The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-03-29

0W08O ~ Aw0@GWBs
The Ecenomia certainly has most peculiar idsas
Of State finances Il seems to think that the LEI.
islature and State government are ut war with
the best interests Of the people, and that the peo
pie should do everything 10 break down their
credit in order to pay their taxes In deprecated
State securities; while the true theory would
seem to be, that the State government and Legis.
lature are but the agents Of the people-whsse
credit il their credit and whose honor Il their
honor. According to the EeenomiA, the taxes
should be % lowered a. mot 70 bring in sufficient
revenue 10 support the government, and thus
f0rcs 1t 70 issue deprecated scrip. Leaving
aside that provision Of The Constitution (Sec Q,
Article 12 which requires the Legislature TO pro-
vide sufficient revenue 10 defaY the expenses Of
the Stale, and also . sufficient sum to pay the
interest on the States indebtedness-is it true
economy To pursue such . counsel
How would an individual Of ordinary capacity
manage his own private matteni Would he
desire his expenses 10 be greater than his income
and each year wind up his business by giving
his note for the remainder How long would 1t
be before his credit would be gone, and his
interestbearing obligations eat up his substance
Now, State IL nothing more than a collection
of individuals, and the same rule would work in
their case individuals and States oil find it to
their interest to pursue the honest and homely
policy of paying as yOu 90. This policy of not
having sufficient income to meet expenses is
exactly what has produced one Of the burdens
complained of to-day. The State has to pay
some geo, 900 interest annually on her debt. Why
is this? Because her expenses exceeded each
year her income and she had TO issue scrip. As
this scrip increased in volume the States credit
went down and her expenses correspondingly
increased It became % great that she had 10
fund it in interest-bearing bonds, and it is that
interest which now Expresses the people. Do
We wish to repeat the same experiment and thus
add to our burthens in the near futursf Com
mon sense would say no.
But the EconOmia seems 10 think that the
State being on a cash basis only benefits the
few office holders How simple the assertion. In
the first place it enables the State to be run more
cheaply, when they can pay As they 60. Here is
the Asylum that costs with the insane kept in
private hands, some 90 or 25 thousand dollars
per year. Put your scrip at 80 cents on the dol
iol anu hot WOuAN VIC SuO CAPVuDS9 1uuAl W z
abolish the Institution and turn these people out
to suffer? Humanity and Christianity say not.
But there is q class that receives more benefit
from the State being on q cash basis than any
other. They are the jurors and witnesses. As
a general rule they are poor people and forced to
leave their homes to give their time to the State.
If they are paid in scrip at 80 TO 50 cents on the
dollar, they are actual losers by it. If they are
paid cash or its equivalent, they can at least re-
turn home no worse than when they responded
to The States call This item alone costs the
State $55,OOO Shall we force this large class of
our citizens to serve the State at an actual loss 10
themselves?
The theory Of that paper leads necessarily to a
large increase of the State debt, which in turn
leads necessarily to an increase in taxation, or to
population Is the latter alternative the Interior
object of the EcOnomia! 1t advocates theory
that no State in the Union acts upon, and that
every fnancier would condemn as suicidal. "
The pay of jurors and witnesses illustrates
another fallacy of that journal. 1t contends
that the State can be run as cheaply now as
when in its infancy, seeming to forget that the
voting population then was from TO ~ thous-
and, while now it is over 80 thousand, and that
nearly half of that population was, prior to the
| war, slaves, who were managed by their ow ners,
and are now citizens, who carry their complaints
before the courts. This fact explains the i'm
mense increase in the cost of jurors and witness
es. In 1850 and 1856 this cost was about $15,-
600; now it reaches the enormous figure OF $685.
600. How are we TO remedy itp II is true a
small reduction could be accomplished by a
watchful and prompt court, but it is impossible
to reduce it TO its former figures Here then is
SIS 900 per year for an Asylum that did not ex.
list at that time. Here is also $4,000 per year for
interest on the public debt that did not exist OF
was mere trif1e at that time, and which was
produced BY the very policy that the Economics
advocates a return to- Then We had no school
tax-does that paper want to abolish the public
schools Then how can we get back TO the old
rate of expenses! If we add these four items o.
expense together, towit: Asylum, $4,000
interest, $780, 00 criminal COSTS $55, 900, and
the one-mill school tax, $Sl 900; we will have
<191 900. which it will require sir and a quartz,
mills on $S1 900 900 of taxable property to meet
We repeat the question, how can we get back to
the old rate of expensesi
We desire many changes in the Constitution
looking to economy but the true theory is 10
meet expenses a. they are made and not Tighten
the burthen to day in order to necessitate lis
thTeefold increase tomorrow
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