The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-11
Due to Heavy Disburse- rrlents. CASH BALANCE SHRINKS
 : UNDER YEAR PREVIOUS On Sept. 30, 1908 Strong Box Con
 tained $1,360,S28.62. This Was Nearly Half Million Less Than Year Ago and Is Insufn- cient to Meet Obligations
 Outstanding.

Nothing will tend more to explain the almost frantic economy of Gov ernor Conner in the last few months than an official statement issued Sat urday. showing that there was cash balance in the State Treasury Septem- Der. 30, 1908. of $45s.s0s.1 less than was there on the same day a year previous. The statement, too, of the total disbursements during the fiscal year ending September 30, 1908, show ing that s1,112.4s0.92 more was spent by the State than for the similar pe- riod the year previous throws some light on the question.
 The books6 of State Treasurer Wal ter D. Seed were closed Saturday to show the condition of the strong box as of September 30 last. When the books were closed. account was taken of every outstanding warrant that could be cashed out of the Treasury before october 1. The cash balance at that time was s1,360,s2S.62.
 In a general way it is taken that this statement indicates an undisput- ed deficit The Auditors figures so far available make certain that the State owes at least s1,S00,000 to the com mon schools and to the normal sch hools. For all purposes of bookkeeping this is chargeabIe against only one re- source, and that is the money which was collected in taxes during the year 1907-0S for the schools. It was avail able October this year. and should the various counties draw at one time on the Treasurer for the lump sum to which they are entitled to run their schools. 1t would wipe out the cash balance now to the States apparent credit.
 Nor is there anything else against which to charge over $700. 900. that are due soldiers as pensions during the coming twelve months, Here in two items, education and pensions, there seem to be obligations of about $2,500,- 900 outstanding against the cash bal ance.
 The significant part of the Treasur- er's statement, however, Is the com- parison of receipts and disbursements for the past fiscal year. This shows that there was spent $45s.9 IS more than was collected from all sources. This Is still more significant when 1t Is known that taxes were raised by the present administration last year approximately half a million dollars, or what Is equivalent. the property GOO.
 Comparisons Made.
 Tn explaining a slight Increase of disbursements for 1s0e-O7 over the re- ceipts for that year. the Auditor, in his annual report, set out a statement showing hose items to which the ex- cess was chargeable. These amounted to $638,011.3i. Some of these were unusual such as the cost of the two sessions. of the Legislature. or $104,O0O approximately; solvent credits refund; ed. $6S,000 approximately, etc. By. deducting these excess expenditures charged as unsual, the Auditors state rnent at that time showed that the dis bursements would really be below the receipts. On this basis, with predic- tions of big increases in income from various sources, "a hope was implied that during the fiscal year 1907-0S the. income would be in excess of the out go.
 But in this there seems to have been disappointment. The disappointment comes from the enormous and unex- pected increase in disbursement last year over that of the year privous, the excess being, as stated, over a million dollars. Some of this can, of course, be charged to the increased ap- propriation to old soldiers and to the extra appropriations to schools, but not all of 1t.
 As for the future, there is some cause for alarm. With a half million smaller balance to start on. it is hardly possible to figure on any smaller dis dursements than for the last year. There is the soldiers pension, which will be equal to, if not larger than, last year. There is the educational fund. which is admittedly larger, the colleges being entitled to as much as before. One of the biggest new obli- gations Is the $134,000 to high schools for maintenance. This is the appro- priation of $2,000 to each county for high school purposes available for the first time Oct. l. this year.
 And in the face of all. the State Tax