The Savannah morning news., 1904-08-06
A PRnBAHLE DEFICIT.

If Senator Davis. chairman of the
Finance Committee Of the Senate, I'M
derstands the situation, the House has
been making appropriations without
regard to the revenue. In an inter-
view, published in the Morning News
yesterday he pointed out that if the
pending bills making appropriations
should be passed. the appropriations,
as made by the House. would exceed
the revenue by at least $500 900. Some
days ago we called attention to the
prospect of the creation Of a floating
debt. IT was evident then to those
who were giving the subject attention
that the House was showing an alto
gether too liberal spirit in the APP
preparation bills it was passing.
The House seems to think there is an
enormous increase in the tax returns.
There is a large increase, but, accord
ing to Senator Davis, the increase will
not yield more than about $50, 600 But
in his estimate Senator Davis takes
into account the increase in the states
income from this source.
One thing is certain, and that is the
people don't want a floating debt. 1t
is a debt that is all the time growing.
1t is a debt that is costly, because
the state has to borrow money TO. pay
the interest on it. When the next
Legislature meets there will be as
great a pressure for big appropriations
as there is upon this. Hence it will be
more difficult TO make the revenue
meet the appropriations than it is now. ,
The wise policy is not to create
floating debt. Keep the appropriations
within the income. That is the only
way to avoid trouble If it is insisted
that appropriations be made larger than
the revenue, at the five-mill rate of tax
alton. permits, then increase the rate of
taxation. If big appropriations are
made then revenue sufficient to pay
them must be raised.
Doubtless there are members of the
Legislature who approve the policy of
making appropriations without much
regard to the amount of the revenue,
taking the chance that the next Leg
islature will meet the deficiency in
some way or other. The folly of such
a policy ought to be apparent to every
business man in the Legislature.
1t is an easy matter for the Legis-
lature to make such appropriations as
certain interests seem to want, but it,
isn't its business to crafty favored in
terests at the expense of the state. Its
business is, in making appropriations,
to find out about what revenue can be
depended upon and to keep the appro-
priations within the limit of the reVe-
nue.. BY half doing its work the
House is increasing the work of the
Senate, because the Senate will have
to go all over the appropriations and
cut them down until the total is with
in the state income, if it does its duty.
Some members of the House showed
irritation the other day because
newspaper said that there was too
much talk in the Legislature and too
little attention paid to actual business.
Assuming that what Senator Davis
says in his interview is correct the
newspaper criticism wasn't far out of
the way 1t is worthy of notice that
the House was without a quorum the
other day because so many of its men,
bers were at a baseball game.
Wouldn't it have been better if these
members had been at their posts of duty
trying to bring the appropriations
that are necessary to be made within
the income of the state?