The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-01-19

veal. .........,..... $685., lS3 So
Amount in error in 1871,
corrected this year.. q
-StjI,l S3 d
D Oct !, ls74................' 2s2,3ei /.
This balance in the general treasury is
made up of the following distinct funds
Balance OF the General School ,,, "a .,
fund S--f'Ol
Balance OF School fund ................. 22,s2 81
Balance of fund for general pur- -, moo u.
RaIonca Of RmjIdjng fund .. 1852 81
Making u total balance in the
Treasury, October l, ls'i' Us s,s, 90, !,
above ................S2S2,3 bl IL
In the balance of S30,603 SO, applica-
bic to general purposes, Is included the
the sum of Sl8,470, borrowed for the use
of the State, and not yet paid. recon-
mend that an appropriation be made to
paw this sum, with interest due thereon.
The foregoing statement shows the
healthy condition of our finances; all tho
demands upon the Treasury have been
met, and substantial balance left 10 car
~ over to the present fiscal year. The
last Legislature failed to impose the five
cents tax, heretofore known as the hos
pltal. or building tax, and consequently
the revenue for the present year will be
considerably reduced. ! estimate this
reduction ut 100000 in round numbers,
consequently the appropriations for this
fiscal wear must necessarily be less than
heretofore. for even if it should be your
pleasure to restore this tax, it can only
avail for the next fiscal year. This Is
greatly to be regretted, for at least two
of the public institutions need liberal
appropriations for construction purpo
scs. recommend that this building tax
be renewed for one year.
The law regulating the public deposits
needs revision and amendment; ii is Il
system of patchwork made up Of the
provisions of the Code, the Acts of 1870,
ISL and 1928. Without referring
specifically to the several acts, it is sutii-
Gent to say that under the present law,
the deposits can only be made with the
bank or banker that has given Sc
curity and agreed to pay nj
least four per centum interest,
that the deposit shall not exceed the
amount of the security, and that the
money collected in any Senatorial dis
trict Shall be deposited in some one of the
DESIGNATED repositories situated therein,
and the deposit of funds shall be rs near
IL equal in each Senatorial district as
practicable. Several difficult questions
arise in the execution of this law. In
two of the senatorial districts there are
no designated repositories; in two and
perhaps three of the other districts the
amount of security rendered by the de-
positories does not equal the amount of
the revenue collected in the district
What is to be done in these cases? No
provision exists in the law for these con-
tingencies. These causes also forbid
equality in the deposits in the several
districts. But there are other reasons
why it is difficult to preserve this equal
ity. Impractical means are provided for
making or keeping up the equality of de-
posts in the districts. The Board of
Public Works deSignates the depositor-
les, but can transfer funds from one to
another only in case of insufficient Sc
curitv, and no officer is authorized To
make transfer. Again, the deposits are
made directly by the sheritis or other
persons indebted to the State, or the
the money is paid to the Auditor and by
him deposited, while on the other hand
the money is checked out by the Treasu-
rer; rs long as the ultimate authority or
control over the public funds is so much
divided up, there is little hope Of main
tanning an equal distribution among the
districts. An examination of the Treas
urers Report will show that great ine-
quality exists. The policy adopted by
the last Legislature of equalizing the de-
posts among the several districts Is emf
nently just, but to preserve it and make
it effective the power must be lodged in
some officer or board to regulate or con-
troll the deposits, and checks, and make
transfers Of funds when necessary to dc
SO TO attain the end desired.
In former messages | called attention
to the practice of making appropriations
which expire some months before the as
sembling Of the succeeding Legislature
The last Legislature, for example, in
making appropriations provided that all
money appropriated to be used within
said fiscal year, and not drawn within
the period of the said fiscal years, ending
respectively on the thirtieth day OF
September, 1873, and on the thirtieth day
of September, 1874, should not be there
after drawn without authority of law;
and that "no money shall be drawn from
the treasury beyond the appropriations
hereby made unless the same Is author
lied by the constitution or by some gen.
cral law not provided for in this act
The last clause of the act just quoted i:
somewhat ambiguous. | understand il
to mean simply that if the amount APP.
propriatcd in any case is less than the
amount authorized by the constitution ol
| general law, then it will be lawful to pay
! the amount fixed BY the constitution ol
general law and not provided for in til,
act. The Auditor and Treasurer have
construed II as authority to pay all salar
les and other demands that are authorized
by the constitution or general law, an,
have continued to pay such claims sine
the close of the fiscal year; and if publ
necessity can ever justify a strained con
struction of law, there was justification
for it in this case; forit would have bee
great inconvenience if the Trcasur
had been practically closed for such
length of time And | therefore recon
mend that this action of these officers b
legalized. But as the language of tn
constitution is imperative that mo none
shall be drawn from the Treasury hut i
pursuance of an appropriation made b
/ law and as my opinion was that no ~
preparations of any kind have been !
| force since September 30 last, except fc
the public institutions which wer
specially provided for, my action ho
been made to conform to my conviction,
To prevent q recurrence of simila
state of affairs, renew the recommen
dation made in my last annual messag
that appropriations be made to eNten
beyond the meeting of the next LegiSla
/ turc.
VIRGINIA DEBT.
| As long as the question of the liabilit,
Of West Virginia for portion OF til
debt of Virginia remains unadiusted,
will be Il source of anxiety among tn
.