The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-01-12
BIENNIAL MESSAGE GOES TO
BOTH BRANCHES OF MIS-
SOURI, LEGISLATURE.
TALKS OF STATE AFFAIRS
Executive Presents Hts Views Upon
Matters Of Finance, Regulation of
Liquor Traffic and Public Serv-
ice Corporations, Etc.
To the Forty.sixth General Assembly;

To the FOrty'SlNth General Assembly:
The constitution OF Missouri In au.
thorizing the governor to recommend
70 the consideration OF the general as
sembly such measures as he shall
deem necessary and eXpedient," i'm
poses upon him the duty Of advising
It as to the financial condition OF the
state and the money necessary to be
raised by taxation. II IL important
that the sources from which our reye-
nues come, as well as the manner In
which they should be expended,
should be carefully considered by you,
in order that the burdens OF taxation
may be equally distributed and ade-
quatc revenue provided for the con-
duct of state affairs.
Finances.
During the biennial period begin
ming on the first OF January, 1907,
and ending on the first of January,
1909. the appropriations made by the
legislature, not including the onC-third
of the revenues appropriated for the
public schools, amounted TO SG,9Gl.-
0S3 %, and the revenues available for
the payment of these appropriations
amounted to only S5,S73,3SO.2G. The
excess of appropriations over reye.
MUGS resulted in a very considerable
portion of the amounts appropriated
furinE that biennial period being un-
available for expenditure. And ii be-
came necessary for the for,y.IilLh gen.
eral assembly, converting in the month
of January, 1903. to Inappropriate APP
proXimately 100000 of the amounts
appropriated in the previous biennial
period.
The appropriations made by the
forty.iifth general assembly for the
biennial period beginning on the first
of January 1909, and ending on the
first of January, 1911, including the
re.appropriatlons heretofore referred
to, amount TO SG,S2l ,2SG.S1. As It was
estimated at the beginning OF this BIZ
ennal period that the revenues would
not be sufficient for the payment Of
these appropriations, urged upon the
last general assembly, not only such
changes In our present system OF
taxation as would secure just and
equal distribution OF its burdens, but
O greater amount of revenue. also
recommended the enactment Of laws
selecting other subjects Of t"X1Jiun OF
which the state had not heretofore
awaited itself for revenue purposes
These suggestions included n change
I'm the system of inspecting the refined
products Of petroleum for the pur.
pose of additional security and safety
10 the people in the use Of those
products, and also fOr the purpose OF
deriving some revenue thrrcirCm; a
law imposing n tax for the Inspection
OF spirituuus liquors as there now eN'
lists tax for the inspection Of malt
liquors; o corporation franchise tax,
and tax upon inhcrltanCes, with an
exemption OF estates not exceeding
$4,000. Laws were enacted along the
lines Of the first two suggestions, but
the CORPORATION franchise tax law
failed to secure the approval Of the
senate, and the inheritance tax law
failed to receive the approval OF
either body.
Need of More Revenue.
In view Of the increasing demands
of the different departments of the
state government and the conditions
anticipated at the beginning of this
biennial period, the people Of the
state are to be congratulated upon IT,
present financial condition, the prompt
meeting OF all its obligations and the
payment Of the necessary apprOpria
tons made by the last general assem-
bly,. 1t is, however, becoming in.
crcasIngly apparent that the revenues
available under our present system oi
taxation are inadequate to meet the
increasing expenses Of government
Corporation and inheritance Tax.
The two additional subjects of taxa
tlon suggested to the last general rs
semby are still available for consld
Grafton by this. Since the meeting Of
the last general assembly the ma.
tional congress has. however, passed
q corporation franchise tax law, anL
from the returns received by the ma
tional government, 1t appears thai
there are in the state of Missouri Il,
500 corporations, with a total CAPT
talizatlon of ,02i,G70.34750. Will,
II may be urged by some that the
imposition of this tax by the nationa
government should relieve such cor
poratIons from further taxation by the
states, yet It is to be remembered thai
q number of the states have already
| imposed similar tax upon the fran
! chise OF existence of business corpo
rations, proportioned generally from
Is cents to one dollar upon each one
thousand dollars of capitalization
There would. therefore. be no injus
tice to the corporations in the state
OF Missouri II this state should follow
the example OF other states and i'm
pose tax of 20 cents upon each one
thousand dollars OF capitalization.
again urge upon you the consideration
OF this additional subject OF taxation
again recommend to your favor
able consideration the imposition of {
>ax upon inheritances. with such OK