National Republican., 1873-04-29
THE GoyERNoR's MEssAaR.

Tho message OF the Governor TO the LegB-
latiro Assembly yesterday will he road with
interest by our citizens, and by all who are
interested In the advancement and progress
Of the city. 1t is o clear, comprehensive
statement Of the present condition OF the
District government, particularly so far as
the finances are concerned, aud satlsfactoriy
refutes the thousand ISLANDERS that have lately
been put In circulation by irresponsible par
ties In the columns Of the Liberal Republican
and Democratic press.
The fact and figures contained In the mes-
sage are worthy or careful consideration. II
appears that the total net amount Of taxes
and lovies for the current year amount to
Sl,5O0O 900, Of which there has been collected
the sum Of ss58 597, leaving balance due,
including the arrearages Of the year pro-
vious, Of so10,0o0. In ono sense this Is n
highly gratifying condition OF affairs, and ln'
another Il IA not. IL Is encouraging In
asmuch as II satisfactorily dlsposos OF the
allegations that the District government Is
bankrupt and that the funds appropriated
for other purposes, and which should have
been rcligously devoted to those purposes
have not been diverted and mlsapplled The
fact Ia they havc not been collected at all.
One OF tho principal charges made against
the government IL that the disbursements
have exceeded the appropriations; that
money has been expended without warrant
OF law. The report Of the Comptroller.
which we print In another column, gives @
detailed statement Of the receipts and ex'
pendltures from the organization Of the gov
ernment down to the ist Of January Of the
pre~cut year from which 1t will be soon that
''lu no case have the disbursements exceeded
the appropriations for any specific object
whlio in many instances tho Disbursements
for the year will not equal the amounts ap'
propriatcd." From the same report It ap
pears that the total cash receipts OF the Dis
trict down to January, 1873, were slo,oO7,
sTBTl. The expenditures during tho SAINT
period were %, ,7l3, 1885,, leaving balance
In the treasury at the beginning Of tn
present year Of S93. .960.07.
The Governor, In few brief paragraphs
gives concise summary Of the operations o
the Board Of Public Works from Its organl
zation down to the present time. The attack
upon this branch OF the District govcrnmen
during the last two years, and especially dur
Ing the last two months, have been go bite
aud malignant, have been 50 false ln fact anI
vonomous In conception, have been so per
sistontly reiterated in journals claiming to b
respectable, that II Is hardly surprising tha
the outside public, and perhaps portion @
our own people, do not know what TO be
lieve. The assuring words Of Goycrno
Cookies message will go far to dispel thl
cloud OF doubt and uncertainty and restore III
confidence which malicious and disappolIt
cd opponents OF the District have impaired
The total amount Of accounts audited dow
to the present time Is s9,TT0, ,6al.55; ther
have been paid out In cash ss, 100, ,sl5.35, lea'
ing an outstanding Indebtedness Of sl.570
SO0.20 from which must be deducted tl
amounts to be reimbursed TO the District, I
that the total liabilities are 81, 40, 7+0 y
The report Of the engineer shows that Il
cost OF completing work on all the outstan'
Ing contracts will be s474, 4,30492. To coui
tcrbalance this there Is due from private q
sessments on work already done, Sl, ,92T
549.ll, and from balance due on account {
the four million appropriation, ease, 900, max
Ing total OF s2, l79, $50 II, so thatso far fror
the Board Of Pu bile Works being hopelossly
debt and bankrupt" to borrow word froI
the opposition press, It has In resources
large amount TO Its credit.
We have only briefly alluded to q few
the points in the message, and must def,
comment on several important subjects to
future day. The whole document challeng,
the most careful attention OF our reader
and WILL we have no doubt, recciyeit.