Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-16
In An Open Letter to the 'Repnb1i-
 can Blnnderbus"
SHOWS CONDITION OF AFFAIRS
As Regards the State Treasury, and Assures the Ancient Fossil that Guess Work Won't DO-FaCtS Facts
 and Figures Don't Lie.

Editors Advertiser@I have delayed re- plying to your editorial of the 4th inst. for several r5asons, the principal one of which is my natural aversion to news paper controversies by a state officer. The others are personal to me, and are not necessary Lo this article. l now doubt ths propriety of my attempting to cor rect ideas you seem to have. However, as you persist in bringing the mater pefore the public, it cannot do much harm 10 correct few of your many errors Tn the treatment. of my statement of the conui- Rion of the treasury the 1st of last Jan uary
 Now. in the outset, I wish to diselalm any intention of refiec. ing upon the oin- cial or personal character Of any one' neither is 1t my desire to "create cam paign literature" for any purpose, put 10 treat the subject of controversy in plaln business light, regardless of whom 1t ef- fleets.
 In this rsport of the financial condition of the treasury-not of the s.ate-i showed that a deficit of $621, 6o existed, and stated ia the letter accompanslhs that there were oner liabihtrss, the eA- act amount of which could not De ascer- tained at that time that did not appear upon the list I now reiterate the entlre sta ement, and insist that 1t IS In perlscs accord with facis, prnclples ol DOOR, keeping and common sense, anu that there is not an Lem or the idpliites iittHs shown that was not an accrued naplllty on that day. and that all avallaDle as sets of the treasury to meet them Were also shown. With this you take issue, but offer neither evidence nor argument to disprove them. You content yot,,
 hn 1 s.sas that there is no deficit Of $5O0,OoO
 The only sound proposition you assert in your editorial isl It Is a Well-KnoWH fact that the condition Of the treasury on the Is. day of January IS no true tes, of the financial condition Of the st ate; You might have gone further and said that a statem m. at no time of the cohQl- tion of the treasury was a test or 'ne sta els financial condition The state mas resources; the treasury has only assets. statement of the treasury shoWs what 1t owes at ths time and what 1t mas 10 pay with. A statement Of the state financial condi tion should show what II owed bo-h due and to come que, anu what it had and could get to pay With when the time of payment came, Ine treasury today has large cash paiahce on hand On the 1st day Of July when we have large amounts to pay out, we may find a deficit in the treasury, put don't you get scared and try No make the people b; lieve that the state IS about to go inlo the hands of recelVer' TOT we are not going there soon.
 Tn y,our editorial you say that my state meut was made in accordance with thal of ne joint committee of the last general assembly, In this you are mistaken. Theirs was an estimated statement, mhne A positiye one. How they reachad the1r conclusions, I don't know. l got mine from the books in the auditors office.
 You assert most positively 'as matter of fact the receipts into the treasury III January. 1897, we're larger than III Jan @ ,1ary 1S96" I say most positively they were not. I submit the following hgures as the basis of my opinion:
 Receipts for January, 1S96 $660, l49.!4. Receipts for January, 1857, $ozl zSo.4o. Balance in favor of 1896, $39, 453.6o Now. win you please tell the people where you got your inforrna tiion, or wehther or net you were only guessing! Again. you attempt to give figures in which you are farther wrong than the foregoing You say and the total rom october 1, 1896, to April 30, 1897 was $6O,- 954.O2 greater than from October, 1S9o to April 30 1S96." AS a fact, they were exactly $160, .02, greater. l guess you forgot to count the temporary loan or S1OO 900 which was covered into the treas ,,ry through this office in November, 1Ssb As we are dealing in facts and figures, let us state them fairly and fully. The truth cannot t,a hurt by fuD statement of all the facts.
 Since that temporary loan has been re- ferred to, you may want to know by what right I entered it as an accrued liability on fine first day of January, when the note givsn said it should be pald on or before the 18th of January. l think 1t was due at the moment the necessity for borrowing was removed. Of course this loan was negotiated by authority of paragraph B., of article II, cs thl;t state constitution. which reads as follows: "After the ratification of this constitu- tion. no new Gabt shall be created against CT i-crrired by this state, or its authority except. etc., provided, the governor may be authorized to negotiate temporary loans never to exceed one hundred thous- and dollars, to meet defclencles in. the Urea suny; ard uri.il the same is paid nJ new loan shall be negotiated." E If there dis such thing as the sufrh of the law. should 1t rot he ' regarded {? The authority is only to bor11'w roney under rertain conditions for the time be- ing. If so, then is not debt .crea ted by that authority due the mcaner1t the p.eces- sity ceases to exist? No sane man would undertake- to corstrue that low as aIi- uhon.ity for the governor to bcrY'ow morey on twenty CT thirty Ye.1rs' time. If he can s,ot borrow for twaptv years. then whet hs The limit as 5tcs ttirre? None at all exrept as9exnrese@d hv the spirit of the 1,-- p,anffeeted jn the great caution shown by the safeguausas of the Ianagsage