St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-09-28
LEGISLATURES COMPARED

the Kelley cure FOR the marshal.
LEGISL INJURIES COMPARED.
Gov. Nelson sandwiches his praises
of protection and of his elevator bill
with a comparison of the legislative
sessions of 1891 and 1898, and warns his
hearers of the mistake they will make
if they do not make the coming session
solidly Republican. In dong this NJ
one will suspect the governor Of having
any greater interest IN the political
complexion of the next legislature than
it be serviceably Republican, since some
unaccredited person has announced
from d country village that the governor
there expressly disavowed a senatorial
ambition.
The legislature of 1891 was a triangle,
with the Alliance holding the alance
of power. and combining with the
Democrats 10 organize both houses. So
far rs the Democrats were responsible
Tor the acts of that session, they gladly
accept it, and do not shrink from any
comparison with it and its predecessors
or followers. Had they had the entire
control and not been handicapped by a
few Missionaries who dominated the ALI
lone that they would not have done. and
others not done that they would have
done. But in spite of this they stand
on the record made.
To get "a perspective of the session of
81 the session of SO must be taken as
the point of view. Those whose memo
rieS are not too short will recall the
excitement caused in the campaign of
1888 by the indiscrcet admissions of
Treasurer Bobleter that the revenue
fund was largely overdrawn by the APP
preparations OF the preceding legisla-
ture, and that the state was bankrupt.
Vigorous efforts were made by the
Republicans 10 avert the consequences
Of this disclosure and to hide the facts.
The state auditor put forth a state
ment in which he juggled the figures
SO as 20 show a balance-a piece OF
bookkeeping fneSse which the GLOBE
effectively picked to pieces at the time.
After the election the auditor sub
mitted his report to the incoming legis-
lature, in which, obliged to drop jug
CLING and report facts, he admitted that
the revenue fund was overdrawn $780,
55S, some $4,000 more than the GLOBES
analysis had shown TO exist in Septem-
Der. TO this he added Sl22. l75 for proba-
Bile deficiencies. The outcome was thai
the legislature of 1889, instead of meeting
the shortage by increasing the tax levy
or ~retrenching expenses, authorized the
issue of $500, 600 revenue bonds. which
were issued and sold, and whose interest
charge the session of 81 had to meet
and provide for.
The legislature of 1891 was buncoed
by the Republican members, who pro-
posed and supported all kinds of meas
ures calling for appropriations. Old.
stale claims for damages resulting from
Indian outbreaks back in 1862 were
resurrected from the rejected claims of
preceding legislatures and passed
Monuments to Indian battlefields and
the victims of Indian massacres now for
the first time excited the sympathy of
the Republican members. and appropri.
| atoms were made for monuments to
commemorate them. The Columbian
exposition presented its demands which
were honored to the extent of $50. 600.
The Alliance members insisted on the
manufacture Of binding Irvine in the
penitentiary, and $50, 600 went into that
revolving fund. Then, in spite of the
increased u of its predecessor,
the revenues were not only exhausted
by its appropriations, but a defcit of
81 IN 0hn hnI =, ln rrnt Nv tIN rn..To,,
OF '91.
The appropriation bill was sur
charged by the senate, in which the
combination was holding by a slender
and unreliable margin. The senate
amendments were stoutly resisted by
the house. If the bill was accepted,
there must either be an increase of tax
alton or a resort to the measure Of the
session of 1889, and another batch of
bonds issued. The railway tax had
fallen below the estimate. The Rspub-
licans insisted on the acceptance of the
senate's amendments, and threatened
an extra session ii they failed. Every
jobber having a slice in the bill joined
i'll the clamor, and the house yielded to
the claims; but instead of lodging be-
hind a bond issue, it manfully levied a
tax sufficient to meet the bills.
AS it t%ranspired, the additional levy
was needless, the railway tax exceeding
the estimates in 1892 and in 1898. The
result of the increase of the tax levy in
1891 was that, with the increase of the
gross earnings tax, the session Of 1893,
to which the governor points with SO
much pride, met with a balance in the
treasury of 81, 500, COO; and, in spite of
the extravaganza that characterized it,
it was, thanks to the session of 1891.
able to make the reduction in the tax
levy on which rests its only claim to
public favor.