Semi-weekly Louisianian., 1872-01-21
priations, as was assumed by the legisla-

body an'ac be passed making a genera
: appropriation for payment of salaries O
{: officers, interest on the public debt, ex
q penses of public education and the publi
charities, which act shall be general law
and remail in operation until modified O.
. repealed by the General Assembly. Should
this be done, we shall avoid the evil which
Z has heretofore prevailed, of crowding int
this bill large number of obnoxious ap
preparations and coercing unwilling mem
bers to vote for its passage under tn,
threat of defeating the necessary appropri
: ations for the year.
desire to call your particular attention
to the decision of the Supreme Court in
the case of "The State ex rel. Solomon
and Simpson VS.. James Graham, State
Auditor, in which the doctrine relative to
appropriations is laid down in the follow.
ing language:
"But it is contended by the REALTORS that
the appropriation does not create debt
because the money is presumed to be in
the treasury This raises the very serious
question, whether or not the Legislature
can make appropriations unless there be
money to meet the warrants authorized
thereby, either actually in the treasury or
provided for by the revenue bill. The
power of appropriation is the right to ap-
ply to public purposes money in the treas
ury. Article 104 of the Constitution de-
clares, No money shall be drawn from
the treasury but in pursuance of specific
appropriations made by law An appro-
priation is an authorization to the Auditor
to check upon the treasury for moneys
there deposited. If, therefore, the reven-
ues be inadequate to meet the interest OF
the public debt and the current expenses
OF the necessary State agencies to preserve
the government, an appropriation (where-
by the liabilities of the State are increased)
for any other purpose than for the support
and maintenance of the machinery of gov
ernment, is debt within the meaning of the
constitutional amendment, which declares
''that prior to the first day of January,
1890. the debt of the State shall not be in
creased so as to exceed twenty-five mil
lions of dollars"
From this it will be seen that the Legis-
lature has no power to make any appro-
priation for any purpose whatever, ''un-
less there be money to meet the warrants
authorized thereby, either actually in the
treasury or provided for by the revenue
bill" In other words, when an appro-
priation is made, its payment must also
be provided for by the assessment of an
additional tax or the act will be obnoxious
to the constitutional amendment limiting
the State debt to $4,000, 900 prior to
1890.
Nor do believe that under this deci-
sion of the Supreme Court the State
Auditor has authority to issue any war
rant upon the general fund for other than
the necessary current expenses of the gov
SAhihOie, uheii ID hoOSi lllsit tLc DOT- |
ton of the revenue, which is set apart for
the general fund, will be in excess OF the |
total amount required for such legitimate
expenses of government.
The credit of our State abroad has srls-
tained, not without great loss, however, a
severe shock during the past year. The
reckless manner in which appropriations
were made for the improvement of real
and imaginary bayous, real and fictitious
claims against the State, private charitable
associations and enormous compensation
to officials, the manner in which $3.50, 900 !
was squandered by the House of Repre-
sentatives, together with other incidents,
have told heavily upon our credit both at
home and abroad. While the government
has been extravagant, almost criminally
so, in its expenditures, productive in it
self of the most mischievous effects on our
credit, another interest, thinking to COM
bat extremes by Others quite an insane
and disreputable took upon itself, at the
suggestion of some ambitious politician
or server of some opposition railroad in
terest, to. commits number of gentlemen
to the silly attempt to forestall the action
of the Supreme Court to pass judgment
on questions then before lido declare the
uneonstitutionality of laws subsequently
decided constitutional by our Supreme
Court, and to affirm that such debts as
were contracted in excess of a certain
amount in aid of railroads, etc., were un-
al and would not be paid.
The gentlemen who were deceived into
signing this circular now see that while
they have only temporarily affected the
credit of the State, and delayed the nego-
tiation of our bonds abroad, they, in their
private interests, have not escaped, but are
already experiencing the evil effects of
their carelessness. They delayed, and
came near defeating entirely, the construc-
lion of a railroad the importance of which ,
10 the city of New Orleans and to the State
cannot now be fully estimated. Many of
these gentlemen inform me that they we're
misled, and that it was farthest from their
wish to cause the embarrassments which
the originators of the paper intended, and
which it did actually produce.
. COZ rcp IN THE rrrpprsr or .oprc,-, ,-,-,v