The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-26

given them by your special committee
whose report lies on your desks, the pres
ent board of trustees are entitled TO much
credit for the reforms they have inaugu-
rated In the fiscal management of the in
stitution, and l heartily commend these re-
forms to the careful consideration Of those
VINO are TO succeed them in office.
While the interest of the taxpayers of
the state demands the most rigid economy
in the administrator Of the finances of all
of these institutions, and the closest scru-
tiny by the general assembly into their
management we should not in providing
for their support pursue any niggardly POI
Icy which would cripple them or impair
their usefulness and efficiency.
Finance and Taxation.
The report Of the state treasurer shows
the total receipts at the treasury from all
sources for the year ending Sept 80, TO
have been 1851, zoo and The totaf dis
hursemenis So, 1853 1900. The receipts in
clude $4,000 borrowed in New York to
i enable the treasurer TO pay teachers Tor
work done during he first half of The year,
and to meet the states other liabilities
maturing on the first of July. This loan
| has been paid since The close Of the report
/ year, Sept. 80, and hence, while 1t ap-
pears in the Item of receipts ii does not
| appear in the item of disbursements hav-
| ing been borrowed before the end of the
1
| The Appropriation for pensions was suf-
| hcient to pay all pensioners on the roll ut
| the time the appropriation was made, but
since that time, out of 2,S63 new applica-
| tons filed with the commissioner, 81 have
been allowed, for the payment of which
no funds are available.
The greatest trouble encountered in ad-
minstering the finances of the state for
| some years past has been in the free school
| fund. AS is well known TO your honor
able bodies, the subject having been fully
| discussed at your last session. il has been
| impossible to meet, when due, the de-
mands of the teachers of the state with
out resortlng to temporary loans from the
| banks and without advancing temporarily
for school purposes large amounts collect
ed and appropriated to other purposes, to
| be paid back out of the school fund for
! the next year. This condition has been
| due to the fact that your predecessors in
| creased appropriations for school purposes
| from year to year without providing funds
| adequate to meet them. Thus 1t nap
! pened that a large portion of the fund
collected for the support of the public
schools for any given year. had to be APP
| piled to the payment of arrearages due
| teachers for work done the year before.
| To illustrate more fully-my predecessor
| in Office, Gov. Atkinson, borrowed In New
| York and applied to the payment of teach
| could borrow to meet such deficiencies
| without violating the limitations prescrib-
ed in the constitution. After he had done
| this, there was still due them at the end
| of the year SSH, 900, which / had TO pay
out of the fund collected in 1898 for tic
support of schools in 1899 Add to this
| 1911 900 the 100000 borrowed in New York,
which had TO pay back to the bank from
| which il was borrowed, in December and
we have $1011, 900 of the fund collected 10
support schools in 1899 which had to be
applied 10 the payment of teachers for
work done in 1898. leaving for the support
of schools In 1899 only 1887 Co., an amount
not sufficient to run the schools two
months. Early in the present year, in a
conference between the State School Com
missioner me state treasurer and the Gov
ernor, it was agreed that schools
should be taught and the teachers paid
for two months during the first half OF
the year, the deficiency after exhaustine
the fund on hand to be supplied by a
temporary loan. This agreement was
carried out l borrowed 100000 a 2l5 per
cent. interest per annum, and the teachers
have been paid for these two months
work. In the same conference with the
state School Commissioner and the state
treasurer, ii was agreed that the schools
should be taught and teachers paid fol
three months during the last half of the
year. thus providing five months of free
schools during the year for the children
of the state. This agreement has alsC
been carried out by the State School Com.
missioner. and all the schools in all the
counties have been opened for a three
months term since the first of July, In,
county school authorities being left free
to decide, as the convenience and interest
Of the people in each county might seen
20 dictate, In which three of the last six
months Of the year schools should be
taught. Thus at the end OF the present
year. 1899, there will be due the teacher.
of the state all their earnings for three
months, $SSS000, to be paid, as heretofore
out of the fund provided for the support
of the schools next year, 1900, unless the
general assembly can provide some Other
mode of payment. If the old plan of pay,
ing the arrearages due the teachers fol
work done in one year out of the fund pro
vided to pay them for the next
year is pursued, there will be
left of he school fund pro
vided for 1900 only $4,000. about what is
required to run the schools two months
thus leaving us in practically the same
condition at the end of this year that we
were in at the end of the last.
If the general assembly could devise
some means by which the revenues raised
for the support of schools for each year
can be applied to the support of the
schools for that year. and for that year
only, or if the matter could be so evened
up as to have on hand at the beginning
of each year half of the money to run
the schools for that year, leaving the
other half to be paid as now by ad.
vances made from the general fund, II
would be much more satisfactory to the
people and relieve the State School Com
missioner and the Governor from much
embarrassment and unfrlendly criticism
by those who do not know the real diff
hculties with which they have 20 contend
Necessity for Rigid Economy.
In response TO the suggestions made IN
a special message, / had the honor to send
| your honorable bodies at your last ses-
sion the general assembly made some
| commendable advances n the direction OF
retrenchment and a more rigid economy
| and in this way you were enabled to re-
duce the tax rate slightly. But there stu
| exists a necessity and a popular demand
for further retrenchment, because the
| masses of our people In this day OF
shrinking values and low prices of the
products of their labor, are less able than