The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1915-01-07
bills and there would be large ere lit
balance remaining.

We have lost, or at least they have
not been paid from July fist, 1914 up
to the present time, and the matter Is
now pending in the courts, the oil in
spection fees. No fees have been paid
by the oil companies operating in
North Dakota since the first of last
July. The oil has been inspected and
the expense to the state has gone on,
but no fees have come in, pending a
decision in our Supreme Court. These
fees amount at this time to approXi-
mately 500, 100000, which the general
fund should have and would have,
had the fees been paid. Should the
court hold that the law provided TO,
the inspection of oil is unconstitution-
al and that the oil inspection law can
not be made revenue law for the
state, then it will deprive the state of
about $120,OOO.0O net a year, which the
state had been receiving prior to July
1, 1914, over and above the expense
or cost of the inspection, and it would
require forty million of assessed val
uation of property in North Dakota at
three mills on the dollar to raise that
amount of money each year.
Iwould suggest that a committee be
appointed from the Senate and House,
whose duty it shall be to give careful
consideration to the financial conc:.
tion of the state and that this COM
mittee shall make recommendations
to the legislature for action. This
committee will be one of the most i'm
portant that may be named and their
work will be of great value to the
state. We all know that the state Of
ficers cannot pay money from the
state treasury except as the people of
the state pay money into it. If the
Legislature shall permit the so-called
mill tax levies to remain upon our
statutes as they are now, shall permit
all of the present standing appropria
tions to stand and shall add other ap
preparations, the result must newt
ably be that there will not be enough
money to meet the demands.
Budget.
A budget has been prepared which
will show the requirements of the var
, ious departments of the state and also
an estimate from the various institu
tions as to their needs. The monies
asked for in the aggregate exceeds
any possible revenues of the state by
hundreds of thousands of dollars. This
is not a proper way to present mat
ter of this kind to the legislature. As
matter of fact we have no annual re
port as to the whole state of NORTH
Dakota. 1t is true that we have re
ports from the various departments Of
the state and the state institutions, bu
AO1 oily " t1J dIiu alive dL Llt
real cost of maintaining and support
| ing the state government with al
of it's allied interests, and having from
a brief comprehensive report some
knowledge as to the condition of tht
whole state, we have nothing. For in
stance, the State of North Dakota has
no such report of its business as may
be had from the Northern Pacific rail
way as to it's business. We SHOULD
have and a law should be passed
authorizing the Governor to name
three men who shall not be connected
with any branch of the state govern
ment or with any state institution
and whose duty it shall be to visit al
state institutions, look into their need:
and determine where economies car
Ibe practiced and make such recommen
'dations as they deem wise. They shoult