The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1860-09-06

1 f%C O"eCfetc W 1eC OOfecoccttcOfs, 1tcE
,oere solenanly bound By their oaths to
PROVIDE AN ANNUAL TAX MORE THAN
THEY DID PROVIDE, but which the "dem-
ocrats" annually neglected to make any
provision to pay, as required by the
constitution.
The recapitulation of official facts
and figures, all of which are. found
in the Auditor G eneral's reports for the
years named, prove our first charge
that the reason why the direct taxes
have been increasing during the Re-
publican period, is because the : demo-
Gratis neglected the constitutional duty
of providing for an annual tax suffi-
cient" to meet the annual expenses of
the Government and interest on the
Stale debt, while the Republicans have
not only paid ALL the expenses, and
ALL the interest on all the State, but
they have Annual debt also been
obliged to pay annual interest on the
large deficiencies which the 'demo-
Gratis neglected to provide means to
pay, as the constitution required.
The democratic official figures Civ
en-, prove conclusively that while the
aggregate expenses and interest, for
the five years named, were S1,535, ,294
the democrats only provided by d.
rect and specific taxes, and all other
means, s723,0 900 to pay them, and left
deficit Of SS12, ,294 unpaid and that
while the annual expenses and inter
est were 1907, ,o59, the annual mems
provided to meet them were only Sl44,-
600, leayi,sg AN ANNUAL DEFICIT OF
one hundred and sicty-tsc thousand
sic hundred and .titfty-ni'ae dollars IN
THE ANNUAL TAX aohich the COastit,s-
tion made 1t, THEIR DUTY to provide," !"
to pay ALL the eapenses Of the Goysre-
naent." f'eaG kal
But" says the reader, show could
"they be thus negligent of raising
means as you have shown, and still
I" keep the machinery of government
' moving, and leave a surplus of $780,
5000 in the Treasury, as they did in
"January, 1856 ?' We answer.
In the foregoing tables we have in
cluded all the expenses and interest"
which the democrats ought to have
provided an annual tac sufficient to
pay" In the aggregate deficit" is
included sos, 9,339 of "interest unpaid, !"
which they should have "provided an
annual tax to pay" but which they did
not provide tax for nor pay. This
sum, added to the amount in the treas
ury in 1850, the payments on ac-
count of the sale of the Michigan
Southern Railroad, the per cent. on
sales of the U. S. Lands, and "ledger
balance" of payments into the treasury
of moneys belonging to Trust and 9TH
er funds, as shown by the Auditors
reports for those years and not conclu-
ded in any of the tables given, makes
up more than the "defcit" or amount
required, and, indeed, unaecounted for,
viz:
Unpaid interest 500, $50
Balance in Treasury in 1850 35, 300
Five per cent. from sales of u. ). land 29111
Sale S. NJ Railroad 323,362
Ledger BAL due funds 1857 1907
Ledger bal. due funds 1854 944 21S-553 80
Deduct bal. in Treasury 1856 2e9,o4l
And there was balance of 1e9,747
unaccounted for, beyond all the means
necessary to have paid all the expenses
of the government, all the State tax,
and then all the balance there was on
hand when the Republicans acceded
to power.
1t will be observed that the balance
in the Treasury in 1853, ard the "ledg-
er balance due to Trust and other
funds was Sl2O,239 more than all the
surplus the democrats left in the
Treasury in 1855, and about $4,000
more than the UNPAID interest" which
they entirely neglected to pay. Who
can tell what they did with the money?
Who can explain why they did not ap-
ply it to the payment of State expen-
ses and interest on State debt? Who
can explain why they allowed that large
balance to lay in the treasury acithOut
interest, while the State was obliged to
pay seven per cent. interest on every
dollar due the Funds, and seven per
cent. on every dollar Of the part paid
bond debt? Who can tell why they
allowed the debt to the funds to accu-
mulate over 100000 year, and the
UNPAID interest" to increase the pub
lie debt over $3.50, 900 a year, while Of
ficially reporting and growing over so
much surplus revenue? Who can tell
why they did not observe their sworn
Constitutional duty and levy tax ev-
ry year g sufficient to pay every years.
expenses and interest as they accrued !?
None of them, nor any of their friends
have ever explained these things.
Why? Because, first, a truthful an
swer to these questions would implicate
not few /" democratic" State officers
in using the public money for private
purposes; and, second, to hide their
malfeasance they have carried on, year
after year, the systematic and rank
fraud of levying a small tax-not half
the amount tnecessary,as we have shown
to lull the people into a belief that all
was prosperous and right, while they
were every year adding hundreds of
thousands of dollars to the public debt.
Having proved this from their ownrec-
ords, we will now prove from the same
records, that but for their neglect and
paIpabIe mismanagement Of the public
debt not a dollar of State tax would