Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-01-04

W
Q equalizsd valuation is tbe permanent, and %,
annual valuations are the variable el6mepts o
{ the Grand List The Gqualized valuation oncJ
made remains unchanged until the next valua
ton year The fsp Grand List after equaliza
: ton exhibits the aggregate subject to contribu,
ton; ant the Grand Lists Of subsequent YEAR
until u new valuation, will, Of course, exhibit
the same aggregate, increased or diminished
only BY the increase OF diminution Of the en-,
nuHl valuations. The Grand List Of 20 veal
except Immediately after general valuation
OF in consequence Of some legislative action
the reaultS Of which the Legisla' nre must o
course foresee, can differ widely from that d
the preceding year.
The General Assembly convened in any
year, has, therefore, Aisavs at hand the
means Of ascertaining with substantial no.
ouraey 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 leyies on the grand list Of the
current year Of rates fixed or sanctioned 10y
the Legislature itself will produce the latter.
With given basis and given rates Il is easy
TO compute revenue.
With these observations il seems proper to
submit to you suggestion more than once ad-
dressed 10 your predecessors: il 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, 10 disre-
gard ofthis salutary principle. Nothing but
an oyerruling 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, 10 state distinctly in
connection with each annual report, whether
any debts, beyond appropriations, were out
standing at the close of the year, and il any.
their precise nature and amount For ali
such debts the officers contracting them are,
under existing laws, personally responsible,
and their payment, without express legisa-
tive sanction, out of any subsequent appro-
priation, should be strictly prohibited.
In this connection also renew m recon
mendatiOn Of an appropriation for each year Of
a sum sufficient to provide against unforeseen
emergencies, subject only 70 the warrants Of
dence of necessities unexpectedly requiring
extraordinary expenditures.
The public welfare would likewise be promo
ted, in my Judgment. if the several officers Of
the Executive Department were organized as
an Executive Council. and required TO meet
from time TO time, and whenever cOnvOked by
the Governor, for consultation and ctiun in
regard to public interests. The sanction of such
Council D. the drafts on the contingent ap-
preparation just proposed, would constitute an
ample guaranty against imp7ovijence aad
abuse.
The whole amount of receipts into the
Treasury during the last year, was So $50, l54,
and the balance from the preceding year was
1926, llS. The total sum subject 10 disburse.
meut in 1859. was IS 746 272.
OF this sum S22 600 was realized from drails
in anticipation OF the revenue Of 1850; 81
939, ,733 were received from levies on the Grand
List of 1853, of one mill and half the do
lar for Common Schools; one-tenth of a mill
for School Libraries; nine-t6nths tor Sinking
Fund; seveR-twentielhs for reimbursement Of
Temporary Lo n; and seveu-tenths for general
expenses Of State Government. These levies,
amounting in the aggregate TO three mills and
eleven IwentietEs on the dollar assessed uCOn
the taxable valuation OF Ss40, 500 03l exhibited
by the Grand List of 1858, would have produ-
eed, if fully collected, 50 9S4, $40. The difft-
renee between this sum aud the revenue actual
ly receiyed--about foTty-6ve thousand dOlars-
is attributable to costs Of collection, variations
between delinquencies unpaid and deliDqueucies
collected, and errors in assessment.
The principal sources OF revenue, other hln evies
are Tolls and WEtsr-reHts the Publie Works; col
lands; Convict labor; and Canal, Turnpike and Rsil-
road Dividends. OF receipts fom these and other
besides levies some classed revenue,
not properly he considered such. PrOcetds OF
work Of ennvicts, for example, and collections old
claims aud advances fiom contingent funds Of Extcu
sive Officers not properly Teyenne; bat either sim
pie deposits, means made money, or Transfers
from one account 10 another. i is TO b. observed
moreover, that more than the whole realized FROM all
sources except leves Is either Rbso bed by the sxppn-
OF the Public Works, and the PenientiATy, or spe-
ciacay appropriated to the Sinking Fund for The pay
ment Of interest aud principal Of the Publie Debt
+ or the annual expenses OF the State IN Education
for Benevolent Institutions and for all departments ul
the State Government, substantial reliance be
placed any other sources of revrnue than this annual
levies.
Ths whole amount of disbursements during 1859, up
on all accounts wa' Ss,552SOi, aud the balance in
tbs Treasury at its close, 1926.
particular review Of the several branches Of
collection and disbursement will present, IN a sil
clearer light the financial transactions Of The year
For the support OF the Stale Government and usiiiu
tons there collected during the year, from levies
the Grand List ths OF SG03. .6I7 Receipts from
licences and auction dutios; from the Penitentiary
from taxes on banks and from claims collected tcgeih-
with the balance al the close Of 1858 increased this
to SSs4 2J7. From this um several amounts, not prop
erly constituting revnnue, should be deducted,
leaving the true sum for disbursement $685.
$50. OF this there was disbuTsed during the
year, S782 5S5 But as the receipts did not
exactly represent revenue, so neither did the
disbursements precisely represent expenditures
For example, the sum of S63 460 is charged as
disbursed, when the real trsnssc.iOn was the
placing OfOld claims, nominally of that amount,
in the h'nds Cl proper officers for collection;
and the SUN Of $50 200 was similarly charged,
when the whole amount was paid, not for
general purposes but on account of Public
Works, under the direction Of your predeces
ios. The actual disbursements for the Exec
utive, Legislative and Judicial departments, md
all the benevolent and reformatory State lnsti
tutions, including the Peniientiary, were, there
fore, S926, ,s38. The balance remaining was
Sl0l ,59I.
For the expenses of the Public Works there
was received from tolls aud water rents On the
Ohio Canal, S7I ,442; on the Miami and Erie
Canal SlI4, ,337; en- the MusKingum Improve
meat SlS ga; Cn the Hooking Cana S IL Sol:
on the Walhonding Canal, S475; on the Wes
tern Reserve and Aaumee Road 81 ISL; on the
National Road, S5, ,55I; from sales Of o,nal
lands. S5l6; ard from other sources, IS, ,92I; in
all. S246,7Sl TIE disbursements were 1885,
9S2. The apparent excess Of outlay over in~
come was, therefore, 500, 200, and this amount
was paid from The General Revenue, Us has Just
been stated. OF this sum, however, SS4O3
was expended in pawn Mt for the Lewistown
Reservoir, aud for other special purposes, out
side of the proper repairs of ihe year. The
res excess Of cost over receipt was S6,l7O
For common schools, there were collected
on the grand list S1,24s, 1917. There were
also collected on the grand list, for schools,
but as part of the levy for Sinking Fund,
Sl59, SO. This sum was the interest on
the Irreducible Debt, created by the appropri-
alton of the proceeds of the school lands to
general State purposes. The two sums, with