Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1898-11-05
Effect Of Democratic Tax I.cvics.

Effect Of Democratic Tux I.cvics.
And here appears the effect Of the boast.
cd low tax levics. Had these ievlcs of n
cents In 1893 and 1904 been doubled, the Alt.
Its cost. Those tax Icvies produced less
than S3.OoOUO revenue. when they should
have produced above f0,OO0,OO0. No one
knows this better than the head Of the nd.
~ @ Ws Tine e,y wrk S OF III H. a':sSy scca
pllshed his dearest political wish Of wip.
Ing out the hated working balance with.
IN the first two years OF his admlnlstr tratlon.
From September. ise5; on to the close q
standing hat In hand at the back doors Of
money lenders. begging In startled whisp.
crs for secret nid. and pled.ing the honor
OF individual DcmOt rats to repay the Illegal
loans, an'l after nearly two years Of poverty
Altgeld passed over to his successor S1O3.O .OOU
with which to pay debts Of over t2.2OO,OOO.
The 10 cent tax levy OF 1897. producing
x1Oa! ,0G.iS revenue. looks large when COM
pared with the Altgeld levy " 81 cents In
1S!I': and 10 cents In isasA hut the present
administration must not only supply rev.
enue for Its oIn expenses. but II must llQul'
date the debts OF the Democrats nnd rc.es.
tabllsl sufficient working balance In the
treasury to prevent the recurrence Of any.
thing like the humlllatlng beEgary Of the
last two years of AltgelHs term.
, The a,im!ni:sratlon Opened January 10.
rrvenu. receipts for the next slx months.
which included the last PlfeP tax levy Of
1Sse.. offset thu expenditures. and on July I,
1Sc'. the balance was x373G S2j.i7. The
Thirty.saghth Generai Assembly had made
payments were now due. This balance VI
nearly x3-0MO0O was noualnalIy the balance
which had bssii ~ Nailable for many years
as,. "p:" the a.ijonrnn,snt Of the legisla'
nnec had fallen 90 st.Ts0. .:;,a0i, and By Jan.
unry ]. lsaE5. to below sl.OOOOOO. The rrst
Aitged tnx levy Of 1903 had now been col.
iccted and its lnsafiicleney was shown by
the cbb Of tire TREASURY balance
The Thlrty.ninth b General Assembly met In
1s!A'. and made Its appropriation. the tlrst
Year Of which became available July !. Two
years before. when the Thlrty.clghth Gen.
tral Assembly ADJOURNED there was ON hand
to pay Its appropriations above ~ QUO.
but now that bnlnnec had shrunk TO $685..
?3l Il. When the university ana the penal
institutions had received their apprOpr!n'
most part. had been paid onc.Quarter's or
dlunPy expetisss. the treasury wnS practical
~ bankrupt. There was nothing to 10 bu,
suspend the business of the state or borrow
levy of is95 was collected. The $25O.OO0
which the constitution permitted the COVER
nor to bOrrow wSs u comparative drop II
the bncketful of funds necessary.
How Altwcld borrowed Money.
However. the great financial mind which
brought about the disaster was ready with
the remedy. The trustees Of each state In
ever they might. funds sufficient to main
tain their Institutions until the state treas
ury could relieve them. They were Instruct
ed to draw their reauisltions on the stat.
gone thelr usual course and had received
the signature ~ the governor they were Il
be- used as collateral for the loans.
Within the next six months the instltu