Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1881-06-11
The State Finances.

AT a mass meeting held at the Mary
land Institute, Baltimore, on the even
ing of the 2sth of Nay Gov. Hamil-
ton, in a speech, arraigned the past
management of the State finances
Comptroller Heating and Treasurer
Compton, make a statement in the
Baltimore papers of Monday, giving a
brief but plain history of the past
management of the finances OF the
State. Gov Hamilton, in his speech
at Maryland Institute, and in previous
utterances, has charged the general
assembly with violation of its oblga-
ton to maintain sinking fund, and
that the officers of the State treasury
since 1868, have also been derelict in
duty in that connection.
Lack of space prevents publication
of the interesting statement of Messrs.
Heating and Compton. In lieu there
of, we give brief Stunning up taken
from the Baltimore Gazette.
''At the close of the last fiscal year
the entire State debt was slightly in
excess of eleven and a.quarter millions
of dollars. OF this sum nearly five and
three quarter millions was debt of in
ternal improvements contracted be.
fore 1870. To balance this the State
holds securities, the fruits of these in
vestments, worth in open market to-
day over four million dollars The
remainder Of the debt--about five and
a-half millions was contracted be
tween 1870 and 1880 for the payment
of war bounties, for the State Insane
Asylum, Deaf and Dumb Asylum, the
payment of matured indebtedness and
other purposes, to which no valid OBJ
lection has nor can be made. BY an
act of the Legislature passed in 1904.
nearly four and half million dollars
of the then sinking fund was cancelled,
the effect of which was to leave a sink
ing fund of little more than one and
a-quarter million dollars This act
cutting down the sinking fund was
passed by Republican legislature and
upon the express recommendation of
Gov Bradford, and that action was
affirmed by the people of the State
without regard to political predilec-
tons and, TO say the least, public
criticism of the course pursued at this
late day is inopportune. The Consti-
tuition OF the State was not violated
either in letter or spirit by the legis-
lalion on this subj ct, as is clearly
shown by the statement we print 10 day.
The questions presented 10y the COVER
nor are whether We are TO largely in
crease our rate of taxation in order to
extinguish rapidly the debt during the
present generation, or TO pay the debt
gradually by the sale of the States val
uatle internal improvement properties
10 increase our tax rate would, of
course. be unwise, and it would be
equally impolitic to sell the States in
terest in its internal improvements.
The loan of So, $50, 60, maturing
in 1882, can easily be funded at ! per
cent, and probably at less rate of in
terest, and in fifteen years the saving
effected in interest alone would amount
to more than one third OF whole debt.
The treasury officers very properly
abstained from investing annually
$Ioo 600 in State securities to add
that sum to the sinking fund, for the
very simple reason that when money
was available for such purposes the
prices of those securities were too
high, as the treasurer and comptroller
remark, ''to permit proper exercise
of the discretion lodged by the act in
the treasury officers" We commend
to the careful consideration of every
citizen of the State, and especially to
Gov Hamilton, the statement we pub
fish to-day on the subject of our State S
financial condition. The facts Set forth
therein are SO clear that he who runs
may read. 1t disposes of the whole
subject in the most thorough manner"