The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-23
GEORGIA TREASURY
 IS IN SERIOUS HOLE: School Fund Has Been Used
 as 'Kiting" Account NOTHING UNLAWFUL We'll Known Fact That the State
We'll Known Fact That the State Has Long Been Behind on the Payment of Her School
 Teachers

be to put tho state treasury in a still deeper hole than that which the afore- said general assembly has already dug for 1t.
 Georgia's finances, meaning the states income and expense account, are not in as good, shape as they should be, and have not been in some years.
 The last four or five legislatures have appropriated money in excess of the states income, and the result is thls deficit has been accommodating from year to year. until now 1t would re- ahire at least s500,000, 1t Is said, to laaKe the states accounts balance, not taking into consideration the deficit in the state school fund--or what amounts 10 deficit, since the state ia six to eight months behind in the payment of the teachers
 It is not generally understood, but Il Is fact nevertheless, that the deficit in tho state treasury has. as matter of fact, been covered sby using the state school fund as a "kitlngs account. In other words the money in the treas ury has been used to pay the first bills presented with the result that the school payments have been delayed moro every year, until now they have gotten down to minimum
 It is not meant to imply that any 6ne has done anything unlawful but simply that the money in the treasury is used to meet lawful bills as they come In with the result that when it comes to school payments, there Is less and less every year to give them until the taxes are finally collected In the fall and winter, and the balance to schools Is paid in February and March, when it was due. the year previous
 $ To illustrates It is well known that the state has long been behind In the pay ment of it's school teachers, and this has not been helped any by the in- oreases made In the school appropria- tion. In 1904. however, 40 per cent of the state school fund of S2,000,000, was paid during the first six months of the year. This was doing fairly well un- der the circumstances, but this amount has been constantly reduced from year to year. In 1905, 1906 and 1907 only 30 per cent of the total fund was paid dur ing the first six months This amount kept going down and in 1910 only 20 per cent was paid. In 1911 but 13 per cent of the fund was paid out in the first six months. while this year Gov ernor Brown has found 1t possible to pay only 10 per cent of the fund during the same period
 The cause of this Is easy to trace. Ii is due to the gradual inroads which have been made on the state treasury IY excessive appropriations. according to those who have investigated the sitn- ntion. and 1t is said, If the coming leg islature passes any special appropria- ton bills and they are not vetoed by the governor the effect will be cumu- lative in the continued decrease in the amount of the state school fund which can be paid during tho first half of the year.
 In fact it Is said. if there are any Inppropriations of consequence made this summer. considering that there Is no prospect of material increase in the states income, 1t Is likely that 1t will be impossible to pay out any of the 1913 school fund during the first six months of next year
 In other words almost the whole of tho state school fund has now become treasury deficit as a result of excess sive appropriations the remaining 90 per cent of the 1912 fund. cannot now he paid until taxes come in In the fall. and it will not be finally met until some time next spring.
 Thus, instead of taking steps to catch up with the teachers. the legislature
 
 getting further and further behind.
 There are now pending before the people of the state two amendments to the constitution which will be voted on in the October election. One of these increases the borrowing power of the governor from s200,000 to s500,000, while the other provides that corpora tions which pay their taxes through the comptroller general, shall pay them by September 1, instead of waiting until December.
 These however are merely palliative. expedients. They simply enable the governor to make school payments or meet other obligations little earlier than would otherwise be possible. But so far as the treasury situation is con cerned, they do not remedy it.
 There are only two ways in which this situation can be remedied, and these are either reduced appropriations or increased income. It Is up to the legislature to take it's choice.
 If the governor borrows $500, 900 in the fall, and if the railroad corpora tions pay their taxes at that time, he might then pay the teachers all that Is due them: but the treasury must meet this expense later on--it is simply case of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul And if the legislature goes on sppropriating in excess of income, even this palliative measure might be wiped out and the point reached where it would not even be of temporary assist ance.
 As matters now stand 1t Is very likely there will not be money enolxrh in the state treasury this summer to meet the expenses of tho legislative session; the governor will probably have to exercise his borrowing power to get enough to pay the legislators This situation has come up before. but 1t seems not to have feazed the legislature when 1t came to making appropriations. Governor Brown has not yet express cd himself on the subject, but is ex- pected to deal with 1t in his forthcom- ing message.
 If the legislature itself does not como to a realization of the situation this summer, tho only remedy is the execu- tive veto, To what extent that may be exercised can now be only matter of conjecture. but
 It may be well to repeat the carefully formulated opinion of those who have carefully looked into the situation, that if the coming session makes any spe- cIaI appropriations this summer the ef- feet will be only to increase tho em- barrassment already put upon the state treasury by appropriations in excess of revenue.