The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-10-30


yrs ending Nov 80, 1874. we're. .sSl2, 1858 90
" 1859 90 690,SS7 90
1864 79S, ,6j4 90
1869 " l,l67,s90 90
4" Sept. 80, 1873 l,375,55O 90
While for 1874 alone theywill be over 100000 %
Perhaps one of the most astonishing
sources of increased revenue to the State
has been from the receipts for interest
on State deposits and fees from State
officers. From 1885 to 1854, being 10
years, the receipts from these sources
were 81 ,553.0G, or an average of S74.00
per annum, while the receipts from the
same sources from 1855 to 1878, being
Is years, were 1927, $1,000, or an
average of 17,24500 per annum, a
trifiDg difference Of only Sl7 17O.Oo
year. 1t is no wonder that the salary
of the State Treasurer was fixed at
81, 600 when his fees amounted to from
three to twenty thousand dollars year.
| am not surprised that the salaries OF
the Secretary of State, Commissioners OF
the Land Office, and Auditor General
were established at $500 and $1,000
when their fees amounted to from 5000
to 5000 each per annum.
Do not these facts show fidelity and
care of the public interests on the part
of Republican Legislatures and Repub'
lican officials wort 3 of our heartlest
concentrations
All the facts and figures given you
o.o Ion fronn tho raport nf tIn Auditor
General for 1878, and are official.
We boast of increased population, of
growing wealth, of rapid development
in material things but do not these
facts show, that the State as such has
grown more than all
Is it to be wondered at that wherever
we 90 we hear Michigan spoken of as
the "model State ?"
So much for the past. | think this
brief statement of the actual accomplish
ments of the past twenty years tell a
story of duty honestly performed-of
wise legislation, of prudence in public
expenditure, of fidelity to every State
interest, rarely equaled in tie history of
governments anyWneTe'
As to the economy that seems to be
habit of ours, whether it be in the
State, the county, the city, or township.
I wish to say word. We all OF us
grumble when the a." tax time " comes,
We feel so slightly the hand of power /;
things move along so quietly, seemingly
without the Intervention of any one,
that we do not realize we are governed
at all, and wonder why there should be
taxes, and where the money goes, and
so, to follow the fashion, we growl. It's
a good thing, too, to do this once in
while. 1t makes our public officers
careful.
But 90 with me to the State Library
and look over the official reports Of
other States, and you shall fiud that
, Michigan in it's expenditures is far be
low its sister States of similar surround
! ings. [ will only detain you with one
or two illustrations of the truth of this
assertion. The expense of the las
=. regular session of the Legislature o
e Iowa was S134,000, of Missouri s451,
5 600, of Wisconsin $4,000, of Ohio
=. s123, 900, of Illinois S537 900 of Mich
: igan $4,000, and it was the longes
session ever held in the State, at that
e You will find the same difference run
!, ming through the public expenditure il
}, every branch of the State service
e asylums, prisons, and all.
This habit of economy pervades ou
s entire system. The expenses of thi
). county are very much less than those
}, a county of equal population in an
other Western State. The city of De
r troit is governed for about onehalf tn
e money that other cities of the sam
!, size are
# do not speak of these things at a
d in the personal sense, or give the credi
J, solely to those who hold official pc
d sition. The credit belongs to all of u
u as a people. We learned by hard knock
what it cost to build up State, an
y we acquired these habits of econom
while we were getting the knock,
10 Long may it be our boast that we sha
neglect no duty because it costs, bu
y, that we do our duty economically
" Now, my fellow citizens, what OF Tn
future / am no prophet, but l d
te know that the Ethiopian shall chang
<. his skin and the leopard his spots befor
the people of Michigan shall take an
TO backward steps in the way Oh goo'
* government. Our past is the promls
toll of the future. We have grown beyon'
ve the grandest conceptions of our fathers
" We have grown in population, in wealth
,e in all things, socially, intellectually an