San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-10-04
AUSTIN LETTER.
State Treasury Not "Busted"-What
Gov. Hogg Has to Say.

L
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. g. Special
Correspondence Ever since last
Friday morning the press of the
state has been teeming with news
relative to the supposed bankrupt.
cy of the state treasury. Gov
HOgg has come in for no end OF
abuse incidentally and otherwise
during that time. Realizing that
all questions have, Or at least
| ShO I'D have, two sides to them,
your correspondent this morning
gained an audience with the gov
ernOr. When touched up on the
subject of the numerous rOasts he
had received he laughed and re-
piled that while these papers
abused and vilified him they
couldn't keep him from getting any
Office he wanted, and what's more
they knew it. In reference to the
alledged shortage in the treasury
the governor substantially eX-
planned the situation as follows:
When Gov. HOgg went into the
gubernatOrial chair the state taxes
were twenty cents. The first year
he was in office they were reduced
to l64 cents, and the year
following to - cents. When
the twenty-cent rate existed
the treasury had a big surplus.
Immediately upon entering into
Office, Gov. ITogG, realizing that
tn" big surplus tied up in the state
treasury was doing the people no
good, set about to reduce their
taxes, with the above result. Men
who were paying twenty cents four
years ago, are now paying fifteen
cents. The big surplus that was
at that time tied up in the treas
ury, doing no one any good, is now
allowed 70 circulate among the
people Of Texas. The Governor
further answers the charges Of eX-
traVagance, preferred against his
administration, by saying that the
states expenses have been largely
increased during the past three or
four years, for the reason that the
state is running the Confederate
Home, and the new Southwestern
Asylum, and further, the Legisla-
ture has recently established the
Commission, and more courts, and
necessarily given rise to more
judges and incidental expenses. In
addition thereto, the state has
paid off $24S,00O worth of state
bonds, issued under the admins
tration of Governor Davis.
The Governor argues that pre-
vious to his administration the
twenty cent tax rate was main
tanned in order to float the ship Of
state over tho sand bar that it in
variable encountered during the
months of September and October
Of each year. These months the
governor said are the hardest on
the government because whereas
the expenses are increased owing
to the opening of the numerous
courts ETC., the income is on the
contrary very light as the tax re-
turns are always slow during these
months. The governor argues
that the reason his predecessor
maintained the twenty cent rate
was simply to tide over these two
months and having once passed
over them into the deep water be-
yond the surplus Immediately be-
gan filling up again for the other
nine months, The governor now
argues that it would be much bet
ter for the state officials to refrain
from drawing their salaries during
these two months and thus enable
the ship of state to pass
safely over these sands bars
that are encountered annual
ly than it would be
for all officials to insist on drawing
their salaries and thereby force the
state to maintain the twenty cent
tax rate. This running close reef
ed for two months saves the tax
payers over a million dollars and
that is all there is about it. The
governor says further that the
papers tried to make out that the
state couldn't pay its warrants.
"But we are doing it and will keep
it up" said the Governor, "fOr l
am here in receipt of dozens of