The true northerner., 1888-10-31

IN tn1s generous state OF ours ana we con-
structed the home at Grand Rapids that
takes care Of four hundred OF them. lap
plause.
THEY ALL COST MONEY.
tell you, fellow citizens, these things
cost money. They have; we know 1t, i
own 1t, plead guilty.
We had TO take care OF the criminal
class to protect the lives and property Of
our citizens. We take care OF the educa-
tional institutions of this state; We stand
In the front rank. No other state is up
with us. No state In this respect com
pares with Michigan in the grandeur Of its
support to our great educational institu-
tions. Now, fellow citizens, let me
ask you frankly, do you want We
should tear away that reform school; do
you want we should lock up the asylums;
do you want we should tear down
the soldiers home and let the old wander
ers go; do you want we should stop teach
ing the blind-and forgot them, next TO
the most afflicted Of all our creatures. We
have a place where we educate them by
patient care and toll, TO read with their
Fingers the words they never would have
known except for blind asylum. But
this too costs money. Do you want we
should lock up that blind asylum and let
these children go ignorant and blind and
afflicted through life; do you want we
should tear out any Of these institutionsf
II you do, vote for Mr.. Burt; don't vote
for me, because am not in sympathy
with It. Applause.
>THAT PIN MONEY FUND.
Now, fellow-citizens, am going to read
a little while Mr.. Burt says that we used
up 500, 900 last year for pin money, or to
the support Of the state government prop
er. He says that s910,0 600 was used up
right around the capital, and not a dollar
of it went to any institution. He repeated
IL q dozen times when / heard him make
the speech, and had stenograrher take
down the speech so that had an opportu-
nifty TO refer to IL. He repeated 1t over
and over again that Of that $4,000 not a
dollar went to any state institution. He
said In 1880 they run the state government
for $5lS, 900. That is true. That we used
up last year $9l0, 900 1t 10 true. Now let
me show you.
In 1879 the legislature changed the law
In relation TO the care OF the INDECENT
insane. There are old supervisors
before me, and they know that previous
TO that time the superintendent sent the
bills to the county treasurer. Each
county took care Of its own INDECENT in
sane. In 1879 that law was changed SO
that after two years as county patients
they became state patients. That
law took effect in fS79. We are
today supporting more than one
thousand six hundred Of the p
40 insane In the state institutions by the
state instead of by the counties. That
fund appears in the general purpose fund
right along with the others. Now / will
tel you what that general purpose fund
does. 1t pays all the supreme court
judges and the circuit judges, the ex-
penses Of the supreme court, 1t pays the
salaries of all the state officers, including
the governors; IL pays the salaries OF all
the clerks; II pays for heating and light
ing the capitol it pays for all that vast
printing we have done; it pays for the care
and decoration and furniture that goes
into the capitol; it pays II We have law
suit, and we have good many; II pays all
the expenses of law suits. / am not GER
tain whether have embraced all that 1t
pays or not, but in addition to that IL pays
FOR the care Of these INDECENT insane state
patients; 1t pays for conveying prisoners
TO the state prison, that used TO be done
by the counties, but was changed.
A COMPLETE ANSWER.
Now, having told you substantially what
IL paid in 1885, and that is the year they
compare with, and the lowest state tax
year In sixteen years. We paid for the
care of the insane, S94, $50; we paid for
items make $l05, 1882. We paid in 1887
1885, 600 for the care Of the states patients
insane; we paid for conveying prisoners,
st, 500; we paid for members OF the legis-
lature, we had no session In 1880, $130, 900.
These several items make $4S9, 800 of the
$4,000. Deducting the SlO5, ,3s2 that we
paid for these purposes in 1880, leaves
1854, 11S paid In excess for these purposes
what was paid in 1880. That came by the
change of the law and by the action of the
legislature. The. difference between the
expenses Of these two funds for the years
1850 and 1887 is 1891 $50, deducting the
amount that we paid for the insane In ex-
cess OF 1880 and the session Of the legisla-
ture, leaves the years state expenses for
the current or general purposes 81 1872
more than it was In 1850, eight years ago,
and that is all. [Applause.l i pledge
you my honor that this was taken abso-
lutely from the books In the auditors
office, and can be sworn to by hundred
men.
Now, let us look q little further. In
1888 the state tax viii be $492, 500 less
than II was in 1887. The general purpose
fund for this year, 1888, Is $S59, $50. where
for 1887 it was $4,000. There was $780,
out OF that. Deducting the addition for
the insane and for conveying prisoners in
1887 over 1888, $253, ,9lS, we have for the
current expenses of 1888, this year, the
second year Of my administration, $499,-
| S32, $lS,3 1852 less than it was In that low
tax year Of 1880. Applause.
Now that is q complete answer to all
this balderdash and stirring the people up
by A. A. Ellis who has shown his unfit
ness for the high office of attorDey-gen-
eral and he is corroborated by Mr.. Burt
but will not say anything about him any
| further than that.
| first he was mistaken, know now that he
knows better. He knows that he is falsi-
| flying the record, and 1 speak earnestly
because the case deserves 1t.
SUMMARY OF THE INSTITUTIONS.
Now, the other part Of the expenses for
the institutions. We paid in 1SS7-now
| listen Just three minutes and 1 am done
| to the university, $91 600, omitting the
hundreds, more than we did in 1880. We
paid in 1880 S64 900 TO the university, and
we paid in 1887 $155, ,000.91 moro than we
did In 1880. We paid TO the normal school
$51, 900 more than we did In 1880 to con-
struct q building; we paid for the mining
school, new institution, t47 800; we paid
for the agricultural college t3l 900 more
than we did In 1880, making total to
these four educational institutions of
500, 500 more than we paid In 1880.
Now II may be we have been running
strong for these appropriations. / am
myself, as told you, eternally opposed To
raising more money than we need, but we
want to take good care Of these things
Many Of you know that 1 stepped In and
| saved tc the people of this state in one
1887 more than s200, 900. Whether right
or wrong, this was certainly done by your
4