The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-04-16

for general purposes shall be kept within tn
revenue derived from the general fund tax
with State and parish taxation reduced as in
dictated. with assessments equalized through
out the State, and with the enhanced value
of property which must result, it seems rea
sonable to expect that hereafter the burden o.
taxation will be one which the people car
easily and cheerfully bear. Under such g
course Of financial management the warrants
of the State should quickly reach par, OF
nearly SO. This would still further reduce the
expenses of the government, as the State has
been obliged, in consequence OF the depre
citation Of its paper, to make much larger
appropriations for its charitable institutions
and its other benefciarias than would be ne
cessary were the State able to pay its appro-
priations in cash. The salaries of State oti-
GERS might then be Justly reduced. If paid
in money 1t is believed these officers would be
contented and better remunerated by salaries
more nearly approaching the rates of COM
pensation paid in Northern States for similar
services than if paid as now in warrants of
fluctuating and deprecated value. In view
OF this the salaries Of officers where fixed by
law should be appropriately diminished, and,
where they are fixed by the Constitution, at
the next regular session an amendment should
be introduced reducing the salaries of State
officers to a rate more in accordance with the
policy of strict economy which must hereafter
be pursued.
THE FUNDING LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND
MENTs.
The future of the State when once these
measures are secured, and harmony and
peace are restored, seems to me bright with
promise. Every day makes more clearly
manifest the beneficial influence which the
constitutional amendments, adopted at the
recent election, are certain to exert upon
the financial condition Of the State. By
these enactments neither State nor parish
can ever levy more than fourteen and half
mills tax in any one year, except for school
purposes, and no Legislature, however ex-
travagant or corrupt, can eXpend more
than The amount which the tax thus limited
will yield. The revenues of each year are
devoted to the expenditures of that year,
aud all appropriations in excess Of revenue
are absolutely null and void. The importance
of this provision cannot be overstated. In
1865, 1866 and 1867 the excess of expendi-
lures over revenues was very great In 1869
and 1870 the total receipts on account of the
general fund were SO, 239, 500; the total ex-
penditures were s4,878, Sis, leaving floating
debt OF 81 ,63S, 9l7 to be taken up out of the
revenues Of succeeding years or to be added
to the bonded debt Of the State. In 1871 and
1872, the last two years of my predecessor,
50, 9S2 431 the total expenditures were
SIS. 500, 634, leaving for these two years an adj
ditional floating debt of S2.613, 203 to be pro-
vided for in a similar manner. In 1873 and
1874, the first two years Of my administra
ton, the total receipts were S3,2l447S, |
and the total expenditures S3,229, 517-
an excess of expenditures over revenue of
Sl5,O39. For the current year and for
all time hereafter under the provisions of the
amendment to which have re- |
ferred, there can be no valid appropriations |
made in excess of revenues, and consequently |
not one dollar can be added to the public |
debt either directly or indirectly by this
means. Thus one of the principal sources |
from which the rapid increase Of the State |
debt since the war has arisen is effectually !
cut off. still further safeguard is imposed |
by the funding law and the constitutional
amendment rarfying its provisions, namely, |
that as fast as the public debt is reduced the |
point to which it is thus reduced shall be the |
constitutional limit OF the debt, and this rule
is to continue in force until the entire debt Of
the State has been reduced to fifteen millions,
beyond which point it is provided that it shall
not be increased.
In urging the adoption Of these amend
ments upon the Legislature and upon the
people, I was fully aware they would meet
with determined opposition from interested
parties, both at home and abroad, and that
the very existence of the State government
might perhaps be imperiled in the eff ,rt to
secure their passage. But after taking conn
sci with some OF the abl.st and most ex-
perieneed fnanciers, I was convinced that
the policy embodied in the funding law and
the constitutional amendments was the only
way to avert actual reputation: and, further,
taking into account all the constituent ele-
kl,o tho limo
tendency to extravagant legislation, it
was felt that the amendment Of this
nature (Which does not exist in any other
State, and which perhaps could not have
been secured in this State but for our extra
ordinary surroundings during the past few
years., would be an effectual bar to extrava-
CANT legislation, growing out Of ignorance
and inexperience on the one hand or intelli- |
gence and dishonesty on the other. The
people Endorsed these views at the late
election, and now that the practical working
Of the system has been tested am gratified
to know that the course which has been taken
is generally regarded as the only one which !
the State could have pursued with justice to
herself and to her creditors
There are some notifications, however, |
which think might be advantageously made
in the funding law. As stated in my annual
message, think the State officers who are
required to sign and issue the new consoli-
dated bonds should not constitute majority |
OF the board to whom the obligations Of the |
S ate are submitted for exchange. recon-
mend that the law be modified in this respect,
either in the manner suggested in my last an
nual message or in any other way that may
seem more desirable. I further recommend |
that the funding law be amended in such |
manner as will enable the officers of the State |
and all tax payers and creditors of the State
to resist the funding Of any illegal evidences
OF debt by adducing evidence to establish
their invalid character.
PUBLIC DEBT.
am glad to be able to state that the public |
debt is steadily decreasing. From the highest |
point reached during the term of the present
namely, S24, 634, 407 80 in
1873, it has been diminished as follows:
BY redemption OF seventy-two past
due bonds. Observation-Disclosures. $4,000 w
rants. .l.1oe, 900 90
By exchange of 81, 537, 400 of consol-
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