Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1860-01-04

Be psedIsied With Ssssonabls oAfislnty, Tks
equalnsd valuaslon u The permanent, and the
annual valuations arc the varisbe slements Of
the Grand List The tquslized valuation once
made remeins unchanged until the next valua
tion year The hrst Grand List after equaliza
ton exhibits the aggregate subject TO oontribn.
too; ant the Grand Lists Of subsequent years
until new valuation, will, Of course, exhibit
the same aggregate, increased or diminished
only BY the increase or diminution Of the an
nual valuations. The Grand List Of no year
| except immediately alter q general valuation,
or in consequences Of some legislative action,
the reaultu of which the Legislature must Of
course foresee, can differ widely from that Of
the preceding year.
The General Assembly convened In any
year, has, therefore, always at hand the
means Of ascertaining, with substantial ac-
curacy, the revenues Of that and the next
fiscal year. Levies already made on the
Grand List Of the preceding year will produce
the former, and levies on the grand list Of the
current year Of rates fixed or sanctioned by
the Legislature itself will produce the latter.
With given basis and given rates II Is easy
to compute revenue.
With these observations il seems proper 10
submit TO you suggestion more than once adj
dressed 10 your predecessors II is in
dispensable to every sound financial system
that appropriations be limited by revenues,
and expenditures by appropriations, The
arrangements which have sometimes embar-
rassed our finances may be traced, almost, in
variably, in the absence Of crime, to disre-
gard of this salutary principle. Nothing but
an overruling emergency can justify appro-
priations. When so justified, the appropria-
tions in the former case should be promptly
provided for by taxation, and the expendi-
lures in the latter case should be as promptly
reported to the Legislature for its judgment
and sanction.
embrace this occasion to suggest the ex-
pediency Of requiring under suitable penal
ties for omission, all officers having charge of
works or institutions, to state distinctly in
connection with each annual report, whether
any debts, beyond appropriations, were ott-
standing at the close Of the year. and, il any,
their precise nature and amount. For all
such debts the officers contracting them are,
under existing laws, personally responsible
and their payment, without express legisla-
tive sanction, out Of any subsequent appro-
priation, should be strictly prohibited.
In this connection also renew nv recon.
mendation Of an appropriation for each year of
a eum sufficient TO provide against unforeseen
emergencies, subject only to the warrants Of
the Governor, TO be drawn on satisfactory evi
dence of necessities UNEXPECTEDLY requiring
extraordinary expenditures. ua 5st
The public welfare would likewise be promo
ted, in my judgment, If the several officers Of
the Executive Department were organized as
an Executive Coundil. and required to meet
from time to time, and whenever convoked by
the Governor, for consultation and ctiOn in
regard to public interests. The sanction Of such
Council to the drafts on the contingent ap-
preparation just proposed, would constitute an
ample guaranty against imp-ovidence and
abuse. lI .s.U.. s...--
The whole amount of receipts into the
Treasury during the last year, was SO $40, ,l54,
aud the balance from the preceding year was
S226,l lls. The total sum subject TO disburse.
ment in 1859. was So 746,272.
OF this sum S22 0OO was realized from drafts
in anticipation OF the revenue of 1860; So
939, ,733 were received from levies on the Grand
List of 1858, of one mill and half n the do
lar for Common Schools; one-tenth of mill
for School Libraries; nineteenth for Sinking
Fund; seven-twentieths for reimbursement Of
Temporary Losn n; and seven-tt nths fer general
expenses Of State Government. These levies,
amounting in the aggregate to three mills and
eleven twentieths ON the dollar assessed npon
the taxable valuation OF S940, 500 03l, exhibited
by the Grand List Of 1853, would have produ-
eed, il fully collected, So 994,s40. The diffe-
| renee between this sum and the revenue actual
| ly received-about forty-fiv thousand dolIsrs--
1 il attributable to costs of collection, variations
between delinquencies unpaid and delnquencies
collected and errors IN assessment. II aa
The principal OF Ie, other than levss,
are Tolls and Wat=r-rents the Public Works; col
lections of surplus Revenue; Proceeds OF Aes OF
lands; Convict labor and Canal, Turnpike and Rail-
| road Dividends or receipts fiom these aud other
sources besides levies some, cassed as reyeuue
not properly be considered such. PrOeeeds of
wsrk OF convcts, for example, and collections ON old
claims and advances flom contingent funds of Execu'
tive Officers not properly revenue; bnt either sim
pie deposits or means made MONEY or mere transfers
from one account to another. II a to be observed
moreover that than the whole realized from al
sources except eves either absorbed by the expen
OF the Public Works and the Penitentary, spe
cheay appropriated to the Sinking Fund for the pay
ment Of interest and principal Of ths Pablic Debt
For the annual expenses Of the State in Education
for Benevolent Institutions, and for all departments o
the State Government substantial reliance can bs
placed any other sources Of revenue than the annua
The whole amount Of disbursements during 1850, up
on all accounts was s9,65230I, and the balance II
the Treasury at It's close, waB l9S,27o.
more particular review OF the severRl branches o
collection and disburEement will present, In a Btil
clearer light the financial transactions Of the year
For the support or the State Government and Instu
tons there collected during the year. from leyie
on the Grand List the Oi S603 641. Receipts from
licences and auction duties; from the Psnitentary
from taxes banks and from claims collected, togeth
with The balance the close Of this
to SSs4 207 From this several amounts, not prop
eriy constituting reynnue' snSu'u DC ueoeeseo .a
leaving .ne true sum IoI oisouIseInent. Seo9'
year. 1882 595. But as the receipts did no
exactly represent revenue, so neither did th
disbursements precisely represent expenditures
Eor example, .ne sum Oh SoS,aOo rs ensrged a
oisoursea: Mhen Tue isai slansse..on .t was tn
Plaeihg oioio ciains nomeasy O. S 'nn. nmoun'
Spg n,nu' 81 spn Pen % e;r,;1, ~, eVoS ahenneS
n sIu s"e .Su Sun u ~ a. ~ 1n." Ia g.