The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-02-10
THE STATES FINANCES.
Gove-ncr E,lerbe Thinks That They AIe
in Sad Way.

in Bad way.
COLUMBIA, S. c., Feb. 5.-Gover-
oor E!lerbe nas found, upon careful
investigation, that the finances OF the
State are not in the most furnishing
condition, and that there is de6cien-
cy in the general fund of So, 04l. 66
unprovided for. This State of affairs
called forth the following message
from the Governor which was read a.
the session last night:
Gentlemen of the General Assembly
After thorough investigation | lind
that tbs finances of the State are not
in a very favorable condition, and
deem it my duty to call your atten-
ton to the following fac:s: There
was in the State Treasury On January
26, 1897, SAB, 95S "a; balance due
State from dispensary on general ac'
count, S92, 1000; insu tance license fees
(.stimated) $1,000 ,ees Secretary OF
States office, S., 900: uucollected taxes
(estimatedl $1,000; making, $500,
95S 81.
The above includes all the reve.
nues of the State available for current
expenses for the fiscal year 1897. Is
timating the current expenses OF the
State government at $50. 600 per
month for ten months, beginning
January l, 1897, and ending Novem-
Der l, 1897, we have current expenses
$500, 900; legislative expenses (estlna-
ted) S45, 900; special appropriation for
militia, $4,000; pensions, slOO, 00o;
public printing, $4,000; total, S64O.-
900. Making deficiency in the gen,
eral fund Of S34, 041 IS uuprovided
for. I have counted the expenses TO
November l, because the books are
not opened for the collection OF taxes
until October Is, and the State treas
ury will not receive remittauces from
the county treasurers until November
l. We estimate the expenses st S30,-
600 per month on the basis OF last
years appropriations. OF course It
any of the appro opriations be increased
or additional ones are made for spec
ial purposes, the deficiency will be IN
creased in proportion.
The trustees of the Winthrop Nor
| nal and Industrial College have ask
ed for an additional appropriation. OF
$50, 900 to build another dormitory.
They now have room for 240 students,
while the attendance at the college IS
403, one hundred and sixty-three hav-
ing to board in the town. It would
be Infinitely better for all the students
to board in the college, and if we
knew that the attendance would re-
main as large as it is now, you would
take no risk in making the appropria-
ton. But as we can have no guaran-
tee Of this after the ephemeral favor
which generally bubbles up around
a new college subsidies, we may have
here, as we had at Clemson, decrease
| in the number of students.
When Clemson College was first
opened many boys out of curiosity
and without serious purposes rushed
IN, and there was no. sufficient room
to accommodate them; but after rum
ming year or two, the attendance,
as might have been expected, dWin-
died down to normal numbers, and
the dormitory is large enough for
present USES.
Should you decide to build another
dormitory for Winthrop I would re-
spectfully suggest, owing to the un-
favorable condition of the States f.
nances, and the financial condition of
our people, that you have all the
brick necessary for the construction
81 the dornitory made by the con-
victs of the Penitentiary. This could
be done in the summer after the crops
on the State farm have been ''laid by"
aud before harvesting time begins.
You could then at the next session OF
the General Assembly make a small
appropriation to have the work COM
! pieted.
The deficiency that I have called
your attention to should be provided
for. and the question for you 10 de-
eide is whether it should be done by
increasing the levy or by increasing
by some thero means the revenue OF
| the State. This can be done by
graduated income tax and gradual
ed license tax. Every legislator
should be commended for his efforts
to give the people low rate OF taxa
ton, but it is unwise and unbusiness
like to levy tax insufficient to meet
the current expenses Of the govern
ment, and thereby incur debt. I
believe in the principle of paying as
you go. In my opinion there is ex-
travagance in the management of
county affairs which should be thor
oughly Investigated. The county
government Act is objected to by
many on the ground that it is too
cumbersome, and that the work of
the chain gaHg costs more than it is
worth. l would recommend that you
eXamine these matters thoroughly be-
fore making any radical changes in
the law-Register.