The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-11-29
HIS FIRST MESSAGE,
The Governor of North Dako.
ta sends in His Mess.
age.
lie Discovers a Necessity for
Strict Economy in
Finances.

AAS HANVNSlp u ASSSSSlly lUl
Strict Economy in
Finances.
BISMARCK, y. d., Special Telegram, Nov
su.-ihciwn houses voted separately to
day for United States senator. Ex-Goy
Nllbrrt n. Fierce received all the votes il
| cilhcr house, except twelve Democrat,
votes, which were east for cX-Sccrctury NJ
L.. Mccormack. Both houses adopted T.
resolution designating Fierce for the Ion:
term. The houses then went into joint ses
sion to receive the governors message
| Following are the salient points of til,
message:
The history of that portion of the North
west which is now included within III,
boundaries of the State of North Dakot:
contains much t" inspire confidence in til,
| future of our commonwealth Little NOR,
than Il decade has passed since thclnlian am
buffalo were driven from her fertile plains
In lSS, its sparse population was confined
! tn the few counties along the Red river ult
the line of the Northern Pacific railway
But the fame of he rich fertility of her sol
and especial alartahilty I" the production
excellence and the hcal,lilllncSs nt oui
climate spread rapidly throughout our own
land and Ia foreign shores. Then came 4
! period of growth and development that l.,,
scarcely been cqlialcd in the early history
"t the progress of any other state nr terri
tory; Many thousands of our cuuntrymcI
and hardy and Industrious citizens of lands
beyond the sea found in North Dakota new
| homes.
Thus. within brief period, we find our
| population increased to 225,taM, Il lnpulu-
ton unsurpassed for intelligence and thrift.
representing all The enterprise and push ui
the young men Of the most Irngrcs>ivecom-
l.linlticS "tthc East, cncrgizc'l l,y the vigor
OF our incnnparablc climate. cacll year add
ing thousands of acres To our cultivated
! fields am! demonstrating the mlartahilty
OF our soil and climate tn a greater diversity
OF crops and agricultural pursuits.
our railroad system that in lSSn com
prisr,i one company, with only one line en-
tending partly across the state now includes
rrSIlg her domain in all directions, two
great tranSrolitinrntal lines running through
her territory, making many of our new cit
les and towns aS favorable railroad ccntcrs
as some of he older cities ofthc East
Nature has, indeed. been hountc",ls in her
gifts to our state Our unlcvrluInrl IT,
sources of wealth are beyond computation,
and far exceed the most Sang,linc hopes.
The iudiri"ils application of that capital
which such resources must attract, intrlli-
gently and tremendously cu-olrrating with
the tirclc>s energies of our people, cannot
fail I" work out for the new State of North
Dakota Il grand destiny
Owing To the fact that the reports of the
outgoing territorial officers have not vet
been submitted, and owing further to the
limited time intervening between the in
>tallat"n of the present state officers and
the meeting of the legislature and tn the
delay consequent upon the division of the
assets and liabilities between thctwo states,
il is impossible to prepare as complete, de-
tailed and exhaustive u statement of the
financial condition of the state as | should
desire, but the reports nf the territorial of
iiccrs will he forthcoming later on and will
probably he available before your session
CLOSES.
The total bonded indebtedness to date is
the S,atr"i North Dakota us provided ly
section five nfthc report of the j"in, com
mission, and approved by the people of
North and South Dakota. Ofile s.i,S,an,l-
ing bonds, :!3l GAM bear interest IL, 6 per
cent per ann,iin, and $lS2,UoW at ~ per cent
and :l27oo at per cent, and the Ss:i, ,5O7 .lG
T TslTIE %IEn nwHhHErpgf HHip ~ ,. Err cent .l making the
sued last April for the repairs of the uni
vrrSity ut Grand Forks were per cent
bonds and We're negotiated at Il premium of
>! l,cr cent. which was Il very gratifying in
,licaiion of the credit of our late territory
1t is. however, believed with wise and care
fiji legislation looking To the care of our
credit. that our state will he able to ncgu-
tiatr Err bonds even al Il lower rate.
Fifty THOUSAND 'l"lla,s of the Il per cent
h"nd- arr subject to the call IF tile state,
and :'::,'t~ more will be- subject I" call
April ncXt. Provision Tor the calling in of
these h"n'!> should he made aS soon as pos
sihlc. Owing Ia the short time calsing
before til. stat" will lave the option Of
calling in Il large share of the remainder of
thee per cent bonds. il is believed that they
will nj once be- called, by Offering In rX
change therefor longtime bonds bearing
not tn exceed per cent interest.
would, therefore, suggest such legislation
as will authorize the state Ia refund all the
outstanding bonded Indebtedness possible
III II rate not to exceed 1 per cent. The nc-
r,,mrliShmcnt of The rcinntling of our en-
tire bonded Indebtedness into 1 per cent
bonds negotiated at par, will save the state
an annual sum of :Jiun.
The report of the state treasurer shows
$1l ,5la.ii To be the amount received from
the outgoing territorial treasurer. Ii is al,-
prnxinatcl; estimated that North Dakota
will have tn assume $24, ,Sil. 81 nf the terri
tnrial Indebtedness. and in addition thereto
her share of the ,iiia,uiitrd outstanding bills
against the territory not payable until final
adjustment and the amount of which we
have no means "t asccrtaning. The out
standin. Indebtedness assumed by the state,
is payable out of the general fund, leaving
On hand available at present for paying the
current expenses Oft HE state, 50, ils.I5; .,Sti-
mated receipts. $27l $3.50; estimated en-
lnl>,.>. $50, 1H:,5, leaving deficiency of
SlUS, ,S1u.Nl.
The legislative assembly. by the provis-
ions of section ~ niillr schedule of the con-
.litulun. is required tn make an arl,rnpri-
alton to lriray the cost ufth he constitutional
convention III excess of S2o", the
amount appropriated by the general gov
rrnmcnt Drductin@ therefore ::uDTD from
the estimated receipts and adding 10 The cS-
tin,at.d expenditures $lo,uD for clerk hire
and S7uN lur constitutional convention We
have Il prospective deficiency of $l5,. so. Nl
make this full statcinrn, nfour financial
condition that we may fully understand he
imperative need and Importance of the
sirir,r>t economy in all departments of the
new state. While there is nothing in our
financial exhibit thus made hat in any way
affects our credit, since with an indebted
ness of $1,000, the valuation of property
in the state based un Il fair money value IS
more llIan sl15.nDWn, yet it is ufthr ut
most importance HAT good business meth
od> prevail in the management of our
financial affairs and that our diShur>r-
To come within our revenue.
For our new state. with so large Il share
uf its resources ,indcvcloped, and with (;lS
is seen hy the statement submitted OF as
s,>scd vuluatiun) large share of the bur
den oftaXa:ion falling upon the agrirlIt-
ural Interest. that interest which, owing to
the low range of values of farm products,
has been greatly depressed, not only in our
own state, but throughout the county. and
that interest upon the prosperity of which
our hopes 50 largrl! l!y depend. nm t exercise
the greatest care lest the development Of
burden of ofcxcc>sivr taxation.
by the provisions of the constitution the
first session of the legislature may continue
l2D days. ] deem IL session of that length
entirely unnecessary, and urge upon you
the Importance OF as early an adjournment
as is consistent with Il proper discharge of
your duties to the state. The average daily
cost of IL session nfthc legislative assembly
is estimated at $50. Should the session
continue 10 days at a cost of Slu2,,m. that
item alone would swallow up nearly half
of our income.
The total assessed valuation of the state
a> shown hy the assessment roll of 1850 is
Hai. >l1 $3.50 obtained trou the following
sources:
Lands Ofl l15 ia
Horses 5223s77 on
Mules hiid asseS..,,................... iIiiIt iD
.......................... 255795, "a
sheep -, tD "a
swine l223ii ~
Town Observation-Disclosures. 33ji 329 10
Mrr,and,, Observation-Disclosures. 257i6il on
Capital III nanuiactures......... 1:ft.1'iI ni
! L tlfl if