The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-04
QUEER REBORN, THIS /
The State Hurrying on to
Bankruptcy Under the
Repu blican Regime.
WILD HoWLs FOR ECONOMY
Griggs to Sound the Note Of Alarm
in His Message Strange Con-
trast With Democratic
SoIyency.

A Trenton letter published in the New
ark "CaIr' of yesterday throws a flood of
light upon the operations Of financial
economy and reform as understood by the
Republican gang now in charge Of the
State Government. AS the "Call' was an
earnest supporter of Governor Griggs the
following statements of fact have a
doubly painful significance for the people
of the State
That telegram Of Comptroller Hancock's
to the Governor at the close of the State s
fiscal year on account of congrat tulat tions
for the large balance in the State Treas
ury has caused no end of trouble. Com
ing, as 1t did, only day or two before
election it served wonderfully as CAIN
paign document, but it inspired every
member Of the Legislature with the no
ton that there was great opportunity,
and it will take a considerable portion Of
the Governors message to ddspel that no.
ton from the minds Of some of, the mem
bers and even the Governors message
may not succeed.
A considerable part of the Governor $
message will be devoted to that question.
He will show that instead of there being
great big balance in the State Treasury,
as there was at the end of the fiscal year,
that balance has been very materially re-
duced or will have been by the time the
Legislature convenes. The cash balance
on the S1st of October. the end of the
fiscal year, was $685., ,62S, an increase of
Se5,8S0 over the balance at the end of the
last fiscal year.
Any one familiar with the States
finances knows that the time now estab-
lished as the end of the fiscal year is
about the best time of the year to make
a very large showing in the way of a. bal
ance For the six months next preceding
the close of the fiscal year, practically the
entire receipts of the State are paid into
the State Treasury. For the following
six months there is no revenue. The bal
ance runs very low until April In Febr'l-
ary the railroad taxes begin to come in,
but not in large amounts, and corporation
taxes not until June or July. The pay
ments during November and December
have been unusually heavy Large
amounts have been paid on the building
of the Reformatory at Railway, the Cam
den Armory, on the alterations to the
asylum at Morris Plains and to the State
Prison.
Today nearly s20O,o coo Of war bonds be-
come due-the amount is sl99 400. These
must be met and the money is paid
from the balance in the State treasury.
The bonds are provided for in the sink
ing fund, but owing to the folly practiced
years ago in investing the monies in the
sinking fund in farm and real estate
mortgages given by private individuals,
the money in the sinking fund is not
available for debt paying purposes. Some
of it never will be. The appropriation
bill passed last year carried with it an
appropriation Of s18s.400 from the State
treasury. which, with s1o,e00 available in
the sinking fund, is sufficient to pay off
the maturing war bonds.
In addition to the sum mentioned, $780,
900 IS to be paid for the public roads. In
former years when the balance in the
State treasury at the end of the fiscal
year did not exceed four or five hundred
thoussnd dollars. it was necessary for the
Comptroller to borrow on temporary
loans, to enable him to tide over until
the receipts were sufficient to meet the
expenditures This was during the win
ter and early spring months, and the de-
mands on the State treasury were then
by no means as large as they are now
The amount borrowed often aggregated
two or three hundred thousand.
Many Of these facts viii form an Inn,
portart part OF Governor Griggs' message
to- the Legislature. So many schemes
have been Matched for the expenditure Of
State monies that 1t IS necessary that.
the real situation shall be understood
One of these is the plan to send the Ma
tional Guard to Washington. There isa
little doubt but that the Governor would
gladly second any step of this kind, but
a careful computation has been made as
to the probable cost of such an expedi-
tion.. and it is believed the expense swill
not be less than $4,000. The State all.
ready pays an enormous sum annually.
for the maintenance of its mill tia.s Some
people are asking what the militia is for,
They say that they hear about it, but sell
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