is held under a lease, only the title to the estate created thereby shall be regarded as vested in the board of education; which estate may be sold and conveyed by the board of education, when authorized in the manner herein before provided.

SEC. 2. That section three of said amendatory act of March 13, 1850, is hereby repealed, and this act shall take effect from its passage.

Passed February 1, 1870.

AN ACT

To authorize township trustees to appropriate surplus bounty funds to school

purposes.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the trustees of any township be and are hereby authorized, when requested by the board of education of the township, to appropriate any surplus bounty money belonging to the township that is not necessary for township expenses, to school and school-house purposes, not to exceed one thousand dollars in one year.

SEC. 2. This act to take effect and be in force on and after its passage. Passed March 18, 1870.

AN ACT

To amend and repeal section twenty-seven of "an act to provide for the reorganization, supervision, and maintenance of common schools," passed March 14, 1853. (Swan and Critchfield, p. 1346.)

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That section twenty-seven of " an act to provide for the reoganization, supervision, and maintenance of common schools," passed March 14, 1853, (S. & C. 1346) be so amended as to read as follows:

Section 27. The township treasurer in each township shall be the treasurer of all school funds for school purposes belonging to the township, arising from whatever sources, and on his election, and before entering upon his duties as treasurer of the school funds, he shall give a separate bond with sufficient sureties, in double the probable amount of money that shall come into his hands as such school-fund treasurer, payable to the state of Ohio, conditioned for the faithful disbursement, according to law, of all such school funds as shall, from time to time, come into his hands. Said bond shall be approved in amount and security by the trustees of the township, and on forfeiture of any bond given for the purpose aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the township clerk, in his own name, as clerk aforesaid, to prosecute and cause the same to be collected and paid in to the proper officer of the court, for the use of the schools in the township; which money shall be paid out by such officer as the board of education may order. If the township clerk shall, for thirty days after notice by any freeholder of the township, of such forfeiture, fail to prosecute said bond, any freeholder may cause such prosecution to be instituted and carried on in the name of said clerk, and cause the money to be collected and paid to the proper officer of the court, who shall pay out the same as hereinbefore in this section provided.

SEC. 2. That original section twenty-seven of said act be and the same is hereby repealed; provided, that no bonds heretofore given shall thereby be invalidated, nor rights of action thereon be lost or impaired, and no actions pending abate, but all such actions may proceed under said original section twenty-seven, or under the same as herein amended, as the person prosecuting may determine.

SEC. 3. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Passed March 25, 1870.

AN ACT

To amend section thirteen of an act to amend and supplementary to an act entitled an act to provide for the re- oganization, supervision, and maintenance of common schools, passed March 14th, 1853, and the acts amendatory thereto; also, supplementary to an act for the support and better regulation of common schools in the town of Akron, passed February 8th, 1847, and the acts amendatory thereto; also, supplementary to an act for the better regulation of the public schools in cities, towns, etc., passed February 21st, 1849, and the acts amendatory thereto. (S. & C., page 704.)

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That section thirteen of the above recited act be amended so as to read as follows:

Section 13. In every county of this state in which an association of teachers of common schools called a teachers' institute has been or may hereafter be formed, the treasurer of said county is hereby required to pay over to the committee of said institute, upon the order of the county auditor, snch sum of money belonging to the fund arising from the means and sources as provided in the seventh section of this act, as may not have been previously appropriated; and it shall be the duty of the said committee of every such teachers' institute to report within thirty days after every meeting of the same, to the state commissioner of common schools, the number of teachers in attendance, the names of the instructors and lecturers, au account of the moneys received and expended by them, and such other information relating to the institute as the said commissioner may require: Provided, that no part of the said moneys shall be ordered by the county auditor to be paid over except upon the petition of at least thirty practical teachers, residents of the county, who shall therein declare their intention to attend such institute, nor until the said committee shall file with the said auditor their bond, in double the amount of the moneys to come to their hands, payable to the state of Ohio, for the use of the teachers' institute of said county, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by said auditor, conditioned for the faithful disbursement of said moneys, and that said committee shall make the report to the state school commissioner as hereinbefore provided; and in case the said committee shall fail to make said report as herein before provided, they shall forfeit and pay to the state of Ohio the sum of fifty dollars for each failure, to be recovered in an action on said bond as hereinafter provided; and on forfeiture of such bond, it shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney of the proper county, in the name of the state of Ohio, to prosecute an action upon such bond and collect any such moneys which said committee may have failed to disburse according to law, or any penalty to which they may be liable under this act, or both, and to pay the same into the county treasury for the use of such institute.

SEC. 2. That said original section thirteen of the above recited act be repealed. This act to take effect on its passage.

Passed April 6, 1870.

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.

There are indications that there will be a larger number of teachers' institutes this year in the months of June and July than is usual. This fact may render it difficult for some counties to procure instructors. I presume that the services of Messrs. White, Cowdery, Harvey, Hancock, De Wolf, Mitchell, Tappan, Stevenson, Schuyler, Orton, Kirkword, Harper, and others, who have heretofore done so much in the institute work, may still be procured. From a

conversation recently had with Jas. E. Murdoch, I infer that he would labor in institutes this summer. His postoffice address is Murdoch, Warren county, O. Mr. T. C. Mendenhall, of the Columbus High School, may be obtained as a lecturer on Physics. He would take with him some of the new apparatus which he has lately procured to illustrate his subject. He would also be well able to take charge of the subject of Arithmetic in addition to his lectures on Physics. Prof. M. C. Stevens, my successor at Salem, Columbiana county, O., I think might also be secured as an instructor in the time of his summer vacation which will extend from about June 10, to Aug. 27. He would give special attention to Arithmetic and Theory and Practice of Teaching. Prof. Stevens stands high as a mathematician. W. D. HENKLE,

State Commissioner of Common Schools.

STATE ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.

The above-named organization will hold its next meeting in the City of Columbus, Tuesday, July 5, 1870.

At 9 o'clock A. M., an Address on the Literary Culture of the Teacher, will be read by Thos. W. Harvey, Supt. of the Schools of Painesville. This will be followed by a discussion.

At 11 o'clock, a paper will be read by A. J. Rickoff, Supt. of the Cleveland Schools, on the Nomenclature of School Classification.

At 2 o'clock P.M., a discussion of the above topic.

At 3 o'clock, Miss D. A. Lathrop, Principal of the Cincinnati Normal School, will read a paper on the Value and Place of Object Lessons in a Course of Study; to be followed by a discussion.

All Principals of Graded Schools are entitled to membership in the Association; and friends of education generally are invited to participate in its dis cussions. JOHN HANCOCK, Chairman Executive Committee.

SCHOOL HOUSES.

A school house should be an attractive and cheerful place. It should be pleasantly located, neat, and commodious. Its internal arrangement and its external appearance should be in keeping with the great object it is designed to subserve. Its furniture and conveniences should, at the least, represent the average comfort and taste of the community. The grounds of a country school house should contain not much less than an acre. They should be enclosed with a neat and substantial fence. The school house should be situated a few yards from the front and equally distant from the two sides of the lot. A close fence extending from the centre of the rear of the house, should divide the back-yard into separate play-grounds for the boys and girls. A substantial wood-shed and other out-houses should also be provided. Door scrapers and good mats (those made of corn-husk being excellent) should remove all excuse for entering the school-room with muddy shoes.

Editorial Department.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

On the first of July, I shall begin the issue of a national edition of the MONTHLY, under the title of

THE NATIONAL TEACHER.

This step is taken in response to a wide demand in other States for an educational journal possessing the merits of the MONTHLY, but free from the local features due to its character as a State organ.

THE NATIONAL TEACHER will contain the same contributions, editorials, and book notices as the MONTHLY, but in place of the "Miscellany", devoted largely to Ohio school interests, there will be substituted a miscellany devoted to the educational interests of the country at large. For this purpose the United States will be divided into some eight sections, and the record of school progress in each will be given under the appropriate heading. I shall aim to secure special correspondents in each section.

It is obvious that this arrangement will improve the character of the ОнIO EDUCATIONAL MONTHLY. It will enable me to secure a still better class of contributions, and the largely increased circulation of the two editions will justify increased editorial attention and labor.

The TEACHER is designed for circulation in other States, The subscription price will be $1.50 a year; four or more copies, $1.25 a copy.

THE NATIONAL TEACHER will not be made the rival of the State journals, but will be commended to those who may wish to take an educational periodical in addition to their own.

E. E. WHITE.

REFORM IN THE SCHOOL-BOOK BUSINESS.

A convention of the leading school-book publishers of the country was held in New York, March 16-19, to institute a reform in the business of introducing school books. It was agreed that the present mode, with its admitted evils, ought not to be continued, and, after a full discussion of the whole subject, a plan was matured and agreed upon, of which the following are the principal features:

1. The organization of "The Publishers Board of Trade" with executive officers, including a "Committee of Arbitration" with power to adjust differences and investigate all violations of the articles of agreement.

2. An agreement to introduce no school books at less than half the published cash retail price.

3. An agreement not to allow any commission, or pay any bonus whatever for influence or assistance in the introduction of books.

4. The withdrawal of all traveling agents after July 1st, with the right to establish at different centers in the country, not to exceed eight "corresponding agencies."

It will be seen that the reform instituted is a radical one, and the twenty-one definite and comprehensive by-laws are an assurance that it will be thorough. It sweeps away the whole agency business, which, as has long been evident, was demoralizing the school-book business, and burdening it with an expense which no ordinary profits on sales would justify. As somebody must pay the fiddler, the conviction is quite general, that the immense cost of free introductions, agencies, and considerations comes ultimately out of the pockets of school patrons.

But we specially congratulate teachers and superintendents on this change, few of whom have been untouched by the school-book influence, exerted either for or against them. In some instances, it has been strong enough to keep incompetent men in important positions, and it has too often undermined those who otherwise would have been successful. In many cases the sharp practices of agents have brought teachers and school officers under the suspicion of corruption-a suspicion unfounded in ninety-nine cases in a hundred. The fact that the reputation of the profession is suffering from this cause, is, however, undeniable.

Lastly, we congratulate school-book publishers on the step they have taken. For many years we have been brought into close business relations with them, and we take pleasure in saying, that no department of business is conducted by more upright and honorable men. We know that they have condemned and deplored the evil practices growing out of the abuse of the agency business, and that most publishing houses and agents have striven, some successfully, to avoid and correct them. "Let us have peace."

MEETING OF NATIONAL SUPERINTENDENTS' ASSOCIATION.

The meeting of the National Superintendents' Association, held at Washington, March 1-3, was attended by delegates from nearly half of the States, and the proceedings were of a very important character.

Hon. W. Johnson, State School Supt. of Maine, made a report on School Supervision, which was followed by a discussion centering on the value and importance of county supervision. The following resolutions on the subject were adopted: