Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1872-10-19
Our State Einanoes.

nv" htutOrS 81 Every kueuing In an
article on the State Finances, in your is.
sue OF the 18th inst, you state that Il is
your desire To get at the simple facts of
the case, and that you hope to see the
subject fully ventilated, now that il has
been re-0pened' With your permission
will undertake to explain some seeming
discrepancies in the reports Of the State
Treasurer's account, and also give nv
views on some other points wherein / dit
fer from you.
In the first place, you charge, that the
making the State Investments an offset
against the State debt is unfair, is that sol
Would not any private person state his
affairs In the same manner Is not the
tax that Is required to pay the interest on
<5e4'OOO balanced by the income from tho
Investments, which relieves the people
from the same amount of tax for other
purposes Assuming that the investments
Tor school purposes are sacred aud should
not be disturbed, yet there is nothing sa-
cred about the Investments for general
purposes. The next legislature should di-
rect those Investments, (about S13,OOO) TO
be sold, and the proceeds applied to the
redemption of the bonds (t230. OO0) matu-
ing January LIST, 1873; that is the princi-
pie en- which you or any prudent man
would ACT in your or his own business.
As TO the alleged discrepancy between
the statement of Treasurer Davis, and his
predecessor, there are two circumstance
that may explain ii. First, there were,
s4OO,OOO of bonds prepared TO be Issued
for the bsuefit of the Junction n Break
water Railroad Co., of these $S52. 600 were
Issued to the company at various times
and the balance (SiS,OOO) was retained
ny the Treasurer, 10 he sold for the pur-
pose oil paying interest on the $685., 900
but the Treasurer never sold these bonds,
they We're mover out of the Treasury. vet
the Treasurer charged the COMPANY with
interest on them; and charged the interest
account with the same. Whether tho
Treasurer was right in his dealings with
the Company, is question that is now
the subject OF lawsuit between the Com
pany and the State Treasurer ut any rate.
the State lost nothing. Second. the inter-
est on the state debt is payable July LIST.
and January LIST the settlements of Tho
Treasurer with the Legislature are made
IN the latter month nj one settlement the
Treasurer may have fewer coupons TO
present rs vouchers than belong to the
previous year, at another settlement be
may have more sometimes they are not
presented for payment for years a nota-
Bile Instance came to the knowledge of
N"N 'AA@Af AtsANA1 y AhO hAhlt uOuuA We're
presented for redemption, that had all the
coupons attached this can be verified bv
the cashier Of one OF your city banks. If
the editor of the Milord Ners had taken
pains to look at the interest aecounts for
several years, he would probably have
found that the average annual payment
an not exceed the Interest on 81 10 600
war bonds, and 800 600 internal improve-
ment bonds, of which latter, but S3b2 900
were ever Issued. The discrepancy he
tween the amount Of war bonds issned.
viz, 81, 10000, and the amonnt stated in
the Auditors Report Of lS65-6G as having
been paid for substitutes, bounties, &C., il
easily explained; nearly all the bonds were
sold at discount, and Sl,01s,3A WAS the
sum realized from the sal 3.
The State Treasurer began 10 redeem
he state bonds when they were consider
ably below par, but of course as soon as il
became known among holders that the
bonds were being redeemed thew went 10
par, and now cannot be procured at thai
price The Treasurer has no authority 10
give more IL Is probable that he might
nave proenrcd some bonds by notifying
holders that Interest would cease after a
certain date. but his right to do that Is
doubtful. Hence a considerable surplns
has accumulated, upon which the state IA
losing interest, and will continue 10 Iose
until the Legislature make further pro
Vision for the redemption of the bonds. but
ms loss IL more apparent than real,-the
state funds are deposited, as by law re-
pulred, IN the Farmers Bank, tho hank
OF course profits by these deposits, but IA
the State owns four-seycuths of the stock
OF the bank, that proportion Of the profits
goes to the State,
Al 70 the security of the mortpase OF
S4OO,OOO on the j, n p. r. r. almost anv
railroad man would say that 40 miles Of
road with buildings and euuipnents il
worth the sum, Further, there Is no doubt
mat good substantial CORPORATION OF this
stale 10 willing TO take the road subiect TO
lne mortgage and give the stockholders
something besides,
The ass ertlon Of the 'Newsn that the
Investments Of the stato have deprecated
III value under the rule Of the Democrats
party is unfair, and ls untrue-tho Bapks
nave not been controlled politically. The
reason why Farmers Bank stock is below
UT Is patent to every one conversant
VIII banking, that IL, II makes the most of
40 loans loans on landed security, instead OF
4. A An, after all, 'the proof of the pudding
did aid impartial Journalist. saw Ia he
fact that the holders of the statc honds re.
fuse to surrender them on tile offer az face
vaIue and accrued interest, evidence of
credit '' vi III M p"u
New CASTLE Co., Oct. 10Th, 1872. w.
ssei I'VE cents 8 pound in Alabama,