, 1900-10-20

officials having the financial matters
OF the state in charge. This condition
is due in part to the general prosper
Il condition of all classes of bust
ness in the state. whereby the taxable
values have very materially increased
within the last two years, reaching
the highest point in 1900 ever attain
ed. Aside from this increase in va!u-
atoms there has been an earnest eff
tolt on behalf of all state officials to
Keep the expenses of their several de
partmcnts down to the lowest point
consistent with good and efficient SER
vice. The result has been that, where
as there was a deficiency in the gen
rrai fund of the state, on September
30, 1898. Of about $1,000. there is on
September 20. 1900, a credit balance in
that fund of over $22,O 600. This con
litiOn enables the state board of
equalization to reduce the tax levy for
the present year o%ne-fourth mill, there
~ an ~ us ll'OlI lIIt ldh pa tlS II ltoo
burden than would have existed under
other circumstances.
State Treasurer George E. Abbott
said to the writer recently hat the
state is receiving at the present time
greater benefit and income from it's
public lands than has ever before been
realized. The register of the state
board Of land commissioners has paid
into tn" state treasury during the past
two years nor than S150,000 derived
from sale and lease of lands which
wore donated to the state by ~
upon the admission of Wyoming into
the union. The money derived from
this sOurC can be used only for the
support Of the several state ~institu-
tons for which the land was donted.
Our public schools come in for the
largest share of the land rentals, some
$4,000 having been distributed among
the school districts during the past
two years, which amount will be very
materially increased in the mex bien-
NAL period.
Whom any of thestate lands are sold,
tho money derived from such sale
must. by law, become a permanent
fund, the interest upon which only can
be used for the purposes for which the
grant was made. 1t becomes the duty
OF the state treasurer to invest these
permanent funds in school district or
other bonds. or state warrants, and
apply the interest received upon same
to the purposes contemplated by law.
There has accrued to the common
school permanent land fund about $4S,-
600, which amount is being invested by
the state treasurer, as opportunity &C.
ours. in such securities as are permits
sible under the law. Something over
100000 of this fund is now invested in
school district bonds of this state, and
the treasurer has, from time to time,
been enabled to carry in this fund
state warrants drawn against the gen
eral fund for which no money was
available at the time, thus saving to
the state the interest which would
otherwise have been paid to individu-
al holders and at the same time enab-
ling those having claims against the
state to realize at once upon such
claims without delay or discount.
An earnest effort has been made on
the part of several of the counties in
the state to reduce the amount of de-
linquent state tax, with the result that
the showing will be much better this
year, in this particular, than two years
ago, and with the special levies which
have been made for this purpose this
year, it is expected that the amount
will be still further reduced in the near