The Republican., 1899-05-11

IuGD ctU L
and Cancelled the State securities here
tofore held in the sinking fund, which
was made necessary by the issuing of
the consolidated State loan of 1899.
This cancellation embraced the fol-
lowing securities:
Defense redemption loan............ 81 S4s, ,2l3C1
Exchange loan of .................. 557 5000
Exchange loan of 1SS6................. 1lCj,9i940
Exchange loan of lS9l.................. 654,.2II1
s. l67 190l1
The state treasurer, in speaking of
the financial condition of the State,
said:
The cancellation of these securities
means saving to the State of about
$130,000 in interest per year. The
securities after being cancelled We're
filed and will be destroyed by the
Legislature of 1901 accordance with
the law governing the same"
Mr.. Shryock gave some interesting
figures, as follows: The total debt of
the State as shown by the books of
September Both, 1895, was So, ,GS4, 9S6. "a
less State securities, $3,542, 263. II, ,
showing the net debt of the State to
be So, ,142, 1231 Is. The State debt on
January 1, 1899, after the issuing OF
the consolidated loan, was as follows:
Penitentiary S5G0GGGOO
Insane Asylum loan..................... l00,t @QJ
Consolidated loan..................5 5,lUl ,&.G Is
......... s. 1Ol.g lis
Less consolidated loan in sink
ing funu........ OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 6JV,OJICJ
Making the net debt Of the State,
with assets......... ...........".. $j1O1, 500 13
being $40, 197, less than the debt of
the State in 1895, Notwithstanding
the fact that there has been appro-
priated for permanent public i'm
provements and paid out of the gem
eral treasury the sum of S1,200,000
This is to say: Penitentiary loan,
$500, 900; Insane Asylum loan, 800, 600;
consolidated loan, 100000, which
was used for the Maryland peniten-
tiary and the new Springfield Hos
pital.
There is in the general sinking
fund securities, the par value of which
amounts to $2,147,470, which, if de
Quoted from the loans of the State,
Wodid make ii total Gst~ debt Of the
State of $2,954, ,456. This showing is
in view of the fact that there has been
paid to the schools for free books
$150,000 per year, which for four years
aggregates $600000. | consider it
splendid showing.
The amount available for distri-
button to public schools, which have
been distributed, have greatly in
creased from 1896 $500, 600 to 1898 1927,
900, which will be about the amount
distributed in 1899; or, in other words,
there is now being distributed for the
frnn cnhnn1c
heretofore in the history of the State
1t is a source of great pleasure to the
treasury officials, who are very en-
thusiastic believers in the free school
system, to be able to distribute this
large amount.
This showing is as of January 1st,
1899, and will be very largely increased
by the end of the fiscal year, Septem-
ber 30th, as the receipts of the State
for the treasury do not begin to come
into the treasury until after the 1st
of June, when the license money is
received.
The condition of the treasury, from
whatever standpoint it may be view
ed, shows that the present tax rate
of 174 is greater than is necessary to
be levied, and it is constant source
of regret to us that the democratic
members of the Legislature did not
adopt our suggestion and reduce the
tax rate, which could have been done,
as has been clearly proven by the
receipts of the treasury. | have no
doubt the next Legislature will carry
out this suggestion and relieve the
taxpayers of at least to the extent of
reducing the tax rate to 16 cents in
stead of 174 cents. The new assess
ment has brought about this very
desirable condition, and in our judg-
ment it was for this purpose that law
was enacted