The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-25
THE GOVERNORS MESSAGE.

The Governors message is longer
than the public was led to believe ii
would be from forecasts in regard to
it which appeared in the public prints.
1t deals with matters in which the
people are interested and therefore will
be very generally read. After urging
favorable consideration Of some mat
ters to which he called attention in
his message last November. and which
were not acted upon at the last session,
namely, limitation of the tax rate,
| amendment of our common school sys-
tenn, agricultural schools and exemp-
ton of college endowments, he pro-
ceeds to discuss the necessity for the
! equalization of taxation. He says that
this matter has been frequently
| brought to the attention of the Legis-
lature by his predecessors, and that
law for the equalization of assessments
was enacted in 1891, from which good
results were obtained 1t was not
satisfactory in some particulars. how
ever, and therefore was repealed. He
says that there ought to be such On
equalization law and that the necessity
for it grows with the states increase
in wealth and population.
OF course he is right about this. He
points out very clearly that assess
ments are very unequal. In some
counties property may be assessed
close to its market value, while in 9TH
ers it may be assessed at less than
half its market value. 1t is pretty safe
| to say that these inequalities exist
all over the state. Doubtless in a large
percentage of the counties the tax re-
ceivers take the valuations from own
ers of property, and, as is pretty we'll
known, owners have different views as
to what the market value of their
| holdings is. A state board of equali-
zation would do much to correct this
state of affairs. And if there were
county boards of assessors. the two
boards working together would in all
probability, come pretty near equal
izing assessments in the various coun-
! ties.
| The Governor calls attention to the
action he has taken to recover lands
belonging to the schools. 1t seems
| that in many instances these lands
| have passed into the hands of inno-
cent holders. The Governor doesn't
| think it right to deprive the claimants
of such lands of the improvements
| they have made upon them in good
| faith, and, hence, he recommends that
| the value of these Improvements be
determined by arbitration, and proper
| compensation be allowed for them
The Governor still insists that an as
sociation should be formed for taking
the title of lands held for Confeder-
! ate cemeteries, and that there should
be an annual appropriation for taking
care of the Confederate graves in the
state. The correctness of his position
in regard to this matter will be at
once admitted. The Governor doesn't
want to interfere with any of the du-
ties which the Ladies' Memorial Asso-
citation of Georgia perform In connec-
ton with these graves, but he is firm
in the conviction that the state has a
duty to perform in the matter and he
desires the Legislature to provide Tor
its performance.
The Governor says that the GRIM
inal insane ought to have a building
on the farm at MilledgeVille apart from
the buildings for other insane pa
tents, and he recommends that an APP
preparation be made for that purpose
The arguments advanced in support of
such an accommodation for this class
of unfortunates are strong ones and
doubtless viii impress the Legislature
favorably.
The Governor finds cause for con-
graduation in the condition of the
states finances. He points out that
the state wouldn't have had to borrow
money this year if the Legislature had
not decided to hold summer session.
He had to borrow $65,OOO for legisla-
tive expenses. The general tone of his
talk about the states finances, how
ever is calculated to leave the impress
sion that the natural increase of tax
values, together with the amount of
| additional revenue that will come from
the franchise tax, will enable the state
to meet all her obligations promptly.