Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-16

uSeu III ueleSdplTS the 1nAI
 lcnn was paid Oh Jan. z, and I am satis- tisd Gov. Oates would have paid it before he went out had it not been for the heavy
 drafts the treasury had to meet on the
 lst of January. But that item had noth- ing to do with the deficit If it had not
 been borrowed the deficit would have
 been only $2,737.30 less than 1t was, this being the amount of cost and interest on
 the loan. The $100,000 stood as a cross
 entry. It went in, with the receipts of November and went out in January. If
 the treasury had received that amount
 rom outside of it's own resources to be used temporarily, insist it was a proper
 ability on the first day of January.
 You ask, Will not Auditor White tell the people what the state owes now,
 not what was due Jan. 1'' This is in- tended to convey the idea, that it would
 be difficult for me to do it. Now don't
 deceive yourself, nor try to deceive the
 people about this, for assure you that
 It IS no difficult job for me to have a
 statement prepared on very short notice of any and all the business intrusted to me. On the night of April 30, before midnight, had complete statement of the entire transactions of this depart ment for the fiscal year to that date. had this when the January statement was issued. l did not give it to the pa- pers, simply because it takes too much | time and labor to make copies of every statement need in the office, for all the [ newspapers of the state And I see no reason why every paper in the state is not entitled to the courtesy if you are, and as we belong to different political parties it would appear as if I cared for your criticism should I give it to papers that indorsed a democratic administra- tion, and withheld 1t from you.
 You also say that "the people are not going to be fooled into the idea that Gov. Johnston had an overwhelming deficit to meet, and has worked it out in one That 1 n fn decsnt journalism, and should not be mo- tieed, but I will add that the democrats are not going to be fooled by you. into fighting a democratic administration without good cause, and they won't ask
 you to decide for them as to when there | is a cause.
 You state that Gov. Oates and Gov. Jones both had bigger deficits to face | than Gov. Johnston has and that under their administration it was reduced. I l don't pretend to know. I was not aud l itor of the state at that time, and 1t was | not my duty to know. I accepted as true | the statements of sworn officers, as every loyal citizen should until they have evil | dence to the contrary. But what is the use of bringing the administrat tions of Gov. Jones and Oates into this discus | sion? I am satisfied that they both ad- l ministered the affairs of the state as honestly, industriously and as fairly as Gov. Johnston or any of his successors | can hope to. In this opinion I feel that | every good man in the state indorses | me. You seem to think that governors create or pay deficits. This Is not the case Every officer, however obscure he I may be In the revenue department, and | every tax payer in the state lend aid to l the result. If the officer discharges his | duty honestly, intelligently, and faith | fully, and the tax payer lists his proper | ty literally, fairly, and truthfully, they | contribute their quota towards raising | a surplus; but if the officer neglects these duties, and the tax payer resorts to ev- cry known device to withhold from the state that which is rightly hers, then | they contribute to the creation of a de- | ficit.
 Gov. Jones and Gov Oates were both | the choice of my party. I gave them | both the cordial support of an humble citizen from the very day they were nom | mated until their terms of office expired, and I would not at this late day detract | one iota from their merl,s, and I think your efforts to drag their administration 1 into this controversy very inconsiderate, l 10 say the least Of it. But you may think l the greater the number involved, the | more confused the people will be. and you | may get some unwise democrat to let l you think for him. "Forlorn hope"
 You attribute certain stat; ments of es- | ina tes to ex-Auditor Purifoy, and ask: -'What evidence Auditor White has to show that rhe deficit will be any greater | next October than the late auditor showed in his last repOrt!
 have not gouen to the proper place to give estimates yet. I am dealing in es- tablished facts, and am not forced to es- | inmates to defend them You are reck- pning wi. bout your host if you think you can. escape the result of your own vio- lent assertions and bad mistakes, by get ting some innocent man to relieve you by involving himself in lost cause. In few dnys-as soon as I get the re- ports in-I am going 10 make some fig ures for the people, in regard to the do- | ings of the tax commissioners under the "back tax law" It may be interesting, so look out for it. They may give you some. hing to think of for several days. You and BaltZell gst together and stand together You will need each other. Now, in conclusion, ask that you say l to the people tha'; small deficit like | $600, ,000 will not bankrupt the state; that | most all of it was in the ng.ure of the gif, of the father to a son; mostly prom | is;s that the state donated to its citi- zens Fon instance we have today for the | soldiers over s100000 This won't be needed until next October. We also have | a large amount belonging to The agrfcul- | tural fund. This is paid out in install- ments, as the law directs. So you see that our creditors are of us, and they won'H crowd us. We can pay all we owe