The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-29

! but all the more is there a necessity for an extra session to change a statute which produces such an absurdity:
 The Fact Important. "A controversy has grown up as to whether this money undoubtedly in the l treasury and which undoubtedly can be safely used to pay our first maturing
 bonds without endangering a single obl- gation of the state or postponing It's pay ment a single day, can be properly called surplus. To me, 1t Is the reality that Is important, not the name. It appears now that on October l. 1905, the treasury will have paid every obligation of the
 state for the past fiscal year, and in ad- dtions thereto will then have on hand, | (a) enough money to pay Confederate l pensioners every cent that will be due l them prior to October 1, 1906, or a year | in advance, (b) enough actual money to | pay every public school that will | taught prior to October 1, 1908, or a year | in advance, (c) small additional sum | for good measure, amounting to about 1 $30. .000.
 These facts are admitted by every | body. What name shall be used in it's designation is unimportant- The facts are as stated. What else follows? If no assessement had been levied in 1904 and if no collections would be made for the i fiscal year from October 1, 1905, to Octo- i Der l. 1906 then of course we should keep the money on hand to meet matur- | ing obligations. But assessments were I made in 1904 and money will be collected In 1905-06 based on such assessments. We know this as certainly as we know the day of the week on which Christmas comes. And these taxes will produce more revenue than was produced last year, and will be sufficient to pay every obligation of the schools, the pensions, and the state administration as they ac- crue. A man who pretends that he does not know that sufficient money will be collected next year to pay the expenses of the year would be discredited at once. | for it has been truly stated that there Is nothing certain except death and taxes. '"rhis brings us to repetition of the | only material question: can you lawfully use money collected in the current year | to pay expenses of the current year? If
 so the money brought forward from last l year can be lawfully applied to the pay ment of the bonds If not the sooner the Legislature grants the authority the bet l ter it will be for the state.
 | We have no laws of the Medes and Persans in this state. If a statute, eith-
 CT by accident or mistake. has been pass | ed that makes the law ridiculous then 1 1t is a function of the legislature to i change 1t.
 | State Revenue increasing. Moreover, the state revenues have been | increasing constantly from year to year, notwithstanding a decrease of taxation. | The taxable property of the state, as as- | sessed in 1900. was s266 GOO, 600. In 1904 it was sS24000,000. This year 1t will proba- | bly exceed s340. 100000, the gain in four ] counties alone, Jefferson, Etowah. Mobile | and Montgomery, being about million | dollars. Added thereto is the gain in the | convict fund and other sources of rev. 1 enue.
 l "This amount of idle money In the treas- ury has increased from year to year. All ! funds in the treasury have been consoli- | dated by law and no one acquainted with 1 the facts can doubt that the state can | pay these s966,000 of bonds and at the same time meet every other demand upon | 1t without delay.
 l With this matter disposed of. what can | be done for the benefit of the public | schools, which the governor. in common l with every good citizen of the state, de- sres to improve as far as possible? answer that the legislature can and should make liberal additional appro- priation for that purpose.
 Revenues for the Future. ITO begin with, by retiring s966,O0 worth of bonds on January l, 1908. we will permanently save $4s,300 per annum interest on that Item alone, which will increase the net surplus in the treasury that much every year. Then, again. the