of their duty. He shall have such general supervision over city, town, and village schools as shall be necessary in harmonizing and systematizing reports, and in securing uniform operation of the public school system. He is hereby vested with general supervision over the official records and accounts of any school district, independent district, or those of any incorporated city, town, or village, and may require correction thereof, when necessary, personally, or he may delegate this power to the county superintendent. He may suspend the county superintendent and institute, or cause to be instituted, proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction for the purpose of bringing about the removal of said county superintendent in the manner prescribed by law, when he shall be satisfied from sufficient evidence submitted to him that said county superintendent does not possess the qualifications required or perform his duties as prescribed by the territorial board of education.

Sec. 12. Visit Rural Schools, Traveling Expenses.-It shall be the duty of the territorial superintendent of public instruction to visit each county, as often as consistent with the discharge of his other duties, for the purpose of holding teachers' meetings, advising with county superintendents and school directors, and awakening an interest in the cause of education throughout the Territory. To this end an annual appropriation of seven hundred ($700.00) dollars, or such a part thereof as may be required, is hereby made for traveling expenses, payable on presentation of certified vouchers and warrants drawn by the auditor upon the territorial treasurer. Said traveling expenses may be incurred by the assistant superintendent when acting under. the direction of the superintendent of public instruction. Said superintendent shall file and carefully preserve in his office the official reports made to him by the county superintendents of the several counties, heads of the territorial educational institutions, and by trustees and directors of all schools of whatever nature within the Territory.

Sec. 13. Blanks, School Law, Flag Day Program.-Said superintendent shall prescribe and cause to be prepared in English and Spanish all forms and blanks necessary in carrying out the details of the common school system, so as to secure its uniform operation throughout the Territory, and cause the same to be forwarded to the several county superintendents to be by them distributed to the several persons entitled to receive the same. He shall cause to be published, as needed, as many copies of the school laws in force, with such forms, decisions, annotations, regulations, and instructions as he may judge expedient thereto annexed, and shall

cause the same to be forwarded to the county superintendent for distribution. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of public instruction to prepare a program of patriotic exercises for the proper observance of Flag Day, and to furnish printed copies of the same to the school directors and boards of education of various districts, cities, towns and villages, at least four weeks previous to the twelfth day of February in each year; he shall also prepare for the use of the school a printed program providing for a uniform salute to the flag.

Sec. 14. Annual Report.-The territorial superintendent shall prepare and cause to be published annually a report of all the common schools, academies, normal schools, colleges, private and sectarian schools in the Territory, which report shall indicate the number and sex of all persons enrolled in the several schools; the value of the school property, and such other facts as he may deem expedient; the same to be drawn from the reports of the county superintendents and from the reports of schools boards, boards of regents, and boards of trustees of the several institutions.

Sec. 15. Secretary of the Territorial Board of Education. -The territorial superintendent of public instruction shall be secretary of the territorial board of education and shall keep faithful and correct records of its proceedings, which records shall be kept open at all times for inspection. A copy of said record, certified by the secretary of the board, shall in all cases be received as evidence in the courts of, or elsewhere in, New Mexico.

Sec. 16. Assistant Superintendent Salary. The superintendent of public instruction is hereby empowered to appoint an assistant superintendent of public instruction, who shall be thoroughly conversant with the Spanish and English languages, and to revoke such appointment at his discretion, and such assistant shall take the oath of office as provided by law, which, with his appointment, shall be filed with the Secretary of the Territory. Said assistant shall receive a salary not to exceed fifteen hundred ($1500.00) dollars per annum, payable in like manner as is provided for the payment of the salary of the superintendent of public instruction.

Sec. 17. Location of Office-Official Acts Certified.-The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall be at the seat of government where shall be kept all books and papers pertaining to the business of his office, and copies of all papers filed. His official acts may be certified by him, and when so certified to shall be received in the courts of, or elsewhere in, New Mexico, as evidence equally and in like manner as the original papers, and he shall deliver to his

successor within ten days after the expiration of his term, all books, papers, documents, and other property belonging to his office.

Sec. 18. County Superintendent, Election, Qualifications.--A county superintendent of schools for each county shall be elected at each general election, and shall enter upon the duties of his office on the first of January following his election. Said county superintendent shall hold office for two years, or until his successor shall have been duly elected and has qualified, unless sooner removed for cause.

From and after the date of passage of this act, no person shall be eligible to the office of county superintendent of schools who is not a person of culture and practical experience and learning in those branches of education taught in public schools, as provided by law, and a person of good moral character, such qualifications to be passed upon and approved by the board of examiners of each county. Provided, This Section shall not take effect until January 1st. 1909.

Any person or persons who shall directly or indirectly cause any portion of the public school fund to be paid to any person for services as county superintendent of schools who shall not have filed with the county treasurer a certified statement of the qualifications herein before mentioned shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in the sum of not less than one hundred ($100.00) dollars nor more than five hundred ($500.00) dollars for each and every offense, and may be removed from office as provided by law

In case no person having the qualifications as herein provided for county superintendent shall be elected in any county, then upon the nomination of the territorial board of education, the board of county commissioners of said county shall appoint as county superintendent a person having such qualifications, who shall fill the office until a properly qualified person shall have been elected by the people of the county, or until a successor shall have been appointed and has duly qualified.

Sec. 19. Oath and Bond.-Each county superintendent shall, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath or affirmation as provided by law, which oath or affirmation shall be filed in the office of the probate clerk. Within thirty days after receiving his certificate of election or appointment as herein provided, he shall give a bond in the sum of two thousand ($2,000.00) dollars to be approved by and filed with the board of county commissioners of his county.

Sec. 20. Powers and Duties.-Subject to the supervision

and direction of the superintendent of public instruction, the county superintendent of schools shall have jurisdiction over all public schools within his county, except those in cities, and such schools, including city schools, shall make such reports to the county superintendent and to the superintend ent of public instruction as may be required by the territorial board of education. Each county superintendent shall visit each school within his county as often as the territorial board of education may prescribe. He shall supervise the methods of instruction employed in the various schools; consult with the school directors concerning the improvement of their schools and the keeping of their accounts; enforce compliance with the school laws; organize, disorganize, or change the boundaries of any school district, as hereinafter provided in this act; hold teachers' meetings for the advancement of the school interests of his county, and perform such other duties as are now provided by law for county superintendents and such as the territorial board of education may prescribe. He shall also on the third Monday in January, April, July, and October of each year, or as soon thereafter as he shall receive the certificate of the territorial superintendent of public instruction signifying the amount appropriated to each county for the use of the common schools of the current year, apportion such amount, together with the county school fund for the same purpose, to the several districts within his county, in proportion to the number of school children residing in each over five and under twenty-one years of age, as the same shall appear from the last annual reports of the clerks of the respective school districts, and he shall immediately certify such apportionment to the directors of the respective school districts, and to the county treasurer of his county, who shall credit the several school districts on his books with the respective sums apportioned to them.

Sec. 21. Salary and Office Expenses. From and after the first of January, 1909, the county superintendents of the several counties of this Territory shall receive the following annual compensation, payable from the county treasury in monthly installments on warrants of the probate clerk drawn. on the county treasurer:

In counties of ten school rooms or less, under the jurisdiction of the county superintendent, as provided in this act, used for general school purposes at least three months in the

year.....

In counties of eleven to sixteen rooms, as aforesaid

$ 300 00

600 00

In counties of seventeen to twenty-five rooms, as aforesaid...

800 00

In counties of twenty-six to thirty three rooms, as aforesaid..

$1,000 00

In counties of thirty-four to forty-two rooms, as aforesaid...

1,200 00

In counties of forty-three rooms, or more, as aforesaid....

1,500 00

Provided, however, That the salaries as fixed by this Section shall not in any event exceed one-third of the total amount of money collected in any county from the tax levy for general school purposes in any year; Provided, This Section shall not take effect until January 1st, 1909.

Said county superintendents shall be entitled to office expenses covering stationery, postage, printing, etc., which for any one year shall not exceed four per cent of their respective salaries. These expenses shall be allowed quarterly by the board of county commissioners, on presentation of itemised and certified bills.

The territorial superintendent of public instruction shall classify all counties of the Territory on the basis provided in this Section, on or before the first day of January, 1909, and each year thereafter, and within ten days shall certify the same to the board of county commissioners of each county.

Sec. 22. Creation and Alteration of School Districts.Whenever it is desired that a new school district shall be formed, a petition and statement of facts signed by a majority of legal electors residing within the proposed district. shall be presented to the county superintendent of schools. Said petition and statement shall contain such a description of the boundaries of said proposed district as will be sufficient to definitely locate it; it shall also contain the names and ages of all persons of school age who are actual residents of the proposed district.

Whenever a new district has been created, at the next regular apportionment, the county superintendent shall apportion to it its share of the school fund as provided by law.

No school district shall hereafter be created or divided unless there be at least twenty-five (25) children of school age in the new district and at least twenty-five (25) children of school age remaining in the district or each of the districts from which such district is taken; Provided, however, That a board of school directors may maintain more than one school in its district for the better accommodation of the patrons of said district.

Upon the receipt of such petition and statement by the county superintendent, he shall create such new district, shall assign to it a number or other proper designation, appoint three persons as a board of directors, who shall