The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-23

State or any civil division thereof, or by
any board. officer or other agency OF the
state. or OF any civil division. Intro
duced by Ray n. Smith 81 Syracuse.
Abolishing peacemakers' courts Of the
Indians so far az they exercise judicial
functions and bringing their domestic ~
lations actions into the state courts. In
reduced by James +. Lindsay OF North
Tonawands.
Establishes tat Budget.
Establishing an executive State budget
which must be submitted by the Cow
ernor to the Legislature before Feb
ruary | each year. containing A COM
plete plan OF proposed expenditures and
estimated revenues. The Legislature
may reduce or eliminate appropriations
in the budget appropriation bills thus
submitted by the Governor. hut cannot
increase them. and these bills become
laws after they are passed by the Legis-
lature, thus giving the Legislature the
final say, which reverses the present
system. The Governor cannot revise
estimates hied with him for the judi
oiary or the Legislature. but he has the
veto power after they pass. The Legis-
lature may ummon the Governor and
heads OF all departments 20 be ques-
toned regarding any item in the budget.
U W iFe may bhFN 'N"A"N "
preparation bills. but not until after
the budget has been disposed OF. and
each bill must make a separate appro-
p~riation for a Jingle work or oSject.
Introduced by the committee on finance,
Henry l.. Stlmson chairman.
substituting serial for sinking fund
state bond with a view OF enecting a
saving OF nearly s33. 900. 900 In retiring
the State debt within the next forty
Tho aN.haraA - t,NaAA aftrAr-
tive to present bondholders by permit
TIM an interest rate o~ne-quarter Of I
per cent. higher than the present rate
Of "a.
Trouble with sinking Funds
The people have known for some time
that there was serious trouble In re-
spect to the sinking funds. From errors
OF method the state has collected in
some years a much larger sum than
necessary. Thus. the State Conptrol-
ler's Office has figured that in 1914.
when the people actually paid ss.c42,77i
into the sinking funds maintained for
the canal debt, they needed to pay
only st.7l9.965. In 1918 s4.i+2263 was
contributed to the same funds. where
only s3,3s7,9 o should have been needed.
In other years. evidently relying upon
the fact that there had been no pay
ment in the past, no contribution what
ever was made TO some OF the sinking
funds. This omission was a fiat vio-
lation of the terms OF the law under
which the funds were created. Yet
there was no machinery provided By
which the failure OF the Legislature to
appropriate such a contribution could
be remedled.
In other words. while the taxpayers
have suffered from too much contr!bu-
ton to the extent Of some 500, 900, 900,
there Was no assurance that in the fu.
ture they might not suffer from too
little contribution and that when the
date Of thu maturity OF the debt came
along the State might not have the
money TO pay the principal OF the debt.
The Remedy Provided.
Now the proposal of the finance COM
mittee In dealing with the existing State
debts, while II insists there shall be
no raid on the sinking funds n
preserves them inviolate, provides AT
the same time a correct and automatic
method OF accumulation. Thu Comp
troller is TO find out each year the
amount actually In tho sinking funds
by appraising at not more than par the
securities and rash in which it IS m
N'NA''' iuNH Nv UGuTfN fNdflIN NOW
much of an annual contribution the
State needs.
At the same time the State is auto
matically shielded from all danger OF
its sinking funds being raided. dimin-
ished. reglected or tampered with. Sup
pose ne Legislature. as II has done
in the past. fails To appropriate enouglI
money to meet this required contrihu-
ton. The proposed amendment compels
the Comptroller to pay these obligations
out Of the first general State moneys
that come into his hands. The runnin.
expenses Of government cannot be met
till these obligations are paid.
The effect OF these reforms can be
gathered from the following figures: II
the Legislature were to contribute In
1918 to the sinking funds, according To
the methods of calculation used in the
past, it would pay ~slO.96f,341 to cover
the Interest and charges for that wear
Under the system proposed only s7.S67.-
247 is needed, This means that the
new system woul save S3.O97, O9i.
Hie Cut In Canal Fund.
Take a further example. Cana Fund
40. =. Annual contributions ranging
from sSl1,9j3 to k4,Al2,tS5 have hper
made since 1905 to meet q debt ot
s2l ,00O, 900 not due for forty-three years
more. The result is = large excess
Accordingly It is calculated that only
Sli2,669 need now he paid into this fund
annually.
The same principle applied to ths