Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-01-18
G()V. SCOF|HD' MESSAGE

| history of our state and nat ION Our coun
| try Is again at peace after brief struggle
| with foreign power; the majority Of the
| volunteers called to meet the emergency
| of war have resumed thet peaceful avOca
tions; every legitimate industry is thirty
| ing, and every man who desires employment
can secure it, We MAJ well congratulate
| ourselves upon these evidences of material
| prosperity. though we may feel the com
| parative. insgnitcanct of material pros
| perity, in the presence Of the profoundly
important responsibilities recently imposed
upon Us as nation In view of these
new duties, Ii is vastly more important 10
be Il citizen of he United States today
| than II was year ago. and to be legls
| lator of Il state tharged with the duty of
selecting men wh) are to assist In solviag
the new problems is indeed grave re
sponsiblity. At time like this personal
or selfish interests should be buried from
sight, and only the deep need of the nation
for wise counselors should be given con
| sideration. II country Is to pass
through the present crisis In honor and
safety, it will only he by the exercise of
| the highest human wisdom and the aid of
Divine Power.
Under provisions of the constitution Il
becomes my duty to submit TO you at this
time brief reTiew of the condition OF the
state and such recommendations as seem
to me eXped!eht.
dCsire first to present for your Consd-
Grafton a statement of the fiscal system
| and the financial condition of our state.
| both somewhat more at length than has
been the custom. In the nature of the
case il Is not possible for a governor just
entering upon the duties of office 10 hay
before the Legislature Il satisfactory state
ment of the financial affairs of the state.
After having served one term, therefore, II
| is more plainly his duty to present these
matters in clear and comprehensive form:
and In this connection | am impelled to
| suggest-although an innovation ,p)n cs
/ tablished practice-that ii would be an ad
| vantage to the Legislature ana also to the
| incoming Executive If il were the duty of
| the retiring governor to address TO the
| Legislature message, covering fully the
| condition of public business, with Such
recommendations as his experience aud
| observation in office might commend to his
| Judgment. The experience and observation
| of an executive who has served two OF
! four years, and embodied In such a mes
| sage, could not fail to be beneficial to the
/ Legislature and helpful to his successor.
| This would not In any wise superSede the
| message of the incoming governor, who
would be at liberty to make recommends
| tions from his own standpoint, and to ap-
| prove diSapprOye those last 1ade 10y
| his predecessor
believe one of the conspicuous needs of
| the times is better understanding on
| the part of the people of the manner of
| conducting public business. IL appropria-
tions of public moneys are to be Intelligent
| ly and honestly made by the Legislature,
| such an understanding Is essential to Its
members and If the state is to continHe TO
| be successful in raising the large sums
necessary to carry on It's functions, 1t Is
| imperative that the people who supply the
| therefor and the detail of its disbursements
| shall endeavor to present TO you
| statement which shall he comprehensive
! and as brief as the subject Will admit.
The state has certain wcll-defned sources
| of income and avenues of expenditure. Its
| income Is derived from Interest on trust
| funds for educational purposes, annual tax
| levies for any and all purposes, suit tax
| from counties, fees from life, fire, accident
| and guaranty insurance companies, from
| railway, street railway, sleeping car, tele-
| nj al nODIn
| companies, ard from the land office. Then
| there are miscellaneous sources which In
| clude, for instance, interest on BANK de-
| positS that Is. money belonging to the gen
| eral fund which the state treasurer de-
| posits in various banks and receives inter
| est thereon appropriations by the gen.
| eral government to the State Veterans
| home: hawkers' and peddlerS' licenses; pub
! hshing bank statements; fees from bank
, examiners office, penalty and advertising
| of contracted state lands; sale of books hy
| the superintendent of public property; sale
| of books by the superintendent of public
| instructions: Incorporation fees; fines for
| violation of game laws; fees for sale OF
| land, trespass penalties, etc. All the
! money, therefore, that the state receives
| for the purpose of carrying on the state
| government in all its various deparir'ents
| comes from the above mentioned sources.
| The interest on the trust 4. 20 includes
| interest on the common scf oi fund, normal
| school, university fund tine latter including
| again agricultural college funds), and in
terest on the dra mage fluids. These funds,
| which are known AS trust funds, and the
| interest received on which goes to their
respective departments, cCme first from the
| sale of lands which were granted by the
| United States government for the purpose
| indicated by the title of The funds or deSig
mated by the statute. The second item CIV
| en- as Il source of income is the annual tax
| levy. This. as win bc readily understood.
varies according to the needs of the Asc.
| The third item, the suit tax, as the name
| indicates, is the amount received from the
| various counties as taxes on civil suits be
| gun in the courts. This also varies Soma
| what rrnning at the present time some
| thing over $1,000 a year. The fees from in
| surance and guaranty companies hlSo vary,
| but are running during the last few years
| from $4,000 year upward. lhc lces
| from the railway c mpanics, which are PAID
| In lieu of all taxes, are by far the largest
source of the states income. Those re
| ceived from The palace and sle"ping-ca
| companies are. like the railway companies
| fees, in lieu of all taxes. but the amounts
received are not large. The state receives
| In the neighborhOod of $4,000 each from
| the telegraph and telephone companies anu
| lesser amounts from the loan and trust com
| panies and the boom companies IN the way
| of fees.
TIE state expenditures are made through
| four avenues, which may be specified as
administrative, legislative, judicial ana edu-
cational.
First, money Is expended for adminlstra-
tive purposes that is, for the cost OF car
rying on the state government In It's yari-
ous forms. represented by the direct
disbursements in the capitol building at
Madison. including expenses of chartal -
and penal institutions. The second Is leg
iSlatiVe cXpcuspS-thc cost of the LegiSta-
ture. Third. the educational expenses,
within this being included the amount dis
tributed to the different counties for the
maintenance of the common schools, the
high schools, the manual training schools,
aiii the day schools for the deaf; the cost
of maintaining the university; the cost of
maintaining the state normal schools.
Fourth, the expenses of maintaining the ju-
dietary of the state, including the circuit
courts and the supreme '""rt.
The above classification is att arbitrary
one but 1t will he seen at once that IL Is
comprehensive; that the state pays out
money only through these four avenues.
Here. then. are two simple facts: First,
that the state has certain sources of in
come: and, second. that every dollar ok
pended through the state treasury for any
purpose mHst go through one Of the four
avenues indicated
Before going further, another fact should
be stated In order to make more comprc-
henSve this review: Wisconsin has no
bonded indebtedness, technically speaking,
and yet the state owes on certificates Of
indebtedness 81, ,2J1 900. This debt was con
tracted for war purposes between 1861 and
1865. The state first raised money by sell
ing Its bonds; later these bonds were re-
deemed by money accumulated in the trust
funds. and certificates Of indebtedness Civ
en- 10 the several trust funds representing
the amounts borrowed. The state pays
therefore, on certificates of indebte ednesa
Hack INTO these IuD1S, the sum OF SIbf..BD
annually, the interest being at the rate Of
per cent This interest is one Of the
Items of disbursement from the general
fund.
| think there never has been presented
to the Legislature at the beginning Of the
session an estimate In the nature Of
budget showing the necessary expenses for
the current biennial period. together with
a statement Of the states fixed income. 1t
has seemed 10 me, In studying the receipts
and disbursements ii the various depart
menrS, that IL rs necessary, II the I.egis-
lature Is to vote ntellgently upon appro-
priations, to have prepared for each legs-
iatiye session such "A statement Inas-
much as The biennial period Of 1899 and
1900 has already begun and some eXpeudi-
lures for ii have already been made. no
accurate or binding statement can he given
force at this time for the first half Of
that period. However. II has seemed best
to me 70 present these estimates and state
settled practice 0f the state and that here
afier all appropriations will be made upon
the basis of estimates. and be binding to
the extent that no considerable exI,endi-
lures can be made In any department he
yond the estimates furnished at the open
ing of each biennial session Of the Icgis-
iature. 1t Is not necessary for me 10 en-
large upon this. II the Legislature is to
make appropriations. II should first Of all
ascertain accurately as possible the fixed
income Of the state. and thus know wheih-
or IL Is necessary to make special provis-
Ions to meet them; and should have estf-
mates 80 carefully prepared as to be prac-
ticaly correct, Of what appropriations are
needed by .he different departments In
order TO g1fe you approximately an estl
mate of what will be required, have asked
the regents of the State university, the re-
gents of the state normal schools, ana
the board Of control to furnish me with
estimates of the needs Of their several de-
faa~ ~ for nf no