Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1898-03-11
TIE STATE TREASURY

The numerous bills for appropriations
now before the Legislature have awakened
the spprehensions of the Treasury officials,
and directed public attention to the condi
ton OF the Treasury. An article in last
Saturdays San, headed "The Treasury
Empty" seems TO have created general sur
prise, as such statements usually do. AS a
matter of fact, however, the condition OF the
treasury now is just what 1t has been for
number of years past. Some unexpected
windfalls, such as large payment on &C.
count of the Susquehanna and Tidewater
Canal Indebtedness TO the State, and the re
funding by the United States of the direct
tax collected during the war, enabled the
treasury officials few years ago to tide over
a condition which would otherwise have ne,
cessitated relief loan, and the difficulties
which beset the officials to-day are legiti.
mate results of legislation without knowl.
edge of the actual condition of the treasury
and of the misleading statements of the
Comptroller's reports.
The balance in the treasury of $707, 1873
So, September 80, 1897, as shown in the
Comptroller's last report, is made up in
large part of sums which belong to the
school and sinking funds, and which should
have been carried to special accounts, so a.
to exhibit the actual amount in the treasury
proper available for the current ex penses OF
the State government and TO meet prospect
i've appropriations. The school fund is, IN
der the Constitution, art. 8, sec. 81 to be
kept inviolate and appropriated only TO the
purposes of education" and the loan taxes,
TART. 8, sec. 34,) "shall not be repealed or
applied to any other object until the debt
and interest thereon shall be fully dis
charged" and these taxes should be set apart
TO meet the specific objects for which they
are levied, because neither the Legislature
nor the treasury officials have right to di
vert any part of them to any other object.
The practice has been, as it appears, to carry
nothing to the sinking funds until an invest
ment is made on account OF those funds. 1t
would be better and safer practice, it seems
to us, to carry the cash to those funds and
purchase securities for each with the cash
belonging to them. The same practice
should prevail with regard to the school
This would not add materially TO
ooh. keeping, and it would show the
condition Of the treasury, and enable
Legislature and the public to deal intel
ligently with it. AT least note should be
added to Statement B" of the Comptrol
ler's report, showing the portions of the ap
parent balance belonging to the different
funds and the amount available for general
purposes.
The direct taxes, amounting to 17s cents
on the 800, are levied for the support of
the public schools and to pay the interest
and create sinking funds to pay off the pub
lie debt, and, as we have seen, the Legisa-
ture and the treasury officials cannot apply
them to any other object without palpable
violation of law. The money needed to |
defray the expenses of the State government |
and to meet miscellaneous appropriations,
is derived from other sources OF revenue,
and is barely sufficient for the purpose 1t |
follows, therefore, that unusual apprOpria. |
tions can be paid only in one of two ways:
Either (a) by using the money belonging to
the school funds and the sinking funds for
the purpose, or (b) levying tax to meet
the increased expenditure. The first is |
wrong because it violates the peoples con-
tract and postpones the day of payment,
necessitating the rounding of the debt d |
a further Period Of taxation. The second is
indelensible unless some apparent and i'm
perative public necessity requires it.
The present situation is one which intel.
ligent students of State finance have pre-
dicted for a number of years past 1t re-
quires scrupulous care on the part of the
General Assembly, and courage to resist the
opportunities Of the many interests which
are clsmoring for appropriations. Unfor.
tunately, the precedents Of many years
standing have taught the people TO believe
that they have only to ask and they will |
receive, and have convinced the average
legislator that it is his first duty to give. All |
this must be stopped. The credit of the
State is in no way impaired, with proper
economy all Of her obligations can be
promptly and fully met, and no meritorious
object need suffer. But there is no occa
sion to increase or multiply appropriations
or to add to the taxpayers burdens.