Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1912-10-24


salaries during MdMillin's adminlstra-
ton, but | am not aware of any justin
cation for charging him with the re-
sponsibility of it, unless it should be
| insisted that these increases were made
by a Legislature friendly to him and
that he exerted no influence and made no
protest against them. This was the
case, and it may be added that ne did
not dare to open his mouth against the
ljunketing committees.
The 'Fusion" Legislature.
Right here l want to call the hand OF
the Regulars on another little .prevariea-
tion which has been very prevalent
among them. l refer to their habit OF
speaking of the Legislature of 1911 as
n fusion" Legislature, meaning Legs
| lature controlled by Republicans and Ia
dependent Democrats. 1t is a great pity
for the state that it was not a fusion
Legislature, but it was not. The Pat
tersOn and McMillin forces controlled the
Senate by safe and easy majority. At
the outset the lower house was con-
trolled by the Republicans and Independ-
ents by a very narrow margin. This
small majority in the House was after
wards converted into a minority by ways
that were dark and devious, and the very
organization of the House, elected by
Republicans and Independents, was trans
ferred to the Regulars by the treachery
of few men. Thus it was that both
branches of the Legislature were finally
controlled by the enemies of my admin
istration the Senate by election and the
| House by seduction. This is fact
worthy of mention whenever you hear
some vociferous brother deelaiming
against the fusion" Legislature for what
it did or did not do.
Suspension of Sinking Fund Payments
Another subject of political contro-
versy closely related to the legislative
matters already discussed is that of the
suspension OF the sinking fund act by
the last Legislature, and the failure of
the bonded indebtedness of the state dur
ing my administration. An immense
amount of demagogy has been practiced
by the Patterson-McMillin party in regard
to this matter. They say, Hooper
hasn't paid anything on the debt"
No, and neither did McMillin, Patter
son nor any of that bunch ever pay any
thing on it, The people have pad some
thing on it occasionally. The Legisla-
ture enacts laws for the levying of taxes
and collection Or revenue. The Comp
troller and Treasurer constitute the
Funding Board which pays part OF the
revenue on the states bonded debt. The
Governor has littis less to do with
this matter than anybody else, the
Comptroller much more than he, and the
Legislature most of all. If there is
money on hand that can be paid on the
bonded debt, it is the duty OF the Comp
troller and Treasurer to call the atten'
tion of the Governor to that fact. They
are the financial officers of the state,
charged with the collection and custody
of the funds. They are political allies,
and stand two to one against me on the
board.
If there is any money in the treasury
available for payment on the bonded
debt, it is their fault that 1T has not
been paid. If the Comptroller's desire
to play politics and the Treasurer's de-
sire to hold the money III his favored
banks, have prevented the payment OF
anytAng on the bonded debt, it is nc
fault OF mine. If the Comptroller has
SO managed his collections ana dsbursG-
ments that nothing can be paid, then,
again, it is no fault of mine.
On the ether hand, if the departments
of the state government directly under
my control, especially the prisons, have
caused the state financial loss, then, to
that extent, am responsible for the fail
ure to make payments Oh the state debt.
L have already shown, however, that
every department cnargeable to me has
made greatly increased payments into
the State Treasury.
The rate of taxation was not changed
by the last Legislature on anything, and
the state should therefore have the slight
Increase in revenue due to the growth of
property values.
Where is the Money?
The question therefore arises, what
has been done with the money, and who
is responsible? This question is so ex-
&ren& ly simple that nobody is excusable
~ isstating of misconstruing the facts,
yet the McMillin platform contains
5rmal and deliberate falsehood about
matter. 1t states that the sinking
1rgnd act has only been suspended dur
ing the present Republican adminitsra-
ton, when, as IA matter of fact, it was
SuSDeHuGu dL vic Vi dILCl-
sons last administration, and the sus-
pension by the Legislature of 1911 was,
words, merely renewal OF
nancsWo of the suspension by the
1ke of 1909. mis- renewal reso-
A211 was introduced by that
he Regulars, Senator Hill !
previous report to the
kafted and signed by SEN
Ter, the statement was made
ne increased appropriation for Com
Rate pensions, coupled with the fact
Patterson'S administrations left the |
easury practically empty, made it a
IVgregone conclusion that little or nothing |
could be paid on the bonded debt during
the current two years. Senator Nc
Alister was entirely correct in this state
ment.
December 20, 1906, just at The begin
ming of Patterson's first term, there was
valance in the Treasury of $1,163,-
1908, and December 20, 1908, at the |
beginning of his second term, there was |
a surplus of $1,132 ,9OO.40 At the end |
of his second term there was only $317,- |
900 in the Treasury, and 100000 of this
belonged to the Normal Schools.
During the last term of Patterson the |
sinking fund payments were partially
3;sooptip,,ad ,,nJar