contiguous territory as may be expedient, shall be made into an independent district is decided by a vote of the electors. The law requires that there shall be at least two hundred persons living within the proposed district. If a majority of the voters favor the change, the organization is made by electing three directors if the district contains less than five hundred inhabitants, and six directors if it contains five hundred or more. Directors hold their ofiice for three years, and after the first election one-third of the board is elected each year.

When an independent district has been organized, the rest of the district township remains organized for school purposes just as it was before ; thus, if the township contained nine schools and nine sub-districts, and one of the sub-districts containing a town or village should be

LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 11

made into aii independent district, the district township would remain as it was, but would contain only eight sub-districts. In local school management the independent district has no connection with the siUTOunding districts.

The board of directors is organized in the same way as in the township district. The treasurer must be chosen outside of the board; so also the secretary in districts where there are six directors. The duties of these officers are the same as in the district township.

Independent Districts for Country Schools. — The independent district as thus described is designed for the especial accommodation of towns and cities. But many persons think it better in the country also for each sub-district to be in the hands of an independent board. In 1872 our legislature passed a law giving to the district township the privilege of changing the sub-districts into independent districts. Many townships in the state made this change. After a few years the legislature withdrew this privilege, but permitted the independent country districts already organized to remain. Again, in April, 1888, the General Assembly passed a law making it possible for a district township to change the sub-districts into independent school districts in case one-third of the voters in each sub-district petition the school board for the privilege of voting for the change, and a majority of the voters in each sub-district vote for the change. The government of the independent country district is similar in every respect to that of the district for towns containing less than five hundred inhabitants. There are three directors ; a fourth man for treasurer; the president is a member of the board, and the secretary may be a member.

Tbe Consolidated Township System. — Our laws also provide for consolidating the entire township into one independent district. This change may be effected by a majority of the voters. This system dispenses with the sub-district and sub-director, and places the management of all the schools in the hands of a board of directors chosen from the township. The township cannot, however, under either the sub-district or the consolidated system, change the organization of school government for towns and cities. These are allowed to maintain their independence, whatever may be the organization of the country schools around them.^

Chapter III. The Support Of Schools

The Permanent School Fund. — We have seen that the treasurer of each school board is required to keep a separate account with three distinct funds ; the school-house, the contingent, and the teachers' fund. Of these three funds the teachers' is the largest and most constant. The United States government gave to the state

1 (d) The plan of making each civil township an independent district, governed by a board chosen from the township at large, is in many respects the best system yet devised. It reduces the number of school officers, provides for gradual changes in the board, secures uniform taxation for the support of schools throughout the township, encourages the establishment of graded schools for advanced scholars, and tends to the selection of teachers according to the qualifications and work required in each single case. — Iowa School Laws, 1888, p. 71,

THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 13

one section of land in each township and five hundred thousand acres in addition, to be used for the support of common schools. This land has been sold by the state, and the proceeds is kept as a permanent school fund, which is increased from time to time by the sale of escheats. The auditor of the state and the various county auditors loan this money, and the interest forms part of the teachers' fund. This fund is assigned to the school districts in proportion to the number of persons in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one, and is used in the payment of teachers. Fines and forfeitures which the state secures in the administration of justice increase the school fund.

Taxes. — From all these sources the amount is not sufficient to pay the teachers. It is the duty of the board of directors to estimate the additional sum necessary for the year, and vote a tax for that purpose. The board of directors also vote a tax for the contingent fund. For the building of school-houses the law requires that the tax shall be voted by the electors at the annual meeting. These various sums are certified by the secretaries of the school boards of the county to the auditor of the county, who is the clerk of the county board of supervisors. The county board levies upon the respective districts the taxes voted by each district, and they are collected along with the other taxes of the county.

liimitations upon the Power of Taxation. — The law limits the amount of money that may be expended in any one year for the support of schools. For teachers the limit is fifteen dollars per pupil ; for contingent expenses the limit is five dollars per pupil ; for school-house fund the limit is ten mills on the dollar for all the taxable property in the district. If the district is in need of more money for the building of school-houses than tlie tax of ten mills on the dollar will produce, the electors at the annual meeting may authorize the board to borrow money and issue bonds of the district. Districts are not allowed to contract a debt for any other purpose than for securing school-houses and grounds, and the indebtedness for this purpose cannot exceed five per cent of the assessed value of the district. If in any locality the people fail to organize school districts, vote school taxes, and support a school for at least six months in the year, they do not receive any portion of the state school fund. It is by withholding the school fund from localities not complying with the school law, that the state has been enabled to extend the system to all places within its limits. The permanent school fund of the state is more than four million dollars. The state expends nearly as much for education as for all other objects combined.

The Supply of Text-Books. — By a law of the state enacted May, 1890, the school boards of Iowa are empowered to purchase and furnish to the pupils at cost school-books and other supplies. When text-books have been thus adopted it is unlawful for the board to change them, till after the expiration of five years, unless authorized to do so by a majority of the electors voting at a regular annual meeting in March. The same law provides that the county superintendent, county auditor, and the county board of supervisors shall constitute a board of education for the county. It is made the duty of this board, upon the receipt of a petition signed by

THE TOWNSHIP. 15

one-half of the school directors of the county, to provide for the holding of an election to decide whether there shall be uniform text-books in the county. If, as the result of the election, uniform books are adopted, it becomes the duty of the county board to decide upon the books to be used, to purchase them, and sell them to the directors in the districts. The provisions for county uniformity do not apply to town and city schools.

Chapter IV. The Township

Tbe Congpessional Townsbip. — In 1796 Congress adopted a system of surveys in which the township was the chief division. The township in this survey is six miles square, and is divided into sections of one square mile each. This system has been followed in all parts of the country west of Pennsylvania, and the township established by the United States survey serves the double purpose of locating land and furnishing the boundary for local governments. One object of .Congress in adopting this system was to encourage local township government. We have seen that in Iowa the township district for school purposes has the same limits as the civil township; and the civil township usually has the same limits as the township established by congressional survey.

The Civil Township in Iowa is a local government for holding elections, repairing roads, listing property, giving relief to the poor, and for other local business.

The officers of the civil township are three trustees, one clerk, a road supervisor for each road district, one assessor, two or more justices of the peace, and two or more constables. The justices and constables are, in a certain sense, county officers, yet they are elected by townships, and if they remove from the township in which they are chosen they cease to be officers. The trustees are chosen for three years, but their terms of office are so arranged that one is chosen each year. The other qfficers are chosen for two years.