Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-03-18
FIRST EDITION.
The state Finances.

rPEtcH OF SENATOR RIDDLE YFsTFRDAY-A PLAIN
| STATEMENT or THE NEEDs OF RETRENoHMENT-
PROBABLE INCREASE IN THE PUBLIC DEBT THE
CURRENT YEAR.
| RESOLUTION authorizing the State Treasurer
to borrow on tue credit OF thc State such ian
amount OF money as he may need to meet the
Interest on the State bonds, falling due prior to
tho meeting OF tho next biennial session of the
General Assembly, aud aleo for the redemption
| OF such bonds Of the public debt as may mature
prior to such ensuing biennial session of the
General Assembly Of the State" being under
| consideration in the Senate, Mr.. Riddle spoke as
| follows
1t has seemed to me, although the reports of
our Auditor and Treasurer are regularly printed
and the information they contain thus scattered
broadcast, that there s still among the people
at large a want of knowledge Of the actual con
dition of the State Finances In fact, this
knowledge ia somewhat difficult to obtain. Take
the report of the State Auditor for this year, for
INSTANCE, aud you Will find it difficult to ascertain
from the mass of figures given exactly what ia
the cost of the annual running of the machinery
OF the State Government, the amount of inter-
est paid, the amount paid for bonds purshased,
and the amounts received from extraordinary
and ordinary sources, during the past year. Yet
do not blame The Auditor. Both he and the
State Treasurer have followed In their reports
the
REGULAR AND CUSTOMARY FORMS,
and it was the duty of neither to originate new
system of keeping the accounts of State which
failed to furnish the proper books and facilities
for the purpose. From my examination Of the
State Treasurer's solitary book Gas member
OF the committee appointed for that purpose) l
can say that believe the accounts to have been
honestly and accurately kept, and at time
more so than during the term OF Mr.. Davis, the
late State Treasurer, and | also believe that
proper and necessary safeguards are provided
torrevent thelnsa1p.o ration, OF .misal p. ition
of the public funds. Yet the State furnishes to
its officials no complete or even respectable set
Of books. An antiquated and forlorn Cash book,
that appears has come down from former gen.
eratiol, contains the solitary cash account which
constitutes the Alpha and Omega of our system
Of book keeping.
This account is used for tho State Finances
only, there being OF course other accounts for
the school and oyster funds, and for the liabili-
ties of the State While THIS cash account may
with the vouchers which accompany it, and with
the check afforded by a comparison with the
deposits in the Farmers Bank enable
CLEAR INSIGHT TO BE GIVEN
into the honesty of the administration of the State
Finances, there are still sadly needed an Ordinary
set of books, such az would be used by an ordi-
nary business firm, with accounts showing the
ordinary expenses of the State the extraordinary
expenses the amounts paid for interest and for
bonds, ana all the other information which it ia
so necessary for tho public to know, and which IN
now 80 imperiectly conveyed.
These considerations led me to examine into
the finances with some attention, and also en-.
deavored to ascertain how far reduc ion OF
taxation was advisable, practicable at the pres
ent session. The first question that presented
itself was, that OF the annual cost of managing
the S,ate Government. Leaving out the pnr-
chase Of bonds, tile interest paid, and tho bfen
nial affection of the meeting of the Legisla-
ture, we find the cost OF supporting the |
State Government is quite moderate. Our |
State, however, unlike some of her sister States |
DOES NOT DO MUCH FOR HER PEOPLE,
The State supports no normal or reformatory |
schools provides no hospitals, work houses or |
asylums, and furnishes no supervision over our
ancient and deapidated educational system. |
Yet if the state does but little for her people
If she gives them only the appointment Of the |
county officials, the revised statutes, and the |
courts of JUSTICE it must be contested the ex- |
penses are about in proportion. Excluding the |
cost of the Legislature, we find the expenses of |
the State to consist almost entirely of salaries,
most Of which are quite moderate for the |
amount of the labor performed We also find |
these expenses to average about $2l500 per |
year, being 52O,S9i 90 in 1872 S22, ,536 76 in |
1873. and S21 1861 in 1874, the expenses in de-
II Mi. FlI