individual as made out in his assessment roll. Every person is taxed in proportion to the amount of property in his possession. The Board of Supervisors apportion the taxes among the townships; each Supervisor apportions them among the taxpayers of his township.

Collection of Taxes.--After assessing the taxes, the Supervisor delivers to the Township Treasurer a copy of his assessment roll, which contains the valuation of each person's property, and the amount of State, county, and other taxes, which he is required to pay. The Township Treasurer collects the taxes, and pays over to the County Treasurer the State and county tax.

Time of Collection.-The time fixed for the collection of taxes is the month of December of each year. If a person refuses or neglects to pay his taxes, as much of his property is sold as is necessary to pay them. If taxes are not paid before the first of Januuary, four per cent. is added by the Township Treasurer for collection dues.

I. The State tax is apportioned by the Auditor General among the counties; by the Boards of Supervisors among the townships.

2. The county tax is apportioned by the Board of Supervisors among the townships.

3. The Supervisors assess the State, county, and township taxes upon the property of tax-payers.

4. The taxes are collected in a township by the Township Treasurer; in a village by the Marshal; in a city by the Collector.

5. The time fixed for the collection of taxes is the month of December of each year.

CHAPTER IX.

PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

Educational System.-The educational system of the State of Michigan is an organic whole, which begins with the primary school and is crowned by the State University. As collateral branches of this system, there is the State Normal School, the State Agricultural College, and the Michigan Mining School. The chief glory of the State is the ample provision it has made for the education of its people.

Support of Public Schools.-The public schools of the State are supported in three ways:

I. By the interest of the primary school fund;
2.. By a one-mill tax;

3. By school district taxes.

Origin of the Primary School Fund.-At the close of the Revolutionary War, the government was deeply in debt, and it was of the greatest concern to public men how this debt should be paid. As the United States had control of a vast territory in the Northwest, it was thought that by holding out great inducements to purchasers, a considerable revenue could be realized by the sale of the public lands. Among other inducements which were held out, the government promised to all who would settle there that one section of land in each township should be set apart for the advancement of

education. It secured to the early settlers and their posterity a permanent means of educating their children. The fund derived from the sale of these lands is called the primary school fund.

Disposition of the Fund.-When Michigan was admitted as a State into the Union, the sections of land set apart for educational purposes, were conveyed to the State for the use of the public schools. All money derived from the sale of these lands remains a perpetual fund, the interest of which is apportioned annually among those school districts that during the year maintain a school the length of time required by law. This apportionment is based on the number of school children in each district. What the State receives from the sales of swamp lands also goes to this fund.

1. The law provides that district schools must be taught as follows:

Districts with from 1 to 30 children, not less than three months.

2. The primary school fund is apportioned by the Superintendent of Public Instruction among the townships and cities of the State, and by the Township Clerks among the school districts. It can only be used to pay teachers' wages.

3. The swamp lands were given to the State by Congress. A great proportion of the lands are swap only in name, and comprise some of the most valuable lands in the State.

Sections. When the public lands of the United States are surveyed, they are laid out in townships and numbered. Each township is six miles square, and consequently contains thirty-six square miles, or 23,040

acres. Every township is subdivided into thirty-six equal divisions, or square miles, called sections. A section, then, is a square mile, or 640 acres. The sixteenth section of every township is set apart for the support of the public schools.

Townships are first numbered and afterwards named; as, Adrian Township, Ann Arbor Township. Section one is always in the north-east corner of a township, and the numbers run as indicated in diagram.

The One-Mill Tax.-On all the taxable property of the State, there is levied an annual tax of one-mill on the dollar for school purposes. This is called the onemill tax.