These books were reported to be in general use in the Territory, and in most cases gave satisfaction. They were not furnished free, but “in a number of instances the districts have supplied the children with textbooks from the school fund,” and from this custom was deduced an argument for free textbooks in general, which was favored by the superintendent.
During this administration the question of school and university lands became acute. Supt. Sherman had located (December, 1882) the 72 sections of university land in the San Francisco Mountains in a region heavily timbered with pine and valuable only for its timber. These lands had been withdrawn from market, but were subject to depredators, and had been denuded to a certain extent. It was pointed out by the superintendent that they should be placed under the control and management of the proper Territorial authorities to prevent depreciation. It was said that in many cases the public-school lands were of no value, and that steps should be taken to have these worthless sections replaced while timberlands were still unoccupied.
Prof. McCrea thinks that—
from a financial standpoint the schools of Arizona were probably never in so good a condition as during their administration by Supt. Horton. There was a substantial growth of the population, and the development of the natural resources went forward at a rapid rate. The burdens of taxation had not yet become so apparent, and the people were willing to spend money liberally on the education of their children.
He comments further on the work of Supt. Horton:
Supt. Horton made an effort to inspect the schools of Arizona in order to learn their true condition. This kind of work had not been done since Gov. Safford left the Territory. On account of the size of the country, the scattered settlements, and the difficulties and cost of travel, many of the schools could not be reached. Then the other duties of the superintendent were heavy and demanded much time and attention. But he thought the inspection of the schools could be made of great value, and asked the assembly to amend the school law so that a deputy superintendent might be employed, to have charge of the office in the absence of the superintendent, and that double the annual allowance of $500 should be made that officer in order to meet his traveling expenses when visiting schools. As the schools were so scattered, the superintendent could not hope to give them a very close supervision. Besides, his efforts could be more profitably directed to the general management of the schools. As the probate judges, who were by law ex officio county superintendents of schools, had no time to devote to such work and no training which fitted them to do it well, the superintendent recommended that the office of county superintendent should be made a separate office, and that the duty of visiting and inspecting all the schools of the county should be made compulsory. He believed that in no department of the public service was supervision more needed than in the schools, and that those of Arizona had reached a point where this matter must be met and solved. Unfortunately the people’s representatives were not ready to solve the problem of school supervision thus early
