The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1938-03-24
By HARRY w. NICE
Governor of Maryland

placed, and l was greatly relieved that
my proposed temporary use of high
way income had served its intended
purpose of balancing the budget and
even though not by the method that
recommended, over two millions of
dollars Of transfers had been restored
When the State budgets were COM
piled for presentation to the 1887 Leg
islature a similar situation presented
itself. A makeshift and unsound meth
cd used by the Legislature in restoring
funds for highway and other uses to
the State budget in 1885 had stopped
the gap for only two years and we
were faced again with the situation by
reason of the refusal of the Legisla-
ture to consider levying of indirect
taxes for General Treasury purposes
recommended by Governor Richie in
| 1888 and again advocated by me in
1885.
Needs Extremely Urgent
The needs of the State departments
and agencies had become extremely
urgent under the curtailments of the
previous four years.
On the one hand we were faced with
the imminent possibility of trouble
at our penal institutions arising from
the psychological effect of enforced
! idleness; with the threat to the public
welfare in not being able to care for
the growing waiting list of mental
cases, some a menace to their COM
munities; with the enforced neglect
of our Negro tuberculars with the at
tendant danger to the public health;
with harm to the education of our
children through the depletion of a
competent teaching force as the result
of inadequate compensation; and with
the lowering of the efficiency in the
functioning of the Government
through the loss of personnel among
qualified classified service employees.
Road Program Inadequate
On the other hand, we had the con-
tinuation of a lamentably inadequate
program of road construction, cur
tailment which in itself bids fair to
become contributing factor in the
increase of highway accidents. All
could not be served with the available
fiscal resources.
| balanced the budget by continual
ton of highway transfers to avoid the
hazard of an unbalanced budget pres
entatlon, and recommended emphati-
cally and insisted upon the immedi-
ate restoration to the State roads bud
get of the temporarily transferred
funds. l said:
No one is more conscious of the
regrettable nature of the neces-
sity of such direction of funds. 1t
is IN direct conflict with my oft
repeated opposition to such ex-
ecutive action and in again TAX
ing such action, | am fully con-
scious of the unfairness toward
the State agencies from which |
am making these transfers.
Nothing short of the stern neces-
sity such as faced my predeces-
sor and as now forces me to con-
tinue his policy would have i'm
PEELED me now to take such dras-
tic action.
| recommend the restoration to
highway uses of the transfers
made necessary to balance the
general fund budget and
strengthen the annuity bond
fund.
l express the hope that you will
make restoration to the high
ways as the fundamental and
outstanding basis in any ade-
quate construction program. Of
all recommendations made and
to be made by me, | regard this
as the most urgent and impor-
tant.
Suggested List OF Levies
And | suggested list of indirect
tax levies from which to make resto-
ration. The Legislature in substance
approved the State budget which l
submitted, making only minor reduc-
tons in the allowances, but, on the |
other hand, while approving of the
State Government setup as it stands |
and recognizing the necessity for OPP
Grating it efficiently, they have con-
sistently refused to levy taxes in sup
port of it.
The only recourse open, first to Gov
ernor Richie and then to myself, was
to present budgets balanced by the
transfer of dedicated funds. Drastic
curtailment had been tried, but it is |
impossible properly to operate the
Government of the State of Maryland |
as legally established on the allow |
ances of the budgets presented in 1888
and 1885, and certainly not without |
new sources of general treasury reve-
nue.. On January 2, 1885, Governor
Richie said, in reference to budget |
cuts:
Cites Richie Again
In considering further reductions,
care must be exercised in view
of these reductions already made
to see whether additional ones
might go so deep as to affect or
impair necessary public services
-. If it is demonstrated that
expenditures cannot be reduced
sufficiently to make up the pro-
spective deficit, it will then be in
order to consider new or in
creased revenues for the pur-
pose.
This was Governor Ritchie's parting
recommendation to the Legislature |
after his own long experience with |
budgets and his experience in divert
ing funds.
My own policy has been consistently
along the same line, but, being faced |
with condition requiring, on the one
hand, certain minimum services from
the State, and, on the other hand in
I