The sun., 1901-07-28

the Interest going 10 the several counties
for ths bspsft OF their schools As the
Chlckassw debt wss incurred before the war
Il should not. Of course. be charged to the
'oarpstbassers. and. ~ the interest only was
70 bs paid on the chiokasaw aud common
school funds they should both b deducted
from the total debt given above In order 10
ascertain the reai Indebtedness On Jan. 1,
1870 two months before Ames surrendered
the government. he sent 4 message to the
lie gislature In which he ss~e q statement
OF the condition OF the finances OF the State.
From this statement Il appears that the real
State debt. that 10. Its outstanding obliga-
tions. over and above it's ability to pa at
once with its currency and Ito available funds
was but little more than $500. 900. His state
ment agrees substantially with the report
Of tho state Treasurer for 1870 and does not
differ greatly from the findings of a special
committee Of Democrats. who reported that
the actual indebtedness Of the State. three
months before Ames resigned. was but little
moro than . million dollars. The State
debt in 1870. when the Republicans took
charge Of the government. had been, scoord-
Ing to ono authority. S27i .s22.7s; according
to another Il was tesS. $50. exclusive Of tho
school fund. It Il dificult to see how any
system Of bookkeeping could stretch debt
Of half . million. or even a million. into one
Of twenty millions"
It 10 further noted By our author. 10 explain
even the slight Increase Of Mississippis debt
during tho reconstruction period. that the
work Of restoration which the State Gov
ernment was obliged to undertake made aug
mented expenses necessary. During the
war and for several years thereafter public
k..n l.u.tl
permitted TO fall into decay. Tho State
House and grounds, the Executive Mansion,
the penitsntlary. the insane asylum and
the buildings for the blind. deaf and dumb
were In q dilapidatsd condition and had to
be extended and repaired A new building
for the blind was purchased and fitted up.
The reconstructionlsts. moreover. estab-
llshsd public school system and spent money
to maintain II, perhaps too freely. In Wow
Of the impoverishment OF the people When
they took hold warrants were worth but
90 or 10 cents on the dollar. a fact which
made the price OF building materials used
In the work Of construction correspondinsly
higher. 90 far a. the conduct Of State Off
cials who were entrusted with the custody
OF public funds was concerned. Il may be
said that there were no great embezzlc-
ments or other cases Of misappropriation
during the period Of Republican rule" Tho
Treasurer Of the Natchez Hospital seems to
have been the only defaul,ing State Official
during Gov Ames's admins tratlon. He
was a -carpstbagger" and the amount Of
the shortage was but e1,7Sisi. Tho coored
state librarian during Aloorn's admlnistra-
tion was charged with stealing books from
the library The only large case OF embcz-
Element among the State officers during
the post-bellum period was that OF tho Dem
ocrstic State Treasurer In 1896 The amount
Of the shortage In this instance was sol .eo2.
Mr. Garner comedies that Gov. Ames Ia EN-
titled to the credit Of reducing 70 some ex-
tent the State levy. There Is good reason
to believe that he was more disposed to econ
omy than were many OF those by whom he
was surrounded n one may Judge from
his professions. his highest ambition was
to give the State an economical admins
tration. Unfortunately. his actions did not
always accord With his profsssions.-