The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1858-01-14

II is to be regretted that prior to the act Or
April II, 1887 no provision was made for keep.
ing the Sinking Fund separate from other money
In the Treasury, or cficotually securing Its exclu.
sivc application to It's intended use; on the con.
lrary, the General Assembly had In several In
stances directed transfers Of this fund 70 Gene
raj Revenue, and thus required its application 10
ordinary expenditures. In my Judgment this
practice Is not to be approved or even justified,
except in case OF absolute necessity.
recommend that provision be made for the
restoration to the Sinking Fund Of the amounts
withdrawn from II, In order that the entire bal
ance properly belonging 10 that fund may be
safely inv sted and reserved for Its legitimate OBJ
jccts
The principal Of the State debt has been re.
duced during the past year by the payment OF
Al 90, 207 90, derived chiefly from the premium
Of the loan Of 81, 100000 negotiated to discharge
the amount which became payable after 1855. OF
the remaining debt, the sum of $6,4l3,635 81
will become payable at the pleasure Of the State
at any time af,cr the 3lst of December, lS60.-
The terms of this contract exclude the idea Of OBJ
legation to pay at that time, but II will doubtless
be the pleasure of the State TO pay very large
part, II not the whole OF this debt &c soon as the
right to pay shall accrue. The proceeds of all
public property which may be sold should be ex-
clusiycy devoted to this purpose, and provisions
should be made, If moderate additional levy
will effect the object of n sufficient sum to dis
charge at least one-third Of the amount. The
residue may be distributed over so many OF the
following years as will bring its payment within
the reach of moderate taxation or immedi-
ate paymcnt,if preferred by the creditors may be
made in new bonds, bearing less rate Of interest,
and payable at such times az the Genl Assembly
may see ft to direct. Under all circumstances
the interest on the entire debt must be punctual
ly paid and the credit of the State maintained
inviolate. do not doubt thai the people of
Ohio will cheerfully submit to any not excessive
rate of taxation, If assured beyond peradyen-
ture that the procccdf will be honestly and
punctually applied in discharge of debt, the in
tcrcst Of which constitutes so large an annual
draft upon their resources.
Existing laws require the appointment of n
Transfer agent and Registrar at New York, and
regulate the transfer of Stocks and the payment
of interest and debt through this agency. Ex-
perience has shown the danger of con6ding pow
ers such as are necessarily vested in these Off
GERS, to persons beyond the jurisdiction of the
State, andinot amenabe to its laws IF obligations
assumed at the creation of the Debt and as part
of its consideration, require their appointment
and maitcnancc, these obligations must be full
filed in good faith. 1fit be otherwise, the, Off
ces should be abolished and all transfers should
ton of its Elective officers. ! commend this
subject to legislative investigation and consider
alton.
] earnestly recommend the repeal of the act al
lowing contracts for interest at len per cent
The lcgalization of such n rate of interest cna-
bcs the moncyed capitalists to absorb far tco
large II share OF the earnings Of the farmer, the
mechanic and the merchant. II often takes the
whole, and sometimes more than the whole. 1t
may be, as some think that the law as it stood
prior to that act, would be improvedsby the sub
stitution of the rate OF seven per cent. in place
of the old rate of six per cent. Whatever rate
of interest may be approved, | respectfully sug-
gest that it should be uniform, and be allowed to
all persons, whether natural or artificial, alike,
aud that all contracts for higher rate, by whom
socvcr made, should be deemed and held alike
null and void, unless enforced with simple inter
est, for the benefit of educational or benevolent
institutions. Determinations between classes of
lenders, tempt to fraud and almost uniformly fail
of beneficial results In this connection, your
attention may also he usefully given to various
devices by which banking institutions seek to
evade statutory limitations of interest, and to
the provision of more eflectual guards against
such evasion.
OF the several amendments ol the constitution
proposed by the last General Assembly, and sub
mitted to the people at the last general election,
none received the suifrages OF majority of all
the electors. l do not regard this result, under
all the circumstances, as u decisive verdict, and,
still believing for reasons here oore fully assign
cd, that Annual Sessions are necessary to the
proper care and security of the public interest
and that single Senatorial and Representative
Districts arc Indispensable to true expression
of the popular will in legislative action, respect
fully recommend another submission to the peo-
pie of amendments providing for these impor-
tant objects / confne this recommendation to
these amendments, because | regard them as
most desirable, and because experience seems to
teach that when more numerous separate propo-
sitions are submitted, no one OF them is likely to
receive the popular sanction.
OF the reports required to be printed and laid
before the General Assembly at the commence
ment Of its session, those of the Treasury of
State Of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb,
of the Institution for the Blind, and of the Cen
tral Ohio and Northern Ohio Lunatc Asylums,
are ready and will be Immediately laid before
you, The Reports of the Southern Ohio Lunatic
Asylum, Of the Ohio PenitentiAry, and Of the
State House Commissioners, are in the hands Of
the binder, and will be speedily submitted. Those
Of the Auditor of State, Of the Secretary of
State, of the Board of Public Works, of the
Reform School, of the Asylum for Idiots, of ihe
Quarter Master General, and of'the Commission
ers OF the State Library, are in the hands Of the
State Printer and will doubtless be presented be-
fore the close of the coming week. The Reports
of the Commissioner Of Common Schools of the
Commissioner OF Statistics, Of the Commissioners
OF the Sinking Fund of the Ohio University, and
of the Miami University have not vet been re-
ceiyed.
The report of the Commissioner of Common
Schools has been delayed by the omission, on the
part of several County Auditors, TO transmit the
necessary returns hut am assured that il will
be soon ready to he sent n The labor of the
Commissioner has been extremely arduous, and |
commend to your favorable action his application
for Clerk. The great interest entrusted to his
charge is of primary Importance, That the peo.
pie feel anG nndorsatnd its true character is ap-
parent from the fact that of $8,l6o,i0l 20, col.
lected in 1887, and disbursud for State purposes,
Sl,S66,7M ~ was applied in support OF Common
Schools, And no wiser application OF the public
funds could he made. The youth of the State
are the future State The State will be what,
under present training, they become. No body
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