clerk's office, to give it effect, the most convenient and effectual mode of complying with the law, will be to make out, sign and file a duplicate of the instrument itself.

V. Duties of Town Superintendents in respect to their Annual Reports.

Between the first day of July and the first day of August in each year, the town superintendents are to make an annual report to the county clerk. In some instances these reports have been erroneously transmitted to the superintendent, who cannot receive them. The contents of this report are specified in § 19, (No. 44,) and in addition thereto, they are hereby required to state in their annual reports:

1. The number of times the school in each district has been inspected by the town superintendents, to be taken from the abstract furnished by the trustees:

2. The number of volumes in the library of each district, the school house of which is in their town, as returned by the trustees:

3. The amount of money expended in each school district for teachers' wages, besides and beyond the public money apportioned to such district; that is, they will condense from the reports of the trustees the amount paid by individuals, on rate-bills or otherwise, and the amount collected from any local funds, together with all the particulars required by subdivision 8, of §19, No. 44, of the Laws

of 1847:

4. The school books in use in their respective towns. This will be compiled from the reports of the trustees, in which the title of each book, and the aggregate number reported in all the districts will be stated:

5. The number of joint districts, the school houses of which are situated, wholly or in part, in their town:

6. Whether any fines or penalties have been collected by them, and the amount, as herein before required:

7. They are also hereby required to condense from the reports of the several trustees, and to insert in their annual report, in a tabular

form as heretofore annexed, the attendance of pupils in the several district schools for the following different terms, viz:

8. They are also hereby required to report the number of select and private schools in their town, other than incorporated seminaries, and the average number of pupils therein, as stated in the reports of the trustees of the several districts:

9. They are also hereby required to condense, from the reports of the several trustees, the number of schools for colored children taught in their town, specifying the districts in which such schools have been taught, the number of colored children between the ages of 5 and 16, attending such schools; and the amount of public money apportioned to the respective districts from which such children attended, specifying such districts.

The most common mistake committed by these officers, is in their report of the moneys received by them or their predecessors, since the date of the last report. They often confound this money with that received by trustees of districts, which is an entirely different item. This last item is received on the first Tuesday of April, and reported by the trustees on the first of January following, and is embodied in the report among the abstracts of the trustees' reports in the columns headed " amount of money received in each district." But the money received by the townuperintendent is that paid to them by the county treasurer and town collector after the first of January, and apportioned by them on or before the first Tuesday in April, and is not contained in the reports of the trustees.

In making their annual reports the town superintendents will see that the several columns of their table are correctly footed, and the figures plainly and distinctly made.

VI. Liabilities of Town Superintendents.

By § 20, (No. 45,) town superintendents neglecting to furnish such information as shall be required of them by the superintendent, severally forfeit to their town the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for by the supervisor.

By § 22, (No. 47,) the same forfeiture is incurred for å neglect to make their annual report within the time prescribed by law; and the share of school moneys belonging to the town for the ensuing year may be withheld at the discretion of the Superintendent, and distributed among the other towns from which the necessary reports were received; and in that event, by the succeeding section, (No. 48,) the officers guilty of such neglect forfeit to their town the full amount, with interest, of the moneys so lost.

By § 29, (No. 54,) every town superintendent refusing or neglecting to pay over any balances remaining in his hands, &c., may be prosecuted for such unpaid balance, and a recovery had against him or his representatives in case of his death.

By § 114, (No. 139,) "If the moneys apportioned to a district shall not have been paid, it shall be the duty of the trustees thereof to bring a suit for the recovery of the same, with interest, against the officer in whose hands the same shall be, or to pursue such other remedy for the recovery thereof as is, or shall be given by law."

This provision is not supposed to refer to cases where the money apportioned to a district is retained in the hands of the town superintendents in consequence of the failure on the part of the district to comply with some provision of law; but to those only of an illegal detention, where the right of the district is undisputed.

ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETINGS OF INHABITANTS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

The inhabitants of the several school districts are required by law to meet annually, § 65, (No. 90,) and special meetings are authorized to be held, whenever called by the trustees, § 69, (No. 94.) The frequent opportunities thus afforded for the coming together of

the inhabitants of each district, for deliberation and consultation in relation to their schools, and the various interests connected therewith, are calculated to exert a most beneficial influence in favor of education; to promote union, harmony and concert of action in the several districts; and to cement the ties of friendly social intercourse between those having a common interest in the moral and intellectual culture of their children. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that they should not be neglected; that the inhabitants should be prompt and uniform in their attendance; and that the proceedings should be invariably characterized with that order, regularity, dignity and decorum which can alone command respect, and advance efficiently the objects to be accomplished. To secure as far as possible the attainment of these desirable ends, it is proposed in this place to examine the powers and duties of the inhabitants, when assembled in district meeting, the mode of proceeding, the keeping of the minutes and records, the qualifications of voters, and some other subjects of general interest, connected with the proceedings of district meetings.

1. Powers and Duties of Inhabitants when assembled in District Meeting.

These are particularly specified in § 62, (No. 87,) of the act. They are to appoint a chairman to adjourn from time to time as occasion may require; to choose district officers at their first meeting, upon the organization of the district, and as often as vacancies occur, by expiration of the term of office, or otherwise to designate a site for a district school house; to lay such tax on the taxable inhabitants of the district as the meeting shall deem sufficient to purchase or lease a suitable site for a school house, and to build, hire, or purchase such school house, and to keep in repair and furnish the same with necessary fuel and appendages; and to repeal, alter and modify their proceedings from time to time as occasion may require, and to vote a tax to purchase a book in which to record the proceedings of the district.

By the 8th subdivision of this section, (No. 87,) the inhabitants are authorized, with the consent of the town superintendent, to designate sites for two or more school houses for their district, and to lay a tax for the purchase or lease thereof, and for the purchase, hiring or building of school houses thereon, and the keeping in repair and furnishing the same with necessary fuel and appendages.

This provision authorizing more than one site and school house is intended for the accommodation of those districts that may be so peculiarly situated as to render a division inconvenient or not desirable. A banking or other corporation, or some manufacturing establishment liable to taxation, may thus be rendered beneficial to a large territory and a greater number of inhabitants, instead of having its contributions applied for the benefit of a few. And in populous places, it may often be convenient to have a school for very young children distant from that attended by those more advanced. In these and other cases,. the districts should not hesitate to exercise the power given by this section. But they should in all cases obtain the previous assent of the town superintendents.

Section 71, (No. 96,) of this act imposes a restriction upon the exercise of the powers of school district inhabitants in levying taxes. In addition to the certificate of the town superintendent required by § 70, (No. 95) to authorize a tax exceeding $400, to build, hire or purchase a school house, no such tax can be raised without the assent of a majority of all the taxable inhabitants of the district, to be ascertained by taking the ayes and noes of those present at the meeting called for the purpose, or to which the proposition to raise such tax shall be submitted. A majority of the taxable inhabitants present at the meeting will not do. The affirmative vote must be equal to a majority of all the taxable inhabitants residing in the district. The authority to reconsider any such vote cannot be exercised after thirty days from the time the vote was first taken.

The same section, No. 87, § 62, authorizes the inhabitants in their discretion and without the assent of the town superintendents, to levy a tax not exceeding $20 in any one year, for the purchase of maps, globes, blackboards and other school apparatus. The principal facts in geography are learned better by the eye than in any other manner, and there ought to be in every school room a map of the World, of the United States, of this State and of the county. Globes also are desirable, but not so important as maps. Large black boards in frames, are indispensable to a well conducted school. The operations in arithmetic performed on them, enable the teacher to ascertain the degree of the pupils' acquirements, better than any result exhibited on slates. He sees the various steps taken by the scholar, and can require him to give the reason for each. It is in fact an exercise for the entire class; and the whole school by this public