Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-05-16
PORK BARREL BILL
GAUNT SPECTRE
CONFRONTING
LEGISLATURE
Finance Committees Every
where Face Pressing De-
mand for Larger Appropria-
tiOns; Statehood Expensive.
HIGH TAXES SURE TO BE
RESULT, SAYS CLARK


has begun On the finance bili "a tha
two committees Of the senate and OF
the house on finance. hut whether any
finance bill win be passed at This ses-
sion. stu appears TO ne a matter Of
considerable doubt.
The finance bill--known IN the good
old days-as the PORK barrel bill. Is
the one big. all important measure
that this session OF the legislature viii
have TO pass or render necessary an
other session Immediately, n the new
offices created by tho constitution are
to have any funds. This measure ana
the county salary bin are TWO meas
ures that cannot we'll be dispensed
with. for under q decision OF the SUI
lprome court no county official can get
lany pay until the legislature has
passed a bin specifying how much ne
shall be paid
without a finance bill the old anpro
priatlons might or might not hold
good for most Of the state offices. al
Though there would be no funds avail
I, able for the corporation commission
nor for the secretary Of state. the
governor. district judges and n num-
Der OF other offices which did not ex-
isl as at present under former terri
toriai regime.
II has been decided TO merely out
line the finance blu In the senate com
mittee this week by drafting the form
land leaving all am0unts vacant The
question OF appropriations is becom-
ing gannt spectre with the senate
finance committee. for everywhere IL
turns, It is met with demand for in
creased amounts over those OF the last
session. And to make matters worse
the statehood regime has greatly ad-
ded TO the expenses OF the various de-
partments Most OF the educational In
stitutlons are asking for increased
sums, some Of them demanding new
buildings.
There 10 a doiicls in the state peni-
Tertiary and It Is being urged that the
legislature must make some provision
for caring for the increase IN the num-
Der OF convicts there who need more
Accommodations and need them with
out delay
There Ii the question Of good roads,
OF bridges In San Juan county swept
away by floods last fall; IN fact there
are so many items Of expense showing
. lup that II nov appears reasonably GER
tain that the new state Is going TO
! start out with exceedingly high taxes
I or with a bond issue TO help desray
! her expenses for the next few years.
Chairman Clark oil the senate CONF
I mittee and Chairman Chayes Of tue
houno committee, both have declared
4 in favor OF the utmost economy In this
! bill but the queslioa arises as 20
where economy begins and ends The
= two committees are not meeting
Jointly.
"one thing Il certain. and people
may as well expect t." said Chairman
Clark. that Is they are going "a pay
J some high taxes even under the best
4 we can do to hold down the budget.
Il have not yet al OF the data IN
my possession, nor have ! as yet gone
completely into what ! have received,
lbut the demands from the state inst1-
Tutlons are nearly twice what had
respected and some 0f them arc going
10 be disappointed
Under the constitution we can not
provide for a tax levy of more than
twelve mills for everything outside ot
tho state debt. For that we can levy
two mills more nut IL that connea'
ton Il should be remembered that we
are now paying o per cent taxes ana
= n we levy al that We can levy under
the constitution, it may not produce
, lonough revenue on the present basis
OF asses8ment TO take care OF the
need Of the state az this time In that
event certificates Of indebtedness or
ih0nds. might have b DE issued which
would about bond the state TO the linz
q permitted by the constitution II
: must be remembered that while the
! assossablo property shows 80 much,
. and the per cent shows SO much. the
Z collectors do not get 100 per cent OF
the taxes. / figure that they viii seq
about 7C per cent which viii not meet
( the demands made upon this commR-
tee for appropriations"
The more the committee wades into
I 1.-THE question Of finance, the deeper it
, gets into real trouble aud hence the
bill win he blank as 10 amounts until
sn effort has been made 10 squeeze
down everything that can be cur
Jailed
SIR CLARK says the bill probably VIII
be la preliminary shape for inatoduc-
ton early IN next week aud that y
/ will be- referred 10 the finance com
, mittee at once and win then BE- ready
Ituf the AuNlN0N on tiA aAhNHNA HNNNN'
, safy for al purposes.
: These are matters that are 81 vital
interest to the taxpayer who takes no
interest In political legislative battles,
but who does note the amount a.
which hiH property Is assessed
And lg ~ on these Two bills that me
combinations IN the senate und in lhe
house which have deadlocked against
each other. viii have 40 yield one 20
the other. n elthNr measure rs en-
aciod for the Ideas in both the nenaie
land the house as tO county salaries
land nH 10 appropriations, appear 90
differ materially
u probably was because Of the fear
that no appropriation biil would he
lpassee at this session, that the senate
passed bin providing 100000 for the
corporation commission That the
house will moi lei ihis bin 30 hy ie
indicated by the fact that Z was re-
committed % the ways aud means or
teg having been placed On ne ealen'