The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1889-10-02
Co st Per Annum.


An attsmpt has been made to answer this
table by getting up smother table exhibiting
jugglery of figures to degree OF which the
Governor and the present State Auditor alone
are masters. In the above table the per capita
cost under Governor Hoadly's administration Is
based on the average daily attendance, num-
ber actually in each asylum, and the total dis
bursements for current expenses and officers
salaries are combined. This is the correct way
Of figuring per capita cost but when we reach
Governor Foraker's administration different
method is adopted. They report the total num-
ber OF inmates upon the register (Which often
numbers hundred more in a single institution
than the actual attendanee), and thus reduce
the apparent per capita cost. This Is not all;
instead of showing
THE ACTUAL DISBURSEMENTS
For current expenses and officers salaries they
report only the receipts from the State Treas
urF Almost every institution in She State dis
burses more money every year than Is received
from the State Treasury in advance, as the de-
hciency appropriation annually shows. An
illustration of how much can be gain ed by this
instrumentation is shown by the comparative
per capita costs below for 1888: i
Per capita, Per capita,
Based on Based on.
Receipts. Disbursem'ts.
Columbus Asylum. r1...s... $50 27 eSoO "A
DAYTON Asylum. ........ 177 3l lo7 ~
Blind Asylum. .......... 1I5 IS 2SS %
Institute Predetermined
Youths. l45 ~ IfO %
Nothing but the per capita based on dlsburse.
rnents can give the real cost of maintaining the
inmates of public institutions, and the steady
and alarming increase in the cost of maintain
,np the inmates of public institutions under the
present administration should command the at
tention of every taxpayer in Ohio.
There is one other matter relating to State
finances if you will bear with me, and Will
tresuass upon your time in that direction no
longer ICries of $50 on."l want to call your
attention to the very peculiarjugglery of figures
that occurs in. the Auditor of States letter,
written and published in the newspapers, in
which he undertakes to explain the condition
of the State Treasury. The truth is that in the
State Treasury there is but very little money.
Advance drafts are made upon County Treas
urers funds are transferred from the Sinking
Fund, and every imaginable contrivance is re-
sorted to to tide over the condition of the Treas
urv until after the election. One of the means
resorted to was
TOHAVE A LETTER PUBLISHSED
By Auditor of State Poe to show that the treas
ury is in fine condition. The financial reports
show that the Governor, in his speeches, and
the Auditor. in his so-called financial state
ment-which he was not called upon by any
law to make-are not correct.
We have been told, not only by Governor
Foraker, but also by Mr. Poe, that the financial
condition of the State had been greatly i'm
proved during the present administration, and
that 1.-The finances of Ohio have never been in
a better or more creditable condition than they
are at the present time" The official reports
of the Auditor of State show that both Gov
ernor Foraker and Mr.. Poe mistaken, and
the record of the first year of Governor Fora
ker's Administration is as follows:
1886
Auditor of States report, page d. says that
1.-The actual receipts for the General Revenue
Fund during the last fiscal year were g. 755,-
1880. The appropriations for the same period
were s3079, $50 SO, and the actual disbursements
ST. 79, ,511 41-the appropriations 1924, 1889 and
the disbursements 1923. 7T751 in excess of the
receipts Here is an admitted deficiency of
S323 Isl in the first year of Governor Forak-
er's administration. 1t is useless for State Of