The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-03-30
|EHRINCHAUS
CRITICS
Answers Charges 3S AS
sembly Failed to Cut
State Expenses
by j. .-hr Times. News Bure""
sir Wnitrr Hotter

pA1EIGH, March 9c.-Gov,
rn 7 C. B. Ehringhaus today
ernoL o. ont at some of the critics
stru 1Sa te33 general assembly and
of of his his administration who have a,
been charging that neither the
1919 general assembly nor the
n Owe did enough to reduce,
The the expenses of government and
said: ~ ,ho
charges being made by certain
oroups in the state that the 1888
General assembly made no effort
to bring about economy IN the
state government and that if the
general assembly and l had want
ed to we could have reduced eX-
penses enough to balance the bud
get, support the schools and other
state institutions without the en-
actment of the sales tax. The 1888
general assembly spent almost five
months here trying to devise ways
and means to find enough revenue
to do all this without sales tax.
The 1893 general assembly did all
the trimming it thought it posi-
BILE to do, and reduced salaries Of
employees in the various state de-
partments and institutions almost
S5,OO0,OOO below what they were
getting in 1929.
"The total expenditure for the
maintenance and operation of all
the state departments, offices, oil,
visions. commissions, educational
institutions and charitable and
correctional institutions in 1929
was $9,123,17S. For this year, the
cost of maintaining these same de-
partments, divisions, commissions,
educational,- charitable and correc-
tional institutions. including the
University of North Carolina and
the various teachers colleges, IS
only $4,880,4S5-a reduction IN
the operating cost of these activ-
tiles alone of s4,342,674. This re,
duction is more than the total
amount of state aid given to the
public schools in 1929. when they
received only $3,255,S39 in aid
from the state. 49,.
$50 back in 1929, the state was
spending three times as much for
the maintenance of the various
governmental functions as it was
spending on public schools. This
year it is spending almost four
times more on the public schools,
or s16,OOO,000 for schools and on
ly S4,880,4S4 on all other state
activities, exclusive
of highways and prisons. 1t is also
that back in 1929, the
total cost of maintaining the pub
lie schools of the state was in ex-
cess of S28,000,000. of which ap-
proximately $24,750,000 was paid
in property taxes by the property
owners in the various cities and
towns. At the present time not a
single cent of the $16,000,000 for
the support of the schools is de-
rived from property taxes, while
in addition every child in the state
is attending a school with a full
eight months term"
If the 1888 general assembly
had not made any better provi-
sion for the public schools than
was made for them in 1929. the
general fund this year could have
been reduced to only $11, 379,599
instead of the present general
fund budget Of $25,475,760 the
governor pointed out. The differ
ence is that the 1888 general as
sembly and the governor decided
that it was necessary for the state
to take over the support of the
public schools from the cities and
counties without the imposition of
any property taxes and that the
lowest possible estimate at which
this could be done was found to
be $16,000,000 year instead of
$3,255,839 a year.
1t was again pointed out by the
governor that if the salary of ev-
cry state official in Raleigh, in
Guiding that of the governor, the
attorney general, the secretary of
state. the commissioner of reve-
nue. and so on down the line, as
sSuror Pno,,%x,'