The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-01-21

a at Austin, the question having beef
! raised at my request in a case from
! McCulloch county, and no opinion nee,
= be expressed upon il. 1t may be tina
4 this question will be determined by tn,
= higher courts before the legislature ad
/, journs, and, if so, there will be no diff
e Guilty in deciding what should be done
I Should it finally be held that any par
Of the available fund may be used fol
the purchase of school houses, furntur,
or apparatus, for manifest reasons tn,
merely mOney-getting devices Of enter
reduced from % TO 10 per cent, so thai
the great bulk Of the fund shall be useC
FOR the payment Of teachers, the primary
and important consideration in maintain
ing an efficient system of schools, and
not expended in the purchase Of schOo
houses and furniture or wasted in so
called school apparatus, which are often
amount which may be 50 used ought to bt
prising manufacturers and publishers
This matter has been in confusion for
years, Huctuating with different officials
but it should now be finally settled, 50
that his fund shall be devoted sacredly
to constitutional purposes only. and if 50
no reason exists why the school term
should not reach six months with the
present rate of taxation. BY the com
mon law Il debtor in failing circum-
stances may dispose of his property for
the use and benefit of his creditors gen
craly or may give preference in pay
mcnt to one creditor above another or TO
| one class of creditors above another class.
In this state debtors may not prefer
creditors in statutory assignment. but,
| unless they be corporations, may do so
| by payment, by sale of property, by
chattel mortgage or by trust deed. Pref
crcnces, except for wages, taxes and the
like, are not allowed by assignment or, it
is believed, by any other method. in Ari-
IONA, California, Colorado, Delaware
d District Of Columbia Florida. Idaho, iii
nols, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine
Michigan. Minnesota, Missouri Mon
tana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hamp-
| shire. New Jersey, New Mexico, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma. Ore
gon, Rhode Island, South Carolina. South
Dakota. Tennessee, Vermont, Washing
ION, West Virginia Wisconsin or
wyoming. In Alabama, Arkansas, Con
| nccticut, Georgia, Indian Territory. In
diana, Massachusetts, Mississippi. Ohio,
PENNSYLVANIA, Utah and Virginia pref
!.rcnccS IN some form are legal and in
New York they may be made for wages
ana to the amount of one-third of the
state. In Kentucky debts due as
executor guardian. administrator or
trustee under will, duly recorded, have
preference. and in Maryland preferences
claims which have been recorded at
least three months. The right to prefer
creditors is claimed by its advocates upon
the ground that the debtor should be per-
United to do as he plcases with his own
ana that in special cases he should
be allowed to favor those who have
befriended him when in distress.
IL should be remembered that mt
the bar of equity his title to the property
1,,tt 10
duty TO discharge his debts and the plea
vi fnvoritism can not be admitted. though
persuasive, because all creditors to the
,Xtent Of their claims, have done the
Aebtor the same service dollar for dollar
IN the loan of money or extension of
credit Opponents of this practice stand
on more logical and higher ground. What
property the debtor may possess is dis
tinctly due to all his creditors. III the
exact proportion of their debts they have
made 1t possible for him to acquire the
estate and upon every principle of JUS
ticc they should share equally in its dis
trlbution. In mercantile transactions
often property unpaid for and upon which
q creditor has an equitable and moral lien
Tor the purchase money, is transferred i'm
preference to another creditor entitled to
no greater consideration. Disguise it in
whatever sOphistry, in the sphere of con
S'ltll't lllS II utSUOIllIlp one 10 SuIlS1N
another and the rule which permits il
should not be tolerated. This policy not
only offers opportunities for gross injus-
ticc, but ii checks confidence in CONNER
clal dealing and promotes the most
shameless frauds. Justice, financial in
tegrity, faith in mercantile affairs and the
suppression of dishonesty and fraud re-
qurc that preferences by insOlventS,
whether by assignment, sale, deed mort |
sftt I'll
should be prohibited except for taxes, |
wages for six months past and debts due
rs executor, guardian or administrator |
With effective legislation on the subject |
and voluntary national bankrupt law |
some of the unrest in commercial circles |
will he removed and thousands of dcscrv- |
ing citizens released from the implacabe |
bondage of debt and their energies again |
employed in the upbuilding of the state. |
ESTIMATES. REVENUE AND TAN
ALTON
Two years ago there was no money in |
the treasury to the account of general |
revenue. and there was registered and |
estimated deficit i'll that fund amounting |
to $4,000. There rs now in the treas |
ury to this account $4,000, and the reg |
istercd and estimated deficiency is only |
S1S,l9.60. making n difference in favor |
of the present condition of the treasury |
of S9i5,9j0.i0. The comptroller csti- |
mates the receipts from all sources I'M |
der present laws and rate of taxation for |
the next two years at SI,63l 900. Esti- |
mates for appropriations for the two |
years have been submitted by heads of |
departments and state institutions which |
aggregate s., $40, tH4.32 and if to this be |
added $4,000 as the probable cost of |
this session of the legislature for per diem |
mileage and contingent expenses, the to- |
tai acquisitions will he S5,616,6ii32 or |
81 ,323. 90S.02 greater than the appropria- |
ton for the current two years and ST. |
iJ,6ii.32 greater than the estimated re-
ceipts from all sources for the next two |
years. As compared with the appropria- |
tons for the current two years, the fol- |
lowing are the largest items Of increase |
in acquisitions made:
Department of education Tin
crease in salaries, printing. 100, -
ctc). $50. -. -. :. Si,ocu w
Public printing flor publish
ing constitutional amend
mcnts etc). ..... -. =. $3.50 10 |
in salaries. 49,. =. 1O1oo 90
Courts of civil appeals (ste-
nographcrs and library at
Galveston about. 49,. 140UO 90 |
Agricultural department lin
Ia, ,l,,,-,