The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-10-21
AT THEIR OLD TRICKS.
oARBLINoTHE PUBLIC RECORDS
TO CATCH THE UNWARY.
tho Financial History of tho state
Since 1802-A showing of when
We May Justly be Proud.

crat state central committee Ia either
woefully ignorant OF the subject he
Is endeavOring to inform the people
about. or foolish enough to believe that
anything he sees fit to state in this
connection will be accepted by the in
telligent voters Of Michigan as the
gospel truth We rather suspect the
latter to be the case, for having neces-
sarily had access to the reports OF the
State. Treasurer In order to procure the
statistics he is sending out for publ
cation, he must know the idea he Is
so diligently seeking to impress upon
the public mind Is wholly erroneous
and misleading.
The burden Of the "fggerer's" song
Is that the cost Of maintaining the
State government was greater for the
year ending June 60 $685. than it was
for the year ending June 30 1892.
when "the first purely Democratic gov
ernor Of Michigan for thirty seven
years" occupied the executive chair.
In view of the fact that the world
has moved a trifie. and the State has
grown materially since Governor WI
mans administration. the Republicans
OF Michigan have no hesitancy in ac-
knowledging the entire truthfulness of
this general charge, but when q de-
signing statistician. whose sole aim Is
to deceive the public, undertakes to
make 1t appear that this increase In
expenses amounted to nearly $780,
600, 1t Is proper that his duplicity be
exposed. Just to show how readily
more than one-third Of this entire al
legged increase could have been ac-
counted for had the pOpOcratic press
man been DESTROYS Of informing rather
than deceiving the people. 1t may be
said one item which entered into the
total disbursements for the last fiscal
year OF $4,000, 534.79, represents de-
linquent county. township, city and
village taxes collected by the State and
paid back to the counties. This item
amounted to $507, 741.17. AS fast as
these delinquent taxes were collected
the sums were deposited in the State
treasury by the Auditor G eneral. In
order to pay the counties the amount
due each 1t was necessary to withdraw
this money from the State treasury.
This fact was well known to the pOpO-
cratic press man, yet he deliberately
sought to make the people believe that
this item of $5O7, TILT, which the
State collected for and returned to the
several counties, represented n dis
bursement or an item Of expense of
carrying on the State government for
that year.
Having thus exposed the absolute
rOttenness Of the statistics which are
y being sent out over the State in the
hope OF working up a sentiment In
opposition to the present State admins
tration, 1t would seem unnecessary to
make further reference thereto, but
hn al nj fea no
inspection Of all its acts, and in order
that the exact truth may be known
an analysis Of the cost Of maintaining
the State government for the two
years mentioned has been made, and
attention is invited 10 it. Every figure
given below Is absolutely correct, and
can be verified from the same reports
which have been so wilfully and fright
fully distorted by the opposition.
In 1892 the cost of maintaining the
asylums Of the State amounted to
$693, 5O9.19 this total including the ex-
penses Of the Soldiers Home, State
School for Dependent Children. irans-
pOrtatiOn Of children to and from the
latter institution, etc. For the fiscal
year 1898, this Item amounted to $942,.
0O3.SO. This Is an increase for the lat
ter year OF $249, 34.6 81, but Ii should
be borne In mind that we now have
wOman's annex to the Soldiers
Home, the Newberry Hospital for the
Insane, and the State Home for the
Feeble Minded and Epileptic. none Of
which were In existence during Cover
nor Winan's boosted administration.
Aside from this. ii is fact well known
to the citizens of Michigan that the
number of insane in the State has con-
stantly Increased during the past few
years, and that now, even with the \
Increased accommodation for their
care in proper asylums, the county
jails throughout Michigan are full Of
this unfortunate class of citizens who
are being held to await an opening In
an asylum, so they may be placed
where they properly belong. These
items, which had no place IN the ex-
pense of the Winans' administration,
fully account for the increase noted
above.
Now to show what was accomplished
by the Democratic and Republican
administrations when the conditions
were anywhere near similar, attention
is invited to the cost of maintaining
the penal and refOrmatOry institutions
of Michigan during the years under
amounted to $3O5. 051 40. while in 1893
It was but $249. HAP. or decrease Of
$56927.34. Although there were no
new penal or refOrmatOry institutions
In 1885, the population Of the State had
increased 221 900 since 1892. and there
had been a more than prOp0rtiOnate
increase In the population Of the prls-
ons, yet they were maintained at q
smaller cost, Notwithstanding the no
torfous fact that the Democratic Off.
Gals turned them over to their Repub-
lican successors with scarcely enough
provisions to feed the cOnvicts day,
and without sufficient clothing to af.
ford the latter change Of shirts.
In 1892 II cost $3OS.603.92 to main
tain the educational institutions Of the
State. In 1896 this item was $429.-
5S7.7, an Increase Of S119,S93.55. In
the latter year there was the Central
Normal School, which did not exist In
1892, while the appropriation for the
university had increased from $1S6,84O