The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-02

Both houses of the Alabama Legisla- ture yesterday received the following message from Governor Jelks:
 Gentlemen of the Legislature:
 Since you left us in the spring the Ciyer of all Good has been exceedingly gracious to the State. No pestilence has visited it and no financial storms have disturbed it's people. Unusual disorders have not come upon us; peace ana its white wings shadowing us.
 Our people have prospered. the grain harvest has been and is the most abun- dant in years. and other crops bespeak . winter of unusual plenty.
 The State government has had . smooth sea and no unfavoring winds. congratulate you and the whole citi- xenship on the peace. good health and plenty which abundantly prevails and en- join you not to forget from whence come these manifold blessings.
 x A Tremendous Work.
 At the threshold you are confronted with an immense work. You have only twenty-two legislative days in which to digest and pass a great number of com prehensive statutes. You would not have been able to finish the work at all except for the recess which you have taken allowing you. during the summer. to individually consider important mat ters and putting 1t in your power the more easily to arrive at wise solutions of them. Your duties will crowd upon you at the first and grow in intensity as the few and feeting days go by. The whole work can, probably, be done in the time allotted you, but lest there should be some doubt of it. I assume you will address yourself more immediately and particularly to several matters whicn cannot at all wait on another session. This will require some unity of purpose but l dare say your wisdom and pa triotism will determine how 1t may ,e evoked and furnish way through all the difiiculties.
 The States Finances.
 At the beginning of the first part or the present session of your bodies. you appropriated and I officially approved bills calling for something like $SooVo additional to the usual disbursements, for the four years which must intervene before you are to meet again. Tnese appropriations. together with the amounts called for in bills not yet approved and other amounts provided in bills now on thu calendars of your respective houses. aggregate more than $1,000.0O0. and this in excess of the ordinary requirements of the State government. as previously ad- ministered When these figures are talk en together with the reduction of the ad valorem tax, aggregating. in round figures, loss. in four years, of nearly x1, 200 900, and the reduction in the fertil- izer tax of s160.000 in the same time, you are warned that, unless you are careful. burden is likely to fall upon the treasury which 1t cannot bear.
 More than S1o0o.0o0 in four years. i'm creased disbursement. and more than Sl, 300 900 reduction in possible receipts on Q basis of largest previous assessment; or a sum of money against the State as compared to past years of more than s600,00 for each year. This in face of the fact that in the winter of 1901. the treas ury balance ran down as low as $50,0OO, though 1t is fair to say it did not run below $so0,0e0 last winter. A deficit for single year would embarrass the ad- nainistration. Accumulating through each of four years would make the situation very disagreeable to every citizen of Alabama.
 Bills Not Approved.
 The figures submitted will furnish ex- cuse for my attitude towards some of the piiIs which have not received my official approval and some others on your calen- dars. The most hopeful person can hardly conceive how the Treasury may support the full burden of recently pass ed and proposed appropriations in face of the tax reductions. The figures given are not minute, but they are hardly overdrawn.
 It is true that there is now and will be larger returns from the Convict De- partment than in past years. There will be increased assessments on wnich to levy an ad valorem tax, although | would call your attention to the fact that that tax will amount to only two and a half mills, above the specials for schools and soldiers. We may expect to save a good sum of money from the present intereSS charge, however, that may not be effective in two years. Without hope from these sources. we could hardly bear burdens equal to those of the past.
 Your wisdom must determine whether the possibilities for increased income and savings from these items will justify you in meeting the wishes of special in terests by favoring other appropriations. merito5ous or otherwise.
 Convict Department.
 During the first part of this session, I gave you notice of change in the meth cd of working such of the convicts as were physically able to go into the mines. At that time I believed the net income would double the income from the same source before. For the first six months, under the new contract. the States net receipts were about $1O0.0O0 from the mines alone. It's income from the labor of these same convict miners under the old arrangement had perhaps never been over $4o.0OO in six months. so the present contract is worth not less than $l20 GOO a year over the one based on the method