Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1897-02-04
KrneArpv REPORT

lLufts III - a fDill DitutholHN ~ ~
neatly printed and bound ana c9uli
iprises 5l5 pages Of valuable suatlsLlCddi a,.Cd
land biographical information lhCluu'
ing the secretary's able edltofial re-
E sumo Of all the affairs Ot staJe uurIus
I the last two years.
In addition to the usual detalled "a
bular exhibits Of the state nhanCes
the secretary has compiled ana pun
, lished as an appendix TO his report "a
bular lists Of the names OF all tne OF
ficers OF the territory aEd state OF OIe-
gOn from the earliest time down 10
the present, with biographies OF mOsC l
Of them and other information, LUIS
extra work the secretary has done ia
the endeavOr to found nucleus TOT an
official state register or blue 0oOk,
document issued in almost every state
In the Union, except Oregon, Where IOr
some reason 1t has been neglected In
the preface to this part OF his report
Mr.. Kincaid says
have complied the following list
OF the governors and other ofncers OF
the territory aud state OF oregon,
Neutrality-suspicious. aud representatives
in congress, from the earliest time
down TO the present day, with orle1
biographical sketches Of most OF them,
as far as any data could be found, and
the same is printed as a part OF thls
! report. This was voluntary work,
not specifically required by law but
in the line OF the duties of this Oflice
where the records are kept, germane
TO this report, and required by the
Importance Of the subject. III not
fully appreciated now it will be here
after, and will become more and more
valuable for historical data as time
rolls on. 1t has cost the state nothing
for compiling and ought to be accept
able tC everybody interested in the
enlightenment of the people, whose
happiness and success in life depends
largely upon knowing what has been
done In the past, by whom it was done,
and how it was done. The lamp ofeX-
perienIe is the best guide for the
future.
Contrary to the usual custom Of en-
deavoring to mystify the public and
slur over the condition Of the states
affairs Mr.. Kincaid has plainly laid
before the members OF the legislature
and the people the condition of our
states affairs. He has gotten the re-
port out earlier than usual and added
a copious index to the book so that
any subject can be readily turned to.
His idea is that there is nothing in
the management Of states affairs tOI
be ashamed Of and that the biennial
report should be given to the legisla-
ture just as soon as 1t can be COM
pleted after the first of the year and
that Is what has been done. The fol-
lowing are some Of the interesting
points OF the report:
DISALLowED CLAIMS.
Under the head of disalloWed
claims appears an item Of interest to
the taxpayers. S6,696.89 in the claim
of John II. Hall for services to the
state as deputy district attorney OF
Multnomah county, struck out by the
secretary's pen. Out OF the $1,000
for INDECENT poor Of the
counties the secretary has covered
So, 1876 back into the treasury. He has
cut down the average cost of convey
Ing c0nvicts TO the penitentiary, |
from $57.56 under his predecessor to |
S45.5l, thereby saying the state a little |
over $1,000 in the two years. He has
also by careful auditing covered 81, 900 |
into the state treasury from the fund |
Tor conveying insane, having reduced |
The average price Of conveying each |
person considerably.
WHAT HURT THE NEWSPAPERS,
lie has stopped paying out the
states money for newspapers to state
)fiicers. Formerly a state officer
would take as many newspapers as he
and the state would pay for
II. Secretary Kincaid stopped all this
and the newspapers (some Of them)
nave been abusing him for il but the
saving to the state in two years has
nearly reached $1,000.
After explaining abont his suit with
,he railroad commission and the
Weston normal school and his refusal
% let the Monmouth normal school
ne state university and the state
militia draw great sums OF money out
u the state treasury to be used to
lank upon by some private bankers
he secretary shows how he has used
Jhe incidental fund TO make many
thousand dollars worth of permanent .
improvements, such as painting in
erior of capitol, refurnishing and ,
arpeting the rooms, drilling a well
i47 feet deep on the state house
rounds and covering back into the
reasury over two thousand dollars of
he fund.
That the secretary has used lmpar-
iallty in applying the pruning knife
o the expenditure of public money is
hown by the fact that he has covered
bout $1,000 back into the treasury
rom the amount approprited TO nav S
lerical aid in his own behalf:and this
Notwithstanding the fact that the S
'ork OF his Office has been increased. AS
G estimates, 30 per cent during the Z
ISL two years by the auditing OF an
Ills, by the secretary OF state, instead l
I sending the money out by the
Secutlve committees or other officers
the different state institutions 10
ndit the claims and pay out the
loney at pleasure, as was the former
lStom.
IL is interesting TO note the item
bout weighing paper for state print
". Before Mr.. Rincaid's time The
ANY tons OF paper used annually was
Do weighed 10 see IL it came IN t1I
he weight bid on. Mr.. Kincaid had y
ntable scales purchased and on the &
nSt Invoice thereafter found a short a
e OF several hundred bounds In
mounting 70 sl9 on Just one order p
Ow manJ hundred dollars the state
IS in the past lost in this way no one al