New-York tribune., 1873-05-08
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Day before yesterday the Court of Appeals,
all the judges concur ng decided the law OF
1872, levying a tax of three and one-half mills
ON the taxable property of the State to supply
the deficiency in the State Treasury, to be un-
constitutional and void. We publish nearly in
full, this morning, the opinion of the Court, as
written by Judge Allen, one of the ablest of
its members. The importance of this decision
of the highest tribunal of the State may be
understood from the fact that it deprives the
Treasury of upwards of seven million dollars
of revenue, and, as we shall proceed TO
show, leaves the Controller no constitutional
means of meeting current demands. The
Legislature of 1872 passed two laws in rela-
ton to the deficiency, the first (Chap. 7OO)
providing for submitting TO tho people the
question whether bonds should be issued to
replenlsh the Treasury. and the second (Chap.
734) lcvying tax OF three-and-one-hal mills
in case the people should vote not to issue
bonds. The Controller held the first law un-
constitutional and called on the counties for
the amount of the tax. The County of Kings
refused to levy the tax and the Controller
applied to the Courts for n mandamus. The
decision of the Supreme Court was in his
favor, but the Court of Appeals now reverses
that decision and declares both laws to be
null and void the first law being in three re-
spects unconstitutional and the second no
better though violating but two provisions OF
the fundamental law. What stronger testi
mony could be brought to prove the incapac-
ity Of our Legislature
Whoever will take the trouble to read the
I'll.
tons 10. II, and IL, of the Constitution, will
find convincing proof that the State cannot
contract q floating debt of greater amount
than one million dollars. The financial article
of the Constitution may be condensed into
four words" Pay &s you CO." The affairs of
the State, however, have been managed for
years on different system aud in contempt
of tho plainest provisions of this article of
the Constitution. A deficiency has been
Accomplishing for long time back,
under Republican and under Demo
cratic rule, until at the date of the Controllers
report, on the 3Oth of September last, it
amounted to more than eleven million dollars
The State has been enabled to Outrun its in
come to the amount of this startling sum by
using, for its current expenses, the several
ton for the payment at maturity of the
bonded debt. On the 30th of September
last $9,520,S3G had been taken from these
funds, $2,2250OO had been borrowed, and
there was only 1851 200 IN the Treasury. This
is disgraceful; we may almost call it dishon-
est. The Bounty Debt Sinking Fund, for in
stance, is trust fund laid by for the payment
of the Bounty Debt at maturity, and az such
is part of the security for the money bor
rowed, and is in fact the property
of the creditors Of the State. Yet
of the S7,9OO,OOO composing that Sinking
Fund on the 3Oth of September, 1872, SO, 6,42S 600
had been taken by the State ard spent. -Four
years from now the Bounty Debt falls due,
and how ia it to be paid except by raising by
taxation sum of money sufficient to replace
the amount abstracted from its Sinking Fund
The duty of the Legislature in this emer.
gency is plain. A tax of four mills should be
Immediately voted and levied in addition 10
the taxes to be collected in 1874, and great
pains should be taken to make the law levy
ing the said tax in all respects constitutional.
For reasons explicitly stated by Judge Allen,
the deficiency can be supplied in no other
way than by taxation. 1t is hard for the
tax paying population, but there is no al
Tentative. The Legislature should also pass
law compelling the County of New-York to
pay its taxes within the same time that
is given to the other counties of the
State to pay theirs. AS long as New