Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1909-03-27
APPROPRIATION
NOT AVAILABLE
Opinion Of Attorney
General on Fin
ance Act
NATIONAL GUARD MUST WAIT
Other Official Acts Include
Changes in Officers of
Militia
NATIONAL GUARD MUST WAIT

AllOlileS bpHeIdl TIdllh w. NldllC. ,
IN response to an inquiry of Adiutant
General r. A. Ford, whether the APP
preparations for the National Guard
made by the appropriation bill will be
available for the remainder of the
present fiscal year. received the opin-
ion that the appropriation will not be
available until the beginning of the
coming fiscal year. that is December
/, 1909. The opinion follows;
March 26, 1909.
Hon. r. A. Ford. Adjutant General of
the Territory of New Mexico, Santa
Fe. New Mexico.
Dear Sir:--I have had for several
days your letter relative to the appro-
priations for your office and for the
National Guard contained in the last
appropriation bill which ought to have
been made Immediately available for
the remainder of the present fiscal
year, and | agree with you that in all
probability it was only a clerical
error that this was not done. In the
construction Of the statute, however,
we can not resort to eXtraneous
knowledge of legislative proceedings,
but must be confined to the consider
alton of what is contained in the stat
ute as it appears in the Office of the
secretary.
| have been trying to find some rea-
sonable ground upon which to pass an
opinion that all appropriations should,
as> they ought, apply proportionately
to the remainder OF the present fiscal
year, but | am unable to reach that
conclusion.
! have carefully considered the
various paragraphs, five in number,
as to appropriations being made thus
available and taking them all together
there seems no doubt that the legisla-
ture intended to make appropriations
for the remainder of the present fiscal
year only in those cases where spe-
cific provisos were inserted in the bill,
and there is no way by which you can
remedy the accidental omission of
such proviso.
The first of these proyisos is in
Section 4, and it reads as follows:
Provided further, that all appro-
priations made for the sixty-first and
sixty-second fiscal years, and which
by provisOs are made to extend in like
manner and proportion to the balance
of the sixtieth fiscal year, shall be
paid from any funds in the hands OF
the Territorial Treasurer, excepting
the interest fund"
This is the first mention of the sub
| ject anywhere in the bill and shows
the intention as | have already stated
it, the general scope of the bill being
to make appropriations for the sixty.
first and sixty-second fiscal years.
In Section 5 there are three pro-
visos, the first of which refers to the
appropriations for the Office of Super
intendent of Public Instruction. There
are twelve items of these appropria
tons and by the proviso Immediately
following, five Of these items arc
made Immediately available. thus eX
cluding the others from that clause
| There is an additional short para
graph which makes two more of the
items available for the present flsca
year. After these there are two gen
eral provisos following appropriations
for the attorney general and the sec
retary of the Territory,and when taker
in connection with all the other pro
visos they are clearly limited to the
appropriations for these two offices
After this in Section Z, following foul
| items Of appropriations for mainten
! ance Of the Capitol Building and tht
| Governors Mansion, there is a provist
making two Of these items imn.edi
ately available for the remainder o
| the present fiscal year
| From consideration of all thes'
things I am unable to discover an.
plausible reason for deciding that an.
Of the new appropriations are to taxi
| effect before the beginning of the mex
| fiscal year, except in those case
! where the legislature has made spe
cific and definite provisos.
Very respectfully,
i Attorney General.
National Guard Orders.
i Territory OF New Mexico. Office O
1 the Adjutant General, General Orde
1 No. A.
4 !. Second Lieutenant w. r. Anne
is promoted to rank of first lieutenan
with rank from March TO- 1909.
IL Eirct CorCaant g X Rnkor ic corr