The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-29
AFTERNOON SESSION.

| vention adjourned until 3 o'clock p. m.
 AFTERNOON SESSION.
 The Convention reconvened at 3 o'clock. p. m., and upon the call of the roll one hundred and nineteen del- egates responded to their names.
 Leaves of absence were granted as follows:
 MT. Freeman for Saturday, Monday and Tuesday; MT. Haley for Saturday and Monday; MT. Jones of Montgom- cry. for this afternoon; Mir. Pearce un- til Wednesday afternoon; Mir. Cunning ham of Jefferson. for tomorrow; MT. Graham (Talladega). Saturday, Mon day and Tuesday; Mir. Foshee. for Sat- Il 'srday.
 Mir. Browne-When the Convention adjourned at noon. I had just started to show the condition of the treasury on the first day of October. 1902, or upon the last day of September, at the close of that fiscal year. We will then have in the treasury, an excess of re- receipts for the present fiscal year over disbursements of fifty nine thousand dollars; we will have the amount of | two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars which is the amount of extra | ordinary appropriations of this year. that will not be expended out of the | receipts next year; we will have, in addition. an increase from the increase in taxable values of at least fifty thousand dollars; We will have an in crease of at least twenty thousand dol | lars from license taxek making three hundred and forty-seven thousand dol lars excess of receipts over disburse- ments. That will be an actual surplus and bookkeeping surplus as well, \ against which there will be chargable no liabilities whatever.
 MT. Sanford (Pike)--Will the gentle | man pardon me?
 That two hundred and eighteen thou sand dollars that you speak of. what fund is that?
 | MT. Browne-Seventy-on thousand dollars deficit paid off by the treasury this year, that will not be to pay next year; thirty-two thousand dollars ex- | tra appropriation for the girls school l building; forty thousand dollars money paid out of the treasury, refunded, H. legal license tax, fifty thousand dol lars for the expenses of this Constitu- tional Convention. twenty-five thou sand dollars. one half of the expense of a session of the legislature, all of that | being chargable to this year. The ex- penses of a session of the legislature are charged against one year, the leg tslature meeting in November and the | whole expense of the session is charg- able against one year. Those figures foot up two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars.
 | Now they will have a session of the legislature next year, but only twen- ty-five thousand dollars of it will be | chargable against the receipts for next year; really, none of 1t will be, because 1t will go into the next succeeding fis- cal year. That gives you three hum dred and forty-seVen thousand dollars ana there is no amount of figuring that can get around that actual sur plus. neither can 1t be gotten around that 1t Is bookkeeping surplus. You cannot keep books, so as to charge any thing against that three hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars. In addi. ton there is. l wont call 1t a surplus. some people object to that, but in ad- dition to that there will be a cash bal ance In the treasury of some six hum | dred and fifty. to six hundred and sey- | entry-five thousand dollars.
 MT. Oates-When?
 MT. Browne-On the first day of Oc- tober, 1902. We are getting down to the time that the Committee proposes this tax reduction. That actual cash balance was six hundred and twenty thousand dollars on the first day of this fiscal year. Now on the first day of the next fiscal year. we will have that six hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, with nothing charRa- ole against it-I mean nothing payable out of 1t. There will be liabilities chargable against 1t, but they will be payable in the future, and If the State continues in business. that money will not be touched. There will be in the treasury of the State of Alabama on the first day of October, 1902 at least Sl,O41OOO. of which three hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars will be an actual surplus. and to all intents and purposes the other seven hundred thousapd is a surplus. It is a cash balance If the State goes on in husi- ness 1t will collect during next Octo- per November and December A cient to pay the liabilities that will be on the books. chargea bIa against that cash balance
 1hen 1t Is proposed to allow the next general Assembly to levy only siv and one-half mill rate. one min of which is to be for the public schools as now, one mill for the soldiers and TOUT and a half for general purposes, Now the lessened receipts, if the tav' able values of property remains as + IS now. would only be $247 O0O but the taxable values we see have increas this year over last year ten to twelve millions of dollars, so the lessened net receipts on account of the one mil would be in the neighborhood of s26O = 0OO. It. therefore. appears that the State of Alabama can easily, in the hrst place go to this reduction of one mill within the next fiscal year. It will nave real surplus of about $5O00O then, but at the end of the next fiscal year. there will be a real surplus of about sS47O00, and you cannot figure 1t any lower and in addition to that the cash balance.
 Now We have not yet taken into con- sideration that 1t Is agreed all around that the bonded indebtedness of the State of Alabama can be refunded at a saving of not less than $120, 900 a year, There Is no doubt upon that question. There are gentlemen upon this floor who know almost with an absolute certainty where Alabama's bonded in- debtedness can now be refunded at less than three and one-half per cent. So we might with safety
 Mr. Graham (Talladega)-Isn't that