New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1908-10-07
HARklNG BACK TO 'e7.

To Candidate JacObSon'S mind the
great heyday of wise financial man
agement, the era of ideal fnanciering
in connection with state institutions in
the state of Minnesota was ten to
twenty years ago, in the decade from
1887 to 1897, when the old party ma
chine was so sure of controlling the
vote of this state that divided re-
sponsibility" was not feared. Mr.. ia
cobson's Duluth statement on this
point is herewith appended in full.
VITO show the difference that exists
when one party is in full control and
when you divide responsibility let me
show you a few figures. The average
increase of expenses during the last
twenty or thirty years has been 10
per cent. The increase each year has
been 10 per cent have the figures
for the appropriations for the years
1887, 1897 and 1907 In 1887 we ap-
propriated for all the institutions of
the state S1,5So,00o; in 1897 we appro-
priated $3,1S0,000, or an increase of 10
per cent each year. In 1907, instead
| of increasing the appropriation to S.
! 100000, which would be 10 per cent
increase, the appropriation was in
creased to S7,S94,000, Or nearly $4,000
900 more than would have been had
the 10 per cent increase been made.
In 1887 the appropriation amounted to
about So for each Individual In 1897
it was decreased to So, but in 1907, III
stead of decreasing it to 81, it was
increased to $13.25, or nearly twice as
much as under Republican admin
istration."
1t takes very little analysis to show
how superficial, far-fetched and ridic-
ulous the above argument is, either as
a criticism upon the present state adj
mInistration, or as a basis for fair
and just judgment in review of the
states financial history
To compare the decade 1887-97 with
] that of 1897-1907 is not a comparison
/ OF Republican with Democratic admin
istration. The legislature which ap-
propriated the funds and the state au-
!, ditor and treasurer who acted as the
] states financial sponsors and advisers
in the matter of disbursements were
Republican during the entire period of
twenty years. During the last decade,
1S97-19O7, the governor and all the ex-
ecutfve departments were Republican,
one-half the time, Governor Clough be-
ing in the executive chair in 1897 and
1898 and Governor Van SAINT during
1904, inclusive.
But, if the intention of Mr.. Jacobson
is to show ideal financial management
OF state institutions back in 1898 as
compared with today, it again fails.
What was the financial condition OF
the state and its institutions back In
1878? Has he,forgotten? Like every
other state in this country, and espe.
cfally in the West, we were just
emerging from the greatest financial
disaster in the country's history, the
panic of 1893 and the depression OF
1898. Property values everywhere
and especially in the cities, were de-
pressed beyond precedent. The city
and village real estate bubble had
everywhere bursted and broken banks
| left depositors without savings Tax
able valuations were cut down, tax
| levies reduced and state institutions
dared ask for nothing more than bare
existence Is that the financial ideal
/ to- which Mr.. Jacobson would appeal
as basis for the support of Mime
totals state institutions today?
| The financial condition of the state
| was such ten years ago, at the end of
| the 1887 panic and depression, that
the state board of equalization ap-
pointed by Governor Clough was com
PEELED to reduce the real estate valua-
lions of the cities of ST. Paul. Mime
Apolis and Duluth 25 per cent at
single cut. The total valuation of the
state even so late as 1900 had not yet
recovered and was still trife below
that of 1890, ten years before.
The state banks of Minnesota-to
day over 500 in number with 500 900,
! 600 of resources and not failure or
loss Of dollar to depositors in six