Message of the Governor of Georgia [Joseph M. Terrell] to the General Assembly, November 8, 1902

lVIESSAGE
OF Tf{E
Goverrnorr of Geotrgia
TO Tf{B
Generral Assembly
~OVEf'JIBE~ 8, 1902
ATLANTA. GA.
GEO. w. HARRISON, State Printer
( The Franklin Printing and Publishing Co.) 1go2

MESSAGE
OF THE
GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA
TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
NOVEMBER 8, 1902
ATLANTA, GA. (,EO. W. HARRISON, STATE PRI;<;TER,
1902.

MESSAGE.
November 8th, 1902.
To the General Assembly of Georgia :
The body of our laws represents to an unusual degree the matu:-ed wish of the people of Georgia, and, in entering upon the discharge of your legislative duties, you are not confronted with demands for many or radical changes. Annual sessions of the Legislature have made it easy to enact new statutes as well as to amend or repeal old ones, so as to supply omissions or cure defects disclosed by experience, and in consequence, we have a system just, simple, and in every way suited to the genius and spirit of our people.
But there are a few special subjects to which I desire to call your attention. Their inherent importance will gain for them your careful deliberartion; and the fact that the people in the laet fllection, in distinct and unmistakable terms, expressed their wish in reference thereto, will tend to remove many questions as to what should be done, and leave your task largely that of determining how the desired end is to be accomplished.
LIMITATION OF TAX RATE.
First in importance is that of limiting the rate of taxation. The Constitution of 1877 was framed in accordance with the elemental principles of a republican form of government, and aimed at an economical administration of the affairs of State. It conterpplated the payment of the necessary expenses of the legislative, executive and judicial

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departments; the payment of 1he rublic debt; a proper pension for 1hoee entitled thereto; the support of the Public Schools, and the protection of the State in time of war. It prohibited appnipriations 0r taxation for other purpm:es. It recognized that there would be many claims on the public treasury; an<l that many of them might be for good and worthy purpmes. But, in view of the financial conditions surroundiug -the State, it drew the line, and fixed definitely the purposes for which the 11eople's money might be ~pent, intending to secure them for all time against the burdens of excessive taxation. But, rn long as there is no limit to the amount which may be E'pent on the objects named in the Constitution, there is no limit to the amount which may be raised by taxation. In order perfectly to secure the end designed by the Convention, and demanded by the people in the last election, there must be a limit on the an0nual tax rate, and I therefore suggest that. this General Assembly submit a Constitutional Amendment limiting the tax rate to five milli,, exclusive of the Sinking Fund and what may be needed for the protection of the State in time of inrnrrection or war.
T AXATIOX OF FRANCHISES.
Closely allied to a limitation on the rate of taxation is the duty of providing a method by which all property shall be made to bear its fair share of the public burden. With a few exceptions, the Consti tntion provides that all property shall be taxed. In th_e main, this provision is carried into effect-though no systepl has ever been devi~ed which is perfect in its application, and, in spite of the most carefully drafted tax Acts, there are una,oidable omissions and a want of that perfect equality and uniformity towards which the law-making power constantly aims. But there is a class of franchises held by certain quasi-public corporations which,

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thoug,h valuable in themselves and adding value to the capital stock, have, in the past, escaped taxation because of a want of a provision iu the Statutes requireing these franchises to be returned or ass2ssed. Being property, thesefranchises are as subject to taxation as any other property under the Constitution, and, in view of the fact that they generally represent privileges which are more or less ex elusive and which have been given to the corporations w~thout money and without price, there is a peculiar justice in subjecting them to the tax laws. It will be for you to determine how the taxable value ot these franchises is to be estimated though I venture to suggest that there is no need for any great change in the present machinery of the tax law. It will probably be sufficient to amend Section 767 Volume 1. of the Code so as to include all franchise::;, whether of resident or non-resident corporations doing business in this State, which add value to the capital stock or to the tangible property of the corporation. A forther amendment to Sections 780 and 803 ot the Code may be necessary so as to require officers making returns for a corporation to state '' the value ot the corporate franchise exclusive of ite other corporate property." The simplicity of this method will commend itself. It will probably avoid many questions which would otherwise arise from the enactment of new statutes containing untried and untested methods. It will provide an easy and practical means of determining what the franchise is worth, for, if there is any disagreement as to such value, it can be settled by arbitration, as all other differences of a like nature between the tax-payer and the Comptroller, or the tax-payer and Tax Receiver are now settled.
SALARY OF TEACHERS.
In practice, the school year and fiscal year do not coincide. The teachers for work done this year must be paid

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out of taxes to be collected next December and Jamiary. This has caused a serious disturbance in the State's finances and been the occasion of great hardship to the teachers and detriment to the schools. I suggest that the $122,078 now in the Treasury to the credit of the Public Property Fund be appropriated to the payment of interest on the public debt, and that a like sum already collected by taxation for paying interest be now applied to the payment of teachers' salaries. This will enable the General Assembly, by economy in appropriations, to pay the teachers monthly in accordance with their contracts during 1903, and during future years, by providing a permanent loan fund of $500,000 to be transferred to the School Fund in the spring and repaid when the taxes are collected. This fund can and should be created from the money in the Treasury collected for the payment of interest, and not so used on account of the appropriation of the Public Property Fund for that purpose, and from the overplus raised by the levy ot two .and one-tenth mills for the years 1901 and 1902 for educational purposes, as provided by the last General Tax Act.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
In considering the interest of the teachers, we must not be blind to the claims of the children. Georgia was the first in the Union, and probably the first in the world, to incorporate in its organic daw a provision for public schools, for in 1777, in its first Constitution, it declared that" schools shall be erected in each county and supported .at the general expense of the State." Since that date, we have been dealing with this supreme problem. The public wish has always been ahead of the public ability. The {lvils of illiteracy are recognized, but the expense of the cure is beyond our purse. In proportion to ottr taxable values, we may ~ell challenge comparison with others,

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who, apparently, do more. Still, with an adequate sum, it behooves us to make the most of our resources and to increase them wherever the people of a particular locality are willing to add to the School Fund. It often happens that while a county is unable to supplement the School Fund by taxation, those living in a particular militia district are willing to add to the State Fund so as to lengthen the school term, and they should be permitted to do so.
It takes four things to make a school-teachers, pupils, books and schoolhouses. We have teachers and books, and pupils we have in abundance, but of schoolhouses in the country districts there is woeful want. Proper and comfortable houses will add greatly to the efficiency of our common schools. While it is impossible at the present time to build them from general taxation, yet there are many communities in which they conld be provided without expense to the State at large. The present law authorizes the school trustees to purchase necessary buildings, but the amount of the school fund has been inadequate to enable those in the country districts to take advantage of the A.ct. .A.nd where the local community is willing t.o raise the necessary funds, there is no provision of law by which a militia district or school district is authorized to tax itself for such purposes. Ordinarily, the unit in our State government is the county, and the general law now of force only contemplates city or county taxation, but authority ought to be given to a militia district or a school district to collect a local tax for school and schoolhouse purposes, wherever the taxpayers so desire, and I therefore, recommend legislation-including a constitutional amendment, if that be necessary-providing that upon the request of two-thirds of the taxpayers in any militia district or school district, a reasorni.ble tax may be imposed upon the property therein, the proceeds of which shall be applied by the school trustees to educational purposes, or to the purchase of land and

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the erection of school buildings in that particular district. The success of any educational system largely depends
upon the teachers. Unless they are capable and efficient, it is impoesible to train the children of the coming generation. Many of the young men and yonng women of the State are patriotically and faithfully endeavoring to fit themselves for that high calling, and the Normal School at Athens and the Girls' Normal School at Milledgeville have been of great assistance in this important work-a work which inures immediately and directly to the benefit of the public. Both of these institutions deserve the most generous snpport of the State for their valuable services.
EXEMPTION OF COLLEGE ENDOWMENTS.
Not only the common schools but every other instrumentality which aids in the education and training of the youth merits your careful and serious attention. Our colleges are brought into active competition with foreign institutions splendidly equipped and endowed with millions, and all our higher institutions of learning are unselfishly engaged in performing a public service to the State with no purpose of trade or gain. It is but a slight recognition of what they have done in the past and of the splendid work they are now doing, that their endowment should be exempt from taxation, where the fmid is not so invested as to come into actual competition with the. business and commercial interests of other citizenR. Such a course will not only be a return to the practice prior to 1877, but owing to the material reduction in tuition fees and the much smaller rate of interest received from their investrpents, it is now almost essential to their continued existence. Under the constitution, we cannot aid these institutions out of the public treasury, no matter bow great their service, but we should surely relieve them from burdens,

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and I therefore recommend the submission of .a constitutional amendment authorizing the General Assembly to exempt from taxation the endowment funds and investments of all educational institutions.
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.
Georgia is pre-eminently an agricultural State; aud while we are fostering other interests, we should be specially active to encourage that business in which the whole State is most vitally concerned. If here we lag Lehind, the whole State suffers, and if in this we can forge to the front, all the people will be directly benefited. So vital is our concern in agriculture that we should not only comply with all reasonable requests of the farming interests, but even go farther and be diligent to search out means by which the agricultural interests may be improved. As legislators you may not be able to do this directly, but you can set forces at work that will accomplish the desired end. Nothing would be more helpful to this great interest than the establishment and maintenance of an agricultural school in each congressional district of the State, and connect therewith an experimental station and farmers' institute. Such schools would furnish an opportunity for the intelligent teaching and, training annually of several thousand of our young men and women engaged in agricnltnre and kindred pursuits. Fully equipped for their life-work, such pursuits would be more attractive to them, as well as more remunerative. Agriculture would take orr new life and the desire on the part of many of our noble young men and women to leave tbe farm for towns and cities would be checked. The State, very wiselJ and justly, provides suitable facilities for the education of the youths w~o contemplate making of themselves teachers, lawyers, doctors, machinists, electricians and the like. With equal wisdom and justice, if not more, sheshould provide suitable facilities for the young men and.

women who will engage in agriculture or similar pursuits1 The experiment has been tried elsewhere with great suc-
cess, and inasmuch as no constitutional objection could be insisted upon should they be made branches of the Uni versi ty, I urge the General Assembly to enact such legislation as will permit the establishment and maintenance of these schools. To do this no extra taxation would be necessary, as they can be maintained by the net fees arising from the inspection of commercial fertilizers. These fees are paid by the farmers in addition to the ad valorem property tax, which is required of all citizens, and every principle of justice and equity demands that they be expended as will best tend to the advancement and upbuilding of the cause of agriculture throughout the State. These fees are now paid into the treasury to the credit of the common school fund. The loss which such an application would entail upon that fund can be more than supplied by an increase in the hire of State ~onvicts. This increase we may reason.ably expect from contracts necessary to be made in the near future.
The discussion of this matter in various sections of the State has convinced me that the several counties in which these schools may be located would donate sufficient lands
and suitable buildings for that purpose. In order that the
General Assembly may be fully informed as to all necessary details attending the establishment and maintenance of such schools, I recommend that at the present session a commission be created, to serve without compensation, with authority to receive bids from counties in each Congressional district for the location of such schools therein, and report to the present General Assembly at the next ses.s10n.

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COMPILATION OF RECORDS.
The preservation of the records of the Colonial period and of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars is a matter of much concern. Tlie lessons to be derived from these pP-riods in the State's history should be taught to the children in our schools. Private enterprise cannot be relied upon to perfect and preserve these records, neither can we hope t0 obtain through private enterprise a fnll and complete history of these periods, as the demand for such a work would be almost entirely restricted to Georgians. The State should perfect and preserve these records, and then cause suitable publication to be made thereof for use in the schools, or permit some historian to cull therefrom such matter as would be valuable in the training of children. I therefore recommend such legislation as will authorize the employment of some competent person to compile and publish these records.
CONCLUSION.
The subjects referred to, do not, of course, exhaust the matters of great importance which will come before this General Assembly. These special subjects have been called to your attention because of the profound interest felt in them by the State at large, and because the people hope for action thereon at this session.
JOSEPH M. TERRELL, Governor.