Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1904 — THE STATE’S MONEY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE STATE’S MONEY

Its Expenditure Carefully Guarded by the Auditor of State. STRICT ACCOUNTING IS ENFORCED Fiscal Affairs of Indiana Are Handled Like Those of Any Other Great Business Institution—Some Interesting Facts About the Operations of an Important Department of State. ] [Special Correspondence.] Indianapolis, June 14. —No office is es greater importance to the taxpayers of Indiana than that of State Auditor. It' is first of all charged with th« supervision of all expenditures of public money, and upon this office falls the responsibility of holding to strict accountability all those charged with the disbursement of funds raised by state taxation. State Auditor David El. Sherri ck has risen to the full measure of his responsibilities in this as in 'other particulars. Fidelity to proper accountings in conformity with the J?tate laws has been strictly enforced In all disbursements and the integrity of all appropriations has been rigidly preserved. Mr. Sherrick’s career as Auditor of State is in thorough harmony with one of the declarations in the platform upon which he was electad two years ago, via: ‘ln the management of the state’s financial affairs the Republican party believes that the

state government is like any great business institution, considered from the standpoint of accountability and responsibility to the people of the commonwealth. It believes the humblest taxpayer is an interested stockholder in the financial affairs of the state’s business, and that inefficiency, indifference or waste in public administration, expenditures or accountings is a crime.” In his last report to the governor, covering the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 1903, State Auditor Sherrick presents some figures bearing on state accounting which are of interest to taxpayers. In discussing the fiscal affairs of the state he says: “There is now levied for state purposes an aggregate tax of cents on each SIOO. Of this amount nine cents is for the general fund, and five cents for the benevolent institution fund. From the levies in these funds combined come to the state all the taxes that are or used for the general expenses of the state, and said taxes amounted last year to $2,009,806.27. The levy for school purposes is 11 cents on the SIOO, and the taxes resulting are distributed pro rata among tne different counties, accord-, ing to the enumeration of school children. This tax aggregated last year $1,667,892.66. The specific levy of 3 cents on each SIOO for payment on the public debt amounted to $414,498.37, and was immediately applied to the purposes of Its collection. The educational institution tax of one and twothirds cents on each SIOO amounted to $230,334.38, and was distributed as the law provides; 40 per cent to the Indiana University, 30 per cent to the State Kormal School, and 30 per cent to Purdue University. “The maintenance coat of the state institutions, notwithstanding the Increased prices of many articles entering into consumption, has been within the appropriations, and there will be no deficits for the legislature to provide for; one Institution, the Central Hospital for Insane, not even drawing any of its large per capita allowance of $24,602.21. The cost of excess population above the basis fixed for the regular maintenance appropriations in the larger Institutions was $58,175.16. The uniform accounting system of debits and credits from purchase to eonsumption, the competitive plan of bvylng with discounts for cash, the cultivation of the ground and the raising of stock where institutions Lavs fagns lands, has lessened the cost of vegetables, meats, potatoes and milk fulte perceptibly, and Is manifest in the excellent comparison of per capita ;«rl<h the years past.” Auditor Sherrick has been active sad efficient in the supervision of backing bull ding end loan and Insurance concerns falling within the Jurtfdletloo of his department, and tM

Initiated important prosecutions which have resulted in practically, ellminat- ; ing wild-cat companies of this character. There has been under his administration unusual vigilance In the protection of the rights of the state in the land department of the auditor’s office. In the insurance department alone fees and taxes aggregating $309,064.89 were collected during the fiscal year 1903, an increase over the previous year of $60,000. The Baltimore Sun, referring to W. J. Bryan, says: “Having twice led it to disaster, he should now be contented to retire modestly-Co his tent and give to Democrats older in the faith and wiser than he a chance to win victories comparable with those twice won by Mr. Cleveland.” This is in accord with the tone of other comments from similar sources and such things are perpetrated as if they contained the essence of political wisdom. Of course it is true that the Nebraskan twice failed to be elected, but it is true also that no Democrat on earth could have been elected following the Cleveland administration, and if the reorganizers who prate about the Bryan defeat had any sense of fairness whatever they would either admit this or keep their opinions on the subject to themselves. It has become a proverb that a national campaign is always a bad time for business. Give a thought to this fact and it is not difficult to understand. There is always more or less uncertainty as to the result. The luture is inevitably somewhat in doubt. A poesiMe change es •dmlniatratioa means a probable c-ange of conditions. The merchant, for example, has no means of determining just what this change will be. He buys, therefore, only what he Is compelled to buy to meet immediate demands. Thus there Is less demand for manufactured produts, the factories are required to retrench, fewer operatives are needed, and thus there is less demand for labor. This leads to a reduction in purchases and here again the merchant has still more reason to cut down his orders; this again reduces the demand for the manufacturer’s products, and then again comes a diminished demand for labor. So until election day we have an endless chain of causes all tending toward a depression in business. Now add to this the fact that the tendency among merchants in ordinary times is to buy further and still-fur-ther ahead, notwithstanding the increase in facilities for communication and transportation, —we say add this fact to the others, and the wonder Is that a pinching depression in business had not come a good while ago. And so it would have been, had it not been for the prevailing impression that there will be no change at the coming election.

The tariff reformers at various times have been agitated by wha.t they call the copper trust. Finally they discovered that copper ore is on the free list and most of them ceased to use this particular illustration, though they stlil proclaim that the tariff is the mother of trusts, thus conveniently forgetting of course that if this Is true, then in this case of the copper trust we have a creature that comes into the world without a mother. At the same time they might explain the window glass business. It is true that there is a company that the newspapers speali of as the window glass trust, hut this company lacks so much of being a monopoly that the competition has been of the keenest sort for years. And yet in the McKinley law and in the Wilson-Gorman law and in the Dingley law the duty on window glass has been very high. Notwithstanding this it has been impossible to form a trust or a combination of any sort that would prevent the liveliest of competition. Here are two cold facts of more than ordinary importance in the business world that ought to bd known to everybody—two facts that, standing alone, ate sufficient to take the pith out of the theory that the tariff is the mother of trusts. And these are hut two of numerous facts, all giving the direct lie to this tariff theory. But what has the tariff reformer to do with facts?

It is incredible, but it seems to be true, that most of the Democratic leaders appear to be ignorant of the tariff history of Great Britain, which for so many years was held up to us as a paragon of fiscal ,and industrial wisdom. The truth is that England built up an enormous trade under the policy of protection. When her commercial supremacy was established and when it was assumed that England could successfully compete with ail other nations, free trade was considered. But not until the free traders of that country were led to believe that other countries would adopt their policy did they themselves adopt it. But the drift of the world since then hag been in the other direction, and even England’s experience has not been satisfactory. So now, as John Sharp William, the Democratic leader in the house, has publicly declared, even free trade Britain is on the way hack to protection. After centuries of success under protection and a half century of disappointment under free trade, Great Britain prepares to join the other nations In the drift toward protection. Here is a fact of overwhelming significance that everybody should keep in mind all the while if he 1e to have a grasp of the tariff question that he needs in order to vote intelligently on the subject Of course the leaders of the Democratic party ary not all willing to admit this, and there are a good many reasons to believe that some of them do not even know the facts in the case, Incredible as pi is lgnoranoe seems to be.

DAVID E. SHERRICK.