Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-10-23

- stated bcfo-,. the total Indebtedness II the
state on the lst of January, 1893. did not exceed
one million dollars. he >tatt Audltor rtport
OF l>.2 Will show that the entire floating debt OF
TIA. state amounted then 10 Srl,U@ll. Add to
tlls SRn.Wn bonded indebtedness makes total
OF S~il,ui1. There were, however, some den
,Irucrs incurred in some OF the state In-tltu
lions 80 thqt to be on the safe side We Will ad-
,rit that the -tate owed one million dollars
when MH.raW took office. We have shown the
state VIII owe twO and one half millions by the
time his term OF office expires. Thus the in
d-ttcincSs of the State has increased one and
ON, half million during four years. or at the rate
or r.Wt per annum. Thus we have July
horne out our statement AT the outset of this
communication that the state is running behind
to-day at the rate of one thousand doliar' n day.
INTEREST BEARING bEBr.
On fully two million dollars of the indebted
ness the state paws per cent interest. All tia
state officials having anything to do with the
finances OF the state admit that the average life
of a warrant is two years. Thus the interest
chsrrc against the State'a floating indebtedness
is 100000. That does not include the $1,000
fixed annual interest charge of the bonded in
when we claim that for every day in the year
the state pays $500 interest on its Indebtedness:
1t may, however, be commended that the debt
So incurred was unav oidable; that the admins
tratiou could not forcsee the large sh rinkage in
the pay ment OF taxes.
First-ENen if We all allow az an asset against
this Indebtedness the entire de linruent tax roll
OF the state amounting 10 SN0O.0U0, it still has
TO account for the balance OF the debt go con
tracted.
-ccond-The Auditors report OF 1894 will
show that he. as the financial agent OF the state
advised the Republican Legislature that the total
revenue that they could possibly anticipate
would not exceed $4,000 year for the two
years lS9l and 1876, yet notwithstanding this es
innate. the total appropriation made by the
Legislature of 1898 amounted TO over one Million
eight hundred thousand dollars. Thus the ap.
preparation exceeds the estimate by one hundred
thousand dollars a year. AS a matter of fact,
the auditor admits his estimate TO have been
demonstrating as an excuse that he did not
expect the conditions of the State to grow worse
and worse. but rather anticipated an improve
ment in the general conditions OF the taxpayer
the total revenue that the state could derive
during the years 1898 and lN9d VIII not exceed
S6j0O00 per aRnum. When we say that the
revenues of the state for 1895 and 1896 will not
exceed SG50.0O0, we m IAN that the full amount of
taxes levied will not exceed that sum.
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE.
Here it will be seen that the Legislature ap-
rropriatcd SlOo,OOO more per annum than it pos
IDLY could expect the revenue would net. That,
as a matter of fact, the revenue falls short of
this estimate Sl'O,OoO per annum. Thus. the to
tai deficiency for the two years ending April |,
1877, will be half u million dollars.
But in considering these deficiencies, interest
accumulated must be taken into consideration.
AS stated before, the average life of warrant is
two years. Thus, for every dollar that the Leg
isluture SO appropriated, the tax payer must pay
| $ll6. and when we say that the Legislature APP
propriated Sl,SO0,0OO we ought to add the inter
est, which by the time this money is paid, will
| amount to SlSS000. Thus the real appropria-
tions amounted to $l,0i4,0OO per year, while the
total possible revenue that the State can derive
will not exceed $4,000 per year for the years
1875 and lS96. If that be prudent management
of public affairs, we desire the voters of this
state, and not the Republican party, to so ad-
judge it, Gov. McGraw is a business man. ii e
| is the President of one of the largest banks in
this State. We want him to stale if he, as a
business man. and not a a politician, considers
it prudent, wise and patriotic to spend daily
81 900 than the income Of the State, and in
crease the interest liability of the State $500 u
| day.
One would naturally think that Slate whose
would, as fast as it collected dollar from the
taxpayer, use it i'll paying of its debt. but the
TTeasurer's books show all entirely different
state of affairs. The balance held by the Treas
urer, commencing with the quarter ending
March 81, 1872 up to the quarter ending June 80,
| lSg a re shO Hn below: