The Savannah morning news., 1901-10-24
GAMBLERS MESSAGE.
(continued from First Page.l

pay them, for the act of appropriation
expressly declares that they are Ito be
paid out of any money in the treasury
not otherwise appropriated II TINS
construction of the act is correct and
it was the intention of the General AS
sembly to pay them next year, but not
TO pay them this, unless there was
sufficient unappropriated surplus IN the
treasury to do so, the actual denclency
to be met this year is $74.000 aside from
about $s40, 900 which will be due the
teachers in the public schools and $780,
900 money borrowed and paid to them.
For next year, 1902, the deficiency
will be this amount augmented by
S145CO0 to pay pensions to 1926 new
pensioners, including the INDECENT wild
owS whose names have been added 10
the pension rolls during the year; $24,-
900 to be paid for insurance. and at
least $4,000 for the support of the
state troops; in all a total deficiency
for the year 1902 Qf no new appropria-
tions are made at this SESSION. of $685.
O0O This year we have had TO pay for
no insurance. all the state property
being covered by three year policies,
taken out in 1899: nor was anything ap-
propriated for the support of the mill
tary, the state troops having been sup
ported this year out of the appropria-
ton made for their support in 1898,
not then applied to that purpose, but
diverted temporarily to the payment
of expenses in organizing troops for
the war with Spain and subsequently
refunded to the state by the general
government.
There are three ways in which it is
POSSIBLE to meet these deficiencies; raise
YOUR rate of taxation. reduce some of
the appropriations made at your last
session. or apply the public property
fund now in the treasury to the pay
ment of the interest on the
public debt The first of these
should not be considered. The people,
whose servants we are, want taxes
lowered. not raised. The second, while
it is practicable, will probably be
deemed inexpedient by the General AS
sembly. We therefore have left for
consideration only the third, the use
in payment of the interest on the pub
liv debt of the fund derived from the
sale of public property.
This fund is dedicated by the con-
stitution Ito the payment of the bond
ed debt of the state, and shall not be
used for any other purpose whatever"
If the semi-annual installments of in
terest we pay on the bonded debt are
a part of the debt, there can be no
doubt about our lawfully using this
fund to pay interest. In that event
the money raised by taxation for the
purpose of paying interest can be ap-
piled to the payment of these deticien-
cies, and we can at the same time even
lower the rate of taxation, for the
amount of money now in the treasury
derived from the sale of public prep
erty is larger than the total amount of
al the deficiencies except that in the
school fund, to meet which, a plan is
suggested elsewhere. My own opinion
is that the interest on the debt is a
part of the debt, and that the public
property fund can, without violating
the letter or the spirit of the constitu-
tion be applied to the payment of in
ierest till all of it has been applied
in this way.
I therefore advise that the Cenela al
Assembly carefully consider the mat
ter, and unless il can be made clearly
to appear that the interest on the
bonded debt is not a part of the bonded
debt as contemplated in the constitu-
tion, an act be passed authorizing and
directing the Governor to apply the
money now in the treasury derived
from the sale of public property, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, to
the payment of the semi annual inter-
est on the bonded debt, and that the
money which will be realized under
the provisions of the tax act approved
Dec. q. 1900, intended to be applied to
the payment of the interest on the
bonded debt, be used to supply the de-
fciencies in revenue for the years 1901
and 1902.
Deficiency in Pension ApprOpria-
tiOns.
AS has already been stated, there
was a deficiency in the appropriations
to pay pensions for the present year of
IS, ,720: 81. 900 in the appropriation for
disabled Confederate soldiers, and $3.-
500 in that for widows of deceased SOL
diers To devise means to meet these
deficiencies l called into consultation
the Attorney General, the presiding Of
ficers of the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives, and the chairmen of the
Appropriation Committees of the two
houses of the General Assembly. 1t was
unanimously agreed that it was the in
tention of the Legislature to make pro-
visions for the payment of all whose
names were on the pension rolls ana
that the deficiency was due to miscal-
culations. BY the advice of the officers
above named, following an established
precedent, by executive orders directed
the treasurer to transfer to the PEN
sion funds named $5,720 to meet the
deficiencies and enable the Treasurer
to nav all of the two classes of PEN
sioners to whom pensions were due. To
cover the amounts thus paid out in ex-
cess of the amounts appropriated at
your last session for these two classes
of pensioners, l ask the General AS
sembly to make supplemental appro-
priation at this session.
The Contingent Fund.
AS stated above, there will be de-
ficiency of about $4,000 in the appro-
priation for contingent expenses for
the present year. The average expendl-
lures for these expenses for the last
thirty years have been nearly $4,000 a
year, and yet we would have been able
to go through the year on the SlO,OOu
appropriated had there not been SO
many unusual drafts upon the tund'
No provision was made at your last
session for paying the expenses of the
electoral college, hence $1,0S6.60 had to
be taken out of the contingent fund
for this purpose.
The Controller General in the dis
charge of his official duties, rejected
this year more of the tax returns OF
the railroads than ever before, and had
them assessed by arbitrators. The eX-
pense of these arbitrations, amounting
to about 81. 500, had to be paid out OF
the contingent fund, no other provision
having been made for their payment.
Again, the expense of publishing the
constitutional amendment submitted al
the last general election, 1854 fees OF
attorneys employed by the Controller
General in the collection of taxes. $S40;
fees and expenses of the Attorney
General in state cases in the United