The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-29
HON. SIDNEY J. BOWIE ON
 QUESTION OF EXTRA SESSION

treasury.
 The letter of MT. Bowie is as follows The proposition of the Governor tc . call an extra session of the Legislature with view to applying e, ine surpibSs nf ptbs common schools in the State has met with serious opposition in some quar- ters. .
 There are many people who believe that inasmuch as we owe nine hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars oi ponds,
 due on the first of liaa Jannary n neT tns navs s ment theredf. There are others wno fear that the use of so large sum m one year for schools could not pc ie mads | to fall back after the first year, ana go the school interests more harm man good This last objection Is based on plan 1t has never been suggested by him that the entire amount or the sar plus should be expended in one year,
 GP55 the pst tbe he gtsts sS l would be able in the future to main tain the amount annually thereafter: Therefore. there would be no prospect of the schools retrograding in the least Let the Bonds Be Paid.
 The first objection, however, appeals
 Wtth great n force nsrmanent 1S any reduction of lion dollars would, of itself, be source
 of great satisfaction to the peopre. e i'm m portant. Not only would large amount of interest on the bonds pc saved annually, but 1t would necessaI ton at a lower rate of interest. of the remaining bonds which will have 10 pc sold for the purpose of refundlng tne
 debt due six months iasegF' Sseg niIIion dois lars; and 1t would be a splendid adver- tisement for the State.
 No inconsistency. It seems to me that there Is no in-
 consistency or conflict between the plan
 to permanently retire the bonds que on on
 the first of January and the Governor n,s 2
 plan to materially aid the common
 schools. Both propositions are proper
 feasible and can be carried into erect
 and if carried into erect, VIII pc oi
 be remembered that the Governor him. sslf declared his purpose last June or
 paving one-haH of these Donds on tne
 first of July if the interest c9uio .bn t,pst p of
 January. This plan. no doubt, Woul1
 have been adopted, as the state was abundantly able to carry 1t into enec,.
 hut for the fact that upon the matter being submitted to the Attorney Gen
 eraI. he held that the State Treasurer
 had no authority, under existing Jaw
 tion 72 of the new Constitution con tains the following express provision; "No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except upon appropriation made by law"
 Now, the Legislature had made no appropriation of money for the pay ment of these bonds, " IS clear a. cnat cnrt rect, and that they could only De paiu, if at all, by an extra session or the Legislature passing law to that et- feet.
 impossible to Postpone Bond Payment. It Is not a matter which can pc post poned until the regular session pe- cause the bonds will be past que TOT more than a year when the next regu- lar session is held.
 Consequently, if they are to be paid m ]. at all it will take an extra session to ac- l comp1ish that purpose:
 That there is money in the Treasury
 sufficient to pay these ponas nIasp on the "fS' AS to the money in the Treasury be- | ing lawfully and morally available Tor
 the purpose, there is neither doubt nor
 If you m go to the Treasury itself 70, you
 not a myth. If you go to the pook, & | may tell you that while the money IS | there, 1t has all been appropriated to I the schools and old soldiers. Ana tne cry has been raised that not a dollar l of these sacred funds should be touch | ed for any purpose. even though potn | under the law and the practice, they
 touched daiy @nyFow' anS and eSs9 l though if used for the payment of a | part of our debt. every teacher and ey-
 cry pensi2ner, as experienSe aoIneahiIiy dna hIn, | without abatement or delay; o. The reason for this is, that on Oc- ! tober 1st. 1905, at the beginning or the | new fiscal year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the State Auditor will | certify to the State Superintendent or
 Education every dodiar dodE es5ateI Nna ben IS1 | this certificate is made. not dollar will | be due a single teacher, and before the | schools have been taught or the teach
 CTS paid, the taxes for the nscai year | 19O5-06 will have been collected and the money all available. The theory Of | the critics of the proposition IS that | coileetei in the fiscal year 1905-O6 to l maintain the schools taught in l9O5-Oo. | but must depend exclusively on money
 eoaleeTd oAaleecording rI it to this absurd theory. which is sustained neither by the fact, | the practice or the law. the State must
 always be in debt to the Sah schools ua, mls- ra main in the treasury unused and un- touched every minute of the time for
 If such absurdity should be the law. no greater reason could exist for call
 ing the. Legislature in session to
 But it is not the law.
 The idea grew out of the custom of Ithe Auditor to estimate the school fund for the current year upon the basis of
 the receipts of the previous year. This Ieriticism. It prevents the possibility lof error in the estimate, and Is a pro lection to the Auditor which is just and proper. For instance, the total
 taxable property. of the State. as as- hers. three hundred and twenty-fouT million dollars. For the previous year. it was three hundred and eight million. The auditors estimate for the current (which was definite and fixed, the cur rent year being at that time indefinite land linfixed The gain to the fund in l9O4-05 will be available under his es- innate in 1905 -06, and thus is not lost to the schools at all.
 But this is a very different thing from saving that the taxes collected lin l905-66 cannot be legally and nor Ially applied to the schools taught in 1905 -06. as they have continuously been applied in the past.
 The money is there if the schools of lthe current year can be paid from the
 taxes of the current year. But If they lean be maintained lawfully only from lmoneys collected year in advance oi lfbeir use then indeed there is no sur lpIus, but all the more Is there a neces- sity for an extra session to change g lstatute which produces such an absur- Idity. ,
 | A controversy has grown up as tc whether this money undouotediy In the Treasury, and which undoubtedly car he safely used to pay our first matur- line bonds without endangering a sin. gle obligation of the State, or postpon' ling its payment a single day, can b. Iproperly called a surplus. To me, 1t is
 the reality that Is important not tho her 1st 100b the treasury will have