Iron County register., 1889-11-21
THE STATE TREASURY.

| The Various Permanent State Funds
| Their Sources of Income and Their Oh
| jects.
Naturally every man who pays taxes
| Is interested to some extent in thr
| monetary affairs of the State. He wants
to know by what authority and for wha,
/ purposes his money is exacted, and how
! 1t is applied. Still, there are very few
| persons who understand thoroughly the
| details of the State Treasury Depart.
ment-how the money comes in in the
form of thousand converging rivulets,
and how 1t goes out in a score of larger
streams. 1t is to supply in a measure
this information that this article is
written.
Missouri has been peculiarly fortunate
in the selection of her State Treasurers.
They have been men distinguished for
their honesty and for their ability to
handle the financial affairs of the State
two indispensable reuuisites-and
there yet remains to be the first case
where the State has suffered from the
defalcation Or populations of her Treas
urers.
Until this year the entire State funds
have been deposited in one bank. The
last Legislature enacted law authOriz-
ing the Treasurer to divide the money
into twentieths, allowing banks to bid
for one or more twentieths of the entire
account. Under this law the present
Treasurer has selected six deposi-
tories, to-wit: The Franklin Bank
Of st. Louis, the Kansas City
State Bank, the Union National
Bank, and the First National Bank of
Kansas City, the Exchange Bank and
the First National Bank of Jefferson
City, from which banks the State real
ICES interest at the rate Of one and thir-
ty-four hundredths per cent. per annum
on daily balances. The rate formerly
realized on daily balances was seventy
three hundredths of one per cent.
Money once in the State Treasury can
be withdrawn therefrom only upon the
warrant of the State Auditor, drawn
against an appropriation made By the
General Assembly.
There are at present eleven perma-
nent State funds, the first and most i'm
portant of which is what is called the
State revenue fund, the source of it's
supply being levy of twenty cents on
each one hundred dollars worth of tax
able property in the State, all State
dram-shop and billiard ia BILE Licenses,
taxes imposed upon insurance and ex-
press companies, and the fee for services
performed by the State officers. One
third of the entire receipts into this
fund is returned to the various counties
for the support of the public schools,
the remaining two-thirds are appropri-
oto ND icl, fc,, ba ,f ho
various branches of the State Govern
ment.
The next is the State interest fund,
whose only source is a tax levy of ten
cents on the one hundred dollars valua-
tion. This rate has been twenty cents,
but was reduced by the last Legislature
to ten cents, thereby effecting a great
saving to the taxpayers. The
proceeds arinsing from this tax
are used in the payment of the in
terest on the bonded debt of the State
and for paying the bonds when they
mature.
The State sinking fund is an offspring
of the interest fund, it's only source OF
revenue being from that fund. This
fund is used exclusively for the payment
of State bonds, the law requiring that at
least $3.50, 900 shall be transferred an
nually from the interest fund to this fund
for the purpose of paying bonds. During
this year S742, 900 more than the mini
mum amount required by the law for
this purpose has been SO transferred.
The State school fund was founded by
an act of the General Assembly bearing
date February 6, 1887, which act pro-
vided that the proceeds of the sale of
saline lands donated to the State by the |
United States Government should be |
placed in a separate fund for the purpose |
of fostering the common schools of the |
State. From this nucleus, aided by |
other donations of the Legislature, our |
present school fund of So, 134, 900 was
formed. This money is invested in GER
tifcates of Indebtedness of the State, |
S2 9o9, 900 of which bears six per cent.
interest, the remainder bearing five per
cent.
State school moneys is fund created
by an act of the Legislature approved
February Q, 1889, which provided that
when the State school fund should reach
$500, 900, the earnings of said fund there
after SHOULD be distributed for the sup
port of the common schools of the State
February 24, 1858, the Legislature passed
an act giving to the State school moneys
of the ordinary receipts into.
the State revenue fund. The last two
gave said fund one-third of
the receipts into the revenue fund. The
first apportionment of school moneys
was made in 1912. The amount
apportioned was S1,999.60; the last
one was made in July, 1889,
when the amount apportioned was
SS43, ,32O.19. This is the largest amount
ever appropriated by this State for the
of common school education.
The total amount paid out for this pur-
pose since 1912 is S13, ,571, ,630.94. No ap-
was made for the years
The State Seminary fund is fund
formed out of the proceeds of the sale
Of lands donated to the State by the
United States Government for the pur-
pose of supporting school of agricult-
lre and mechanical arts. This fund
amounts to 1854, 900, which is invested in
State certificates of Indebtedness, and
the interest on said funds is semi-annu-
ally placed into the State Seminary
and used in the support of the
State University and the Agricultural
College at Columbia. The seminary
fund also contains a certificate of in
1ebtedness of the State for the sum of
ce OOa This ;c |