The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1869-09-30
DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURE
4l.dia aANDITH iw a2'afl,
STATE DEBT.
They Fail to Make Provision
sion for Payment Ot the
500. Interest or any Part -.
Of the Principal.
A Gross Violation of the Constitution

W AIo EtUDtPass ,;.
A Gross Violation Of the Constitution!
1t will be remembered that
the Democracy, last winter
adopted the happy expedient,
of reducing the levy Of tax ap.
propnated to the payment of
the State debt one halfmill, and
adding one.half mill to the tax
for general purposes. That is,
they reduced the. fund held sa-
cred to payment Of the State
debt, and transferred it to the
fund for general purposes, to
meet their thieving session of
last winter. Here is what q
Columbus correspondent Of the
Cincinnati Gazette says: MT
What provision has the Dem.
ocratic Legislature made for
the public debt during the
coming year, for the prompt
payment OF which, with the in
terest, the faith Of the State
stands pledged in the most sol.
emn manner. The, several
amounts of the different classes
of the State debt with the an.
nual1 interest thereon, are &C.
cording to the latest published
official documents, as follows;
Amount. Annual Int
bearing int.SiO.Ol2,7se 50 seO2, ,5C7 II
lrreducible debt .'.'.''
(School antitrust, y . ..ILy..Iu.y.-.
Funds). 80. 3.4l2,40 1G 2O4,744 i!
Agricultural Col gai lf.r..I.
lege Fund $3.50 50 %Sl7 o.
Total. sl3,79zO4o 40 ss27,s5s Al
1t will be observed, therefore,
that 1T was incumbent upon
the General Assembly TO make
provision for $S27,S6S 40 of in,
lerest alone. Has this beer
doneg The levy for the sinking
fund was reduced at the last
session from 1 2.1o mills to7-1C
mills. The total valuation o.
the State as given by the Au.
ditor's report for 1868, the la
test data obtainable, is 81, ,l43,
461,3S6. From this sum there
should be deducted the college
lands wine Athens and Butler
counties, valued at $17Q7l25
which are not taxed, and there
remaihs the valuation oI
S1,t4i, ,754,261 on which fake:
are.levied. Seven-tenths OF a
mill on this valuation woulC
yield only $799,227 9Sr rOE$2S;
$50 il less than the present
amount of The annual Interest
as stated above: "
Nor il. this all. Not only di:
the Legislature neglect to make
a levy sufficient for the pay
ment Of the interest, but i
made no prooisions aohdtever fol
reducing the principal in ac'
cordance with the organic Law
of the State. . Section seven o
ArticlepVIII,, Of The. Constitu'
tion, declares, "The faith Of The
State being pledged for The
payment Of its public debt, il
order to provide therefor, there
shall be created . nSinkine
Fund, which shall be sufficient
to pay the accruing interest OF
such debt, and annually to re
ddce the principal thereof by
sum not less than one hundred
thousand qa dollars increased
yearly, and each and ever,
year, by, compounding OF th'
rate Of six per cent. per anhum.'
This sum is now o S269,277
which, added to the deficit o
S2S,63O Al In interest, makes
total deficiency of$297, ,907 "A
which the DEMOCRATIC majorit.
Of last winter has bequeathe,
as a ileg gacy to the next LegiS
latreiIi 1ll sPoI ofi 2'a0 sf"
bYetethis is what the Democ'
racy are pleased 10 cal re
trenchment and reform. More
fitting terms would be repudia
tiorf and rascality.e y.e79Mhile tn
Republicans are'iHtavor Of les
sening2the baEaensl ofithe pee
pie, their,opppnents seek to in
crease them The former hssyg'
!. been steadily paying off th'
State DEBT az an average rat
ofS50O,OeO a lyesE1iwhile 2th'
latter, through theirleslslation
now propose. to stop nlts qBay
ment,. temporarily, at Least
Had the levy been retained a
!, 1 12-1G Mills There would hav'
been in the Sinking Fund dur
ing the coming year S542,N'
(. SO That might have been use'
in reducing the principal of tn
4 MA n q uQ 6i iUnIn