Page:History of Public School Education in Arizona.djvu/57

Chapter V.

ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, 1885–1887.

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The next period in the history of the Arizona public schools opens with a readjustment of one of the questions of patronage. The law of 1871 had made the governor Territorial superintendent of public instruction ex officio. That remained the law until the act of February 14, 1879. This law authorized the governor to appoint a substitute to perform the duties which the law of 1871 had assigned to him, and then provided that in 1880 and thereafter the superintendent should be chosen by the people at the regular election every second year. Supt. Sherman, who was appointed by Gov. Frémont in 1879, was chosen by popular vote at the regular election in 1880; and so was Supt. Horton, in 1882, without discussion or challenge. In 1884 Robert Lindley Long was elected. But with the opening of the legislative session of 1885 Gov. Tritle, relying on section 1857 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, in a communication to the council on February 13, 1885, declared that the appointment of the Territorial superintendent of public instruction was a duty which clearly fell within the limits of his prerogatives, but since Mr. Long had already been chosen by the people and had received the certificate of election, he was now formally appointed by Gov. Tritle to fill the office, and his confirmation asked of the council. There was no formal objection to this claim and Mr. Long was confirmed by unanimous vote. During the remainder of the Territorial period the office remained subject to appointment by the governor, to whom, under the law, the right clearly pertained.^[1]

Of the school situation at this time McCrea says:

By 1885 the school system of Arizona was ready to begin developments along broader lines. * * * It would seem that the time had come not only to mold the school law into more permanent form, but also to add higher institutions of learning, if a self-sufficing Commonwealth was to be built up in the heart of the American desert. Nor was the Territory lacking in financial ability to take a great forward step in education. The assessed valuation of its property in 1884 was over $30,000,000. Its real value was probably more than double that sum. But the financial condition of the Territory was not so satisfactory. * * * The auditor recommended a considerable increase in taxation, but the governor thought this might be avoided by more efficient methods of taxation and by proper economy. * * * Mining, farming, and stock raising were all making great progress in the Territory, which enjoyed

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1. Legislative Jour., Arizona, 1885, pp. 423–24.

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