[Afternoon Session.]
[CONTINUED FROM NEAR THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 24 - SECOND COLUMN.]
The Joint Convention of the two Houses having been duly organized His Excellency Governor Conrad Baker delivered his biennial message as follows;
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives;
The hope expressed at the close of the address delivered to you at the commencement of the late special session, that your deliberations during that session might be characterized by harmony and be fruitful of good legislation, I am happy to say, was realized. Since my connection with public affairs, I have never witnessed a session of the General Assembly in which a more intelligent appreciation of duty was manifested; and in point of industry the late session, in my judgment, excelled any of its predecessors. This will not be understood as an idle compliment on the one hand, or as an unqualified indorsement of every act that was passed at the late session on the other. In welcoming you for the last time to this seat of legislation; I sincerely congratulate you in view of what you have already accomplished, and trust that during your present session you will be guided by that wisdom which cometh from above, and which is profitable to direct.
The foreign debt of the State outstanding at this time (January 10, 1873), may be thus stated, viz:
| Amount of five per cent. State stocks issued under the adjustment of 1847 | $32,869 99 |
| Do. two-and-a-half per cents. | 4,060 13 |
| Amount of war loan bonds issued under the legislation of 1861, still outstanding | 139,000 00 |
| Making together, | $175,930 12 |
To the above, however, must be added amount of old bonds issued prior to 1841, the payment of which is provided for by the act approved December 12, 1872, including the interest accrued thereon.
| The principle of these old bonds can not exceed | $191,000 00 |
| Adopting the most unfavorable rule for the State that can be claimed, the interest up to this time can not exceed | 378,000 00 |
| Estimated amount of old bonds issued prior to 1841, | 569,000 00 |
| RECAPITULATION. | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount of five and two-and-a-half per cent, and war loan bonds still outstanding, as before stated, | $175,930 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Add estimated amount of old bonds, as above | 569,000 00 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total foreign debt and ascertained estimated | $744,930 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| The domestic debt of the State now consists of non-negotiable bonds of the State issued to its own school fund and amounting to | $3,905,906 25 |
| Total debt, foreign and domestic | $4,650,830 37 |
| There is at this time in the State Treasury the sum of | 499,268 44 |
| There is at this time in the hands of the Agent of State | 108,475 40 |
| Total cash on hand | $607,743 84 |
| Add proceeds of State tax of 1872, not yet collected, estimated at | 350,000 00 |
| Amount available for State purposes for the year commencing November 1, 1872, and ending October 31, 1873, | $957,743 84 |
The expenditures for the same year are estimated as follows, viz:
| For expenses of the present session of the General Assembly | 100,000 00 |
| Other expenditures including ordinary expenses of the State government, benevolent institutions, reformatories, prisons, interest on domestic debt, and on War Loan Bonds, etc., etc., upon the supposition that these expenditures will not exceed those of 1872, | $785, 388 00 |
| Total estimated expenditures, | $885,388 00 |
| Amount available for State purposes for 1873, as above stated | 957,743 84 |
| From this deduct estimated expenditures | 885,388 00 |
| Leaving only a balance of | $72,355 84 |
If immediate provisions be made, as in my judgment there should be, for the enlargement of the House of Refuge, and the Institution for the Education of the Blind, and for the completion of the Female Reformatory, the above balance will not only be exhausted, but a deficiency will be created of over $100,000. It must be remembered that the act providing for the payment of the old bonds already mentioned, may add a considerable sum to this deficiency; and it is possible that the 5 and 2 1-2 per cent, stocks still outstanding to the amount of $36,930.12, or some considerable part thereof may be presented for redemption during the current year, and if so, they must be paid.
In view of all this, and of the pressing demand that exists for making increased provision for the insane, it will be necessary in my judgment to levy a State tax for each of the years 1873 and 1874, of fifteen cents on the $100 of the taxables of the State. The collection of the revenue of 1873, will also have to be anticipated by a temporary loan, and the commencement of a new Hospital for the Insane will probably have to be deferred until the revenue of 1873 can be made available.
