The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1873-01-31

pledged Tor thelr payment.
The proper time to raise question Of
the validity of any claim upon the treasury
is before it is audited and ordered paid In
raising the question afterwards, the state
Is placed in the dsgraceful attitude Of at
tempting to take advantage Of her own
wrong. If the account of the Ripley Rail
road Company was valid before it was
audited, it could not have been less so after
ward. If il was not valid, the auditor was
culpable for having issued his warrants
therefor. The change of form from an
open account, subject to change aud correc-
ton to that Of an order upon tue treasury,
wherein the faith Of the state is pledged,
cannot under any mode Of reasoning with
which l am familiar, impair the validity of
any claim, and it must, if it means anything,
establish the obligation of payment
On the first day Of September, 1872, the
act granting subsidy to railroads, expired
by limitation. Considering the present
financial condition Of the state, and the
large demands it is necessary to make upon
the treasury for other purposes, it would, in
my opinion, be unwise to attempt its re-
enactment.
The only encouragement you can safely
give to internal improvements at this time,
is to re-estabish the credit Of the state by
placing its monied transactions upon cur
rency basis, and reform the financial man
agement in the counties by restricting the
issue Of warrants, by boards Of supervisors,
to the amount of tax levied and collected
for local purposes.
Before quitting this subject, l desire to
call your attention to glaring abuse that
demands correction:
Section 2I of the act incorporating the
Mobile and Northwestern Railroad, ex-
empts the property of the company from
taxation upon certain conditions, and the
benefits of this provision have since been
extended to other roads. As the receipt
for taxes levied upon the property of rail
road companies, is made upon the affidavit
of the President thereof, and no collection
is, in reality, made, / submit that the tax
collectors should not be allowed a commis-
sion in these caseg. t
In one instance which has been brought
to my attention, commissions for levying
aud collecting tax (s23,4OO) on the stocks
and bonds Of a company to the amount Of
100000 have been paid, though not dol
lar of revenue will be realized by the state
Since it has been the policy Of the IIegis
lature to relieve railroad companies from
taxation in order to Induce the investment
Of capital in their securities, aud to encour
age the building Of roads in ting state, il
devolvos upon you to see the full and ex
elusive benefit of your liberal intentions are
made available to the companies that arr
struggling to keep alive these important
enterprises.
..rss.e THE MISSISSIPPI sEA-BoARD.
The subject of improving the barborE
and developing the resources Of that por
tion Of the state adjacent to the Gull o
Mexico, is one worthy Of your careful con
sideraton. The forests Of yellow pine
oak and cypress that extend over the en-
tire southern portion of Mississippi, are th,
finest and most accessible Of any in tht
world. The magnificent timber belt tina
once bordered on the great lakes Of III,
North is well nigh exhausted The diff
Guilty Of procuring an adequate amount o
lumber to repair the waste Of time, the de
structions of fire, and to extend the limit
Of the growing cities along the Atlant
seaboard and throughout the West, ha
already caused lumber merchants to turl
their attention to the hitherto untouche,
forests of the South. No other state
better prepared to respond to the CROWN
demands of the country in this respect, tina
our own. Pascageula river aud its tribute
ries affords a water line through dens
timber region Of thirteen hundred miel
4 and Pearl river is accessible for lumberin
purposes to almost an equal extent. Will
in four miles Of the mouth Of the Pasci
goula river there is a good natural harbc
with seventeen feet water on the bar and
direct outlet TO the open sea. Fifteen sa
mills, with a capacity Of turning off frol
three to six millions feet Of lumber eyei
month, have been established near the moul
Of the river since 1865. The largest
these mills, capable Of saving fifty thousah
feet Of lumber per day, was completed la
! September. The following exhibit wi
4 show the number of cargoes, destination
! and amount Of lumber shipped from Pasc
goula during the past year: II
Philadelphia cargoes......... l,349,OO
New York, 5 cargoes ......... l,l49OC
+ Providence, Il. L., 2 cargoes.... 600,5C
Newport, one CARGO. 225,.
t,..... X. ,.,,,x,olasI QkQtt