Territorial Superintendent Critiques School Spending
A report to the Legislature highlights the tension between building a university and funding basic district schools in 1862.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In my report to the Legislature, I must note that our Common School system is not yet matured. While the General Government has set apart one-eighteenth of public land for school purposes, I feel compelled to warn against the current expenditure of Territorial funds. We have nearly completed the University buildings, but I believe the expense is too great for the present public good. There is not in any county one hundred dollars of taxable property in a district to support a high school, yet we expend large sums on a Territorial University rather than these small schools. I hold that public good should be the test of all expenditure.
“There is not in any county one hundred dollars of taxable property in a district to support a high school, yet we expend large sums on a Territorial University rather than these small schools.”
This 1862 argument—prioritizing local, accessible common schools over centralized, capital-intensive state projects—foreshadows modern Olympia debates over whether public funds are better spent on basic community infrastructure or large-scale institutional developments.
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