The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-01-10


thereon. debauching the ballot and
multiplying the reforms brought about
by means of the constitution OF
1902.
Mr.. Byrd's utterances were heartily
applauded and made splendid Inn
preston upon every auditor.
The dress In full follows:
preston upon every auditor. After
tharking the House for the honor
conferred upon him and saying that
the speaker was but the chief ser
want Of the House. M. BYRD said:
Text Of Address.
In 1905 Virginia embarked upon an
unexampled period OF governmental
expansion. $1.577.sS5.04 was spent
in 1905 for education. 1911 the
S26,994.37. In 1905 nothing WAS spent
for highways. The amount expended
in building roads in 1911 was s27S.
531.79. Since 1908 the Dairy and
Food Com mission. the Board Of Public
Health. the State Epileptic Colony, the
Catawba Sanatorium and the High
way Commission have all been estab-
lished and are supported by State
taxation.
Those are worthy objects and the
results have In the main justified the
the resources OF the State were strain
ed to q degree which We must now
regard. under existing financial con-
ditions as perilous. This General AS
sembty must practice rigid economy
and this phrase translated In terms
Of existing conditions means that our
appropriation bill should not carry
more than $13,000,000 for the two
years OF 1919 and 1913.
The cPnitentiary Contract.
On the LIST Of May, 1913. the PEN
itentiary shoe contract will terminate.
Public opinion does not seem to favor
its renewal. II not renewed IL means
that the State will lose the hire of the
convicts which last year amounted to
$l25.is0. In addition the 1900 or
more convicts must be put to some
public work such as road building ana
maintained out OF the State fund.
Then in 1913 as compared to 1912.
the State losing the hire and paying
for maintenance of the convicts will
suffer a largely increased annual A.
nancial burden for which this Gen
eral Assembly must make provision.
The Federal Income Tax Amendment.
Should sufficient number of States
ratify the sixteenth amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, vir-
gina mus surrender to the Federal
treasury the $4,000, which in round
numbers she now annually receives
from the State income tax. This tax
will II permitted to remain a subject
of State taxation become in the future
much more fruitful Of revenue than Ii
10 now.
No More Expansion For the Present.
The creation and extension of pub
lie functions. except in the direction
Of securing equalization of assess
ments should cease for a time, 80
that the new governmental agencies
may find themselves and organize
their work. There IL 4 certain amount
OF waste and .neff.ciency which in
variably attends ally sudden increase
of public function and the best in
terests of Virginia now demand a
period of adjustment, of taking
stock. OF Improvement of methods.
| rather than the creation of new
agencies. concrete illustration of
what / mean Is the fact that we have
built expensive highways without
adequate provision for their upkeep.
/ The rapi deterioration of some OF
our newly built roads has not only
| worked the practical loss of the In
vestment. but encouragement of
highway enthusiasm. A road which
IL beyond the resources Of the To-
built and the upkeep of any road
should be as carefully considered and
| safely provided for NJ the cost or con-
! structions. My observation is that
there has been much misdirected zeal
and much unnecessary waste in the
matter Of road building.
The Educational System.
The educational system Of the State
for while at least may find a
| useful fieid for its energies In con-
! sidering how the present great APP
! propriations may be most fruitfuIly
expended. and should not seek more
| money from the taxpayers until the
whole system settled more firmly
upon its foundations and until the tre-
mendous expansion which II has
| achieved in the last six years ac-
quires greater consistency and a
more accurate adjustment to the
public needA .ga,.
In 1911 the total expenditures for
governmental purposes exclusive of
the interest on the public debt and ex-
!, penses incident to the care of Con-
federate veterans was S4.S01. 377.25.
OF this amount more than half. or
s3.526.ss4.s7. was paid by the State
for public education. The counties
and cities by taxation and by bor-
TOWING ITOH the literary Iuaa Au0 10
some extent from other sources con-
tributed the additional amount Of
. &a.aS9..AQ.3a- Ihata ths amount of
public moneys expended for educa-
tional purposes In 1911 amounted to
the great sum Of 3b,S95.234.76. Until
we reform our tar system and COM
pei the underassessed counties to
pay a fair portion of tar. the State
can hardly greatly increase this huge
expenditure.
~ School Books.
f. IN thts State there IT, - school hook
adoption every two years One eGop-
ton n for high schools and the
other In for the grammar and pri-
mary grades There Is no sense In
this 1t keeps the book agent on the
Job all the time. All school books
should be adopted by the State Board
Of Education at the same time.
would yaSor law requiring the state
Board OF Education to extend the
| present adoption until 1915. and in
making any new adoptions to forbid
any change OF books unless the rea-
soma for each change are reported to
| the General Assembly. It 10 my opin-
ION Just complaint that there are
too many unnecessary books required
/ to be bought and studied for our
children. and that some Of these now
on the list could be advanta seously
dropped. Tho criticism 10 made with
-