Inaugural address of Governor John M. Slaton before the General Assembly, June 28, 1913

INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
GOVERNOR JOHN M. SLATON
BEFORE THE GENERAL ASS[MBLY
JUNE 28, 1913
ATLANTA, G... CHAS. P. BYRD, State Printer
1913

INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
GOVERNOR JOHN M. SLATON
BEFORE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JUNE 28, 1913
ATLANTA, GA. CHAS. P. BYRD, STATE PRINTER.
Hll3

INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Mr. President, Mr. Speciker, and Gentlemen of the General Assembly:
The progress of the world has been accomplished by the optimist. He has discovered new countries, builded railroads, united continents, established cities, founded institutions of learning, and by his faith and courage has proved a benefactor of his fellow-man. Never have the people of Georgia had greater reason to be proud of her achievements, nor more sanguine of her future, than at present. In the exercise of its governmental functions it is rendering more service and contributing more to the happiness of her citizens than ever before.
Thirty years ago, struggling under the burdens of the civil war, our brave and patriotic fore-fathers could hardly provide more than the protection of the courts, with a scanty allowance for the education of her youth.
For the year 1913, Georgia appropriated $2,550,000.00 to her public schools, of which nearly $2,000,000.00, comes directly from the Treasury. No larger amount is directly appropriated by any Southern
State, and almost by no State in the Union. In
those States wh~ch contributed much more than Georgia for educational purposes the money is raised by local taxation.
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This State has adopted the wise and humane p]ar. of working her convicts on the roads in lieu of hiring them to private parties and receiving the proceedb of their labor into her Treasury. Thus she has conferred on. rural communities immeasurable benefits in rendering the markets accessible to their products, has made possible the establishment of easier intercourse with their neighbors, has caused the improvement of their schools, the facilitation of rural mail delivery, and has enhanced to an immeasurable extent the value of their lands. It is reported by the United States Government that, in 1911, more work was done on the roadS' of Georgia than in any other State, New York alone excepted.
She has established her College of Agriculture, and her Agricultural Schools in every District in Georgia, where the farmer boys may learn the dignity of their calling, and the high ability and education which its intelligent pursuit requires. By the instruction afforded nlong these lines her citizens are taught the scientific methods of multiplying the produets of the soil, and of eradicating those evils which have ever menaced farm life. Tn the increased production of corn, in soil examination and the scientific application of fertilizers, by the raising of meat instead of its purchase, stimulated by knowledge of the means for the eradication of diS'eases of hogs and cattle, our farms receive a greater charm, and our farmers a larger reward for their labors.
The State provides a Health Department, which supplies facilities for the prevention and cure of infectious and contagious diseases that have threatened our less populous sections. By means of its suggestions, those epidemics which have endangered
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our people have been checked, 'and ,their health improved and longevity increased by expenditure of the peoples' money.
And yet, in the enjoyment of all these benefits we have failed to bear in mind that for these blessings enjoyed by our citizens for the first time, money must be paid, and we have overlooked the fundamental principle, the disregard of which means financial dishonor, that our appropriations must not exeeed our revenue. Whatever be the temptation to the wise citizen to spend more than his income he curbs his desires and limits his expenditures accordingly. He makes any sacrifices occasioned by the
scantiness of his purse. A State which desires to maintain its credit and to command the respect of
people at home and abroad, can not do otherwise than observe the course of every honest man. Besides being just, it is befitting that the Sfate sI1ould set
that example to the citizen which is essential to his
welfare.
STATE'S FINANCES.
I desire to impress upon you with all the force that a solemn duty commands, that it is imperative for yon to make an investigation into the financial condition o fthe State, to consider the reasons occasioning the present situation and to take steps for the immediate correction of the evil. It is not the part of the patriot to shut his eyes to danger and to rush heedlessly to ruin. Our wise fore-fathersstatesmen wiho never departed from original principles-beneficiaries of tl1e histories and fatal lessons of other peoples-endeavored by Constitutional
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provision to safeguard the expenditure of the peoples' money, and by the clearest constitutional mandate to prevent the incurrence of debt. They regarded the payment of public debt as a matter of public honor, and every Georgian has inherite<l that lofty conception of public duty.
In 1884, 1890, 1894, 1900, 1908, the people provided by Constitutional amendments for additional classes of pensioners, or Acts were passed in pursuance of such amendments. When the Constitutional amendment limiting the tax rate to five mills was passed in 1904, the sum appropriated to pensions was $865,000.00. In that year the amount appropriated to Public Schools from ad valorem, taxes, was $1,000,-
000.00. Now the amount appropriated to Public Schools
directly from the Treasury, is approximately $2,00,000.00.
While we are increasing the appropriations on the one hand, we have been cutting off revenue on the other hand.
In 1908, the State received from the hire of convicts the sum of $380,709.44. In 1909 there was received from this source the sum of $l84,88l.OO, or a Joss of revenue of $195,818.39. 8,ince 1909, nothing has heen received into the 'l'reasury from this s'ource. Taking the amount received in 1908 as the basis of the value of the hire of convicts which, of course, is much Jess than they would bring now, the Treasury of the State will have lost from the beginning of the year 1908 to the end of the year 1913, the sum of $1,718,696.15.
In calling your attention to an)' of the facts presented, I do not mean to criticise the legislative acts,
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or to doubt the wisdom of any of them. That is beside the question. The immense sum that would have been received into the State Treasury has been expended wisely upon the public highways, and aside from the mioral aspect of the queRtion, has enhanced the material prosperity and landed values many times the amount. The State has been splendidly repaid, morally and financially, by the change.
In fact, by calling the attention of the people to the cauRes of the financial deficit, they will readily support you in any wise measures to remedy the difficulty. When they are taken into your confidence, and are informed how the public moneys were expended for their benefit, and the canses of the shrinkage in public revenue, they will cheerfnll~r respond to every statesmanlike effort yon may make to solve the problem.
In 1907 the liquor tax amounted to $33'4,282.7?5. In 1908, on account of the Prohibition Law, the tofal sum received from the liquor tax from near hen licenses and from locker clubs, amounted to $48,738.03, or a loss of $285,544.42.
Since then, taking the report of the Comptroller General of 1913, as a measure, the R11m received from near beer licenReR, and from locker clubs, amounted to $278,000.00 per annum, making a deficit of about $50,000.00 per annum.
In 1912, the Legisfature aboliRhed the Dog Tax amounting to $130,000.0() per year, being t~e amount which it would require the tax on $26,000,000.00 of property to produce.
For many of the foregoing figures I am indebteil to the able Chahman of the HonRe Appropriation Committee of 1911-1912.
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:In 1904 the people adopted an amendment to the Constitution limiting the tax rate to five mills, thus declaring by their sovereign act in favor of economy in public expenditure and recording their judg:ment that such levy would be sufficient for the State's discharge of all public functions. The tax levy for the support of public schools for that year was 1-70/100 mills.
Yet, I am officially informed by the Comptroller General that in 1912 the appropriations exceeded the anticipated revenue $339,000.00, and the actual revenue $202,000.00, and as you wm find by the report of that same officer on your desks, the excess of expenditures over anticipated income in 1913 is $231,562.00, requiring $46,3] 2,400.00 taxable property to produce it.
Thus you will perceive, that to meet the deficit of these two years alone, taking the anticipated revenue as a basis, an increase of the property of the State subject to ad valorem taxation must be $114,112,400.
You will have observed that the same Legislature which appropriated $.13fl,OOO.OO in excess of its anticipated revenue, during the smne session cut off $126,000.00 thereof.
!Statistics, to he read and digested, must not be voluminous and I do not burden you with them. Suffice it to say, that the appropriations of 1911 exceeded the revenues, and you will observe that while appropriations were being increased sources of revenue were being lessened and no provision was being made to supply the deficit. The candle was being burned at both ends.
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LEGISLATIVE CONDITIONS.
Having been a member of the Legislature for seventeen years I can sympathize with the members
of the General Assembly in yielding to the pressing
claims made for appropriations. Every heart is responsive to the sentiment that our greatest wealth is in our children, and no one wishes to bear the responsibility of shutting the door of opportunity to our boys and girls by denying them the privileges of education.
;Every patriotic feeling is aroused by the suggestion that a great State should render comfortable the declining days of the old Confederate Veterans who had imperiled their all in her hour of desperate need.
And eloquent, irresistible appeals can be made for all the objects of expenditure which promise a rich harvest of return from every dollar granted by a meagre appropriation.
Your Appropriation Committees, carefully balancing the receipts and disbursements, and recognizing the primal duty of being just before being generous, report a bill appropriating all that the State's revenue will permit. Some gentleman arises in enthusiastic advocacy of an amendment to inerease a quarter of a million dollars, or more, the allowance for some popular purpose, and woe to him who makes' the prosaic suggestion that the State has not the money! . He is' stamped in the Legislature and at home as the enemy of the people, and he sits down, weakened in his influence and misconstrued by his constituents, for having performed his sworn duty.
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THE SYSTEM WRONG.
The system is wrong. It is contrary to the theory of our government, which everywhere endeavors to provide a method of checks and balances. It is not so with the present state of our law.
Prior to the Constitutional Amendment of 1904, limiting the tax rate to five mills, the Governor and Comptroller General met and levied a tax sufficient to pay all appropriations. If the appropriations were large, the tax rate was increased, and the constituents at home being called upon for a heavier drain from their purses, taught a wholesome lesson to their representatives by refusing to re-elect them. The public expenditure was therefore a matter of constant public supervision. This acted as a check, and reminded the Legislators that heavy appropriations meant increased burdens on the people.
Now, the Legislature can appropriate what it pleases, and the tax rate remains' the same. A million, more or less, does not mean a cent more from the tax-payer. The Legislator has made himself a favorite with his constituency by voting for every popular appropriation and nothing suffers but the State's credit. When the crisis' arrives, no one can put his hand upon the one who caused it. He has yielded to the insistence of those who have pressed upon him the necessity for each appropriation, and has escaped the condemnation and misconstruction of an unpleasant refusal. This situation is unfair to the Legislator and to the State.
THE REMEDIES SUGGESTED.
In suggesting the remedies for these conditions, it
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is necessary to consider one marked injustice now placed upon one class of our public servants'. The teachers of our State are not paid lWtil nearly a year after their services are performed. rrhe Governor and the State Honse Officers are paid at appropriate season. The Legislator may draw his pay the first day of the session. Of all the public servants, the teachers, upon whose fidelity and efficiency depend the future of the children, who do more to shape their destinites than any influence save the parents, must wait nearly a year for their compensation, or be required to suffer the heavy discount of the money lender. I respectfully submit that this is wrong.
Up to the 15th day of June, 1913, not one dollar had been paid on the $2,550,000.00 appropriated to Public Schools.
I believe that if you propose to the people a Constitutional Amendment providing for an extra assessment of one mill for one year, and a half mill for the succeeding year, in order that the teachers may be paid with greater promptitude and in order that the deficit in the Treasury may be relieved, such proposition will meet with popular approval.
This is'the brave and fair way to solve the problem
in dealing with the Treasury, and with the teachers, upon whom the future of the children of this State depends more than all the buildings that may house them or the money that may be given them.
To the tax payer who may demur, I submit that if the Constitutional Amendments limiting appropriations be adopted in accordance with my recommendation, the 1l/:2 mills extra taxes to be divided between two years I will be the most economical and the wis'est investment he can make. If they be not
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approved, the State may expect a heavy increase of the deficit until sheer necessity will require a burdensome tax levy or a drastic taxing law, resulting not only in a drain upon the l)tlople, but in injury to the reputation, enterprise and development of the State.
Should the Legislature deem it wise to submit an extra levy of one mill for only one year, the sum raised would approximate $862,000.00 and would be of great aid in expediting the payment of teachers, although it would not permit their monthly payment, in view of the present deficit in the Treasury.
PENSIONS AND SCHOOLS.
The appropriation for Pensions for 1913 amounts to $1,180,000.00. This is practically the largest sum ever granted to aid those to whom we are all debtors. The justice of their claims, their heroism, their sacrifice, and their valor, constitute the proud heritage of us all. With each succeeding year their number i& diminishing, and each year this sum may be expected to decrease.
The direct appropriation for Public Schools for 1913 is $1,962,251.00, which is supplemented hy the special funds provided by the Constitution. In the report of the Comptroller General you will observe that excepting Public Schools and Pensions, onethird of one mill ad valorevm tax added to the other revenues of the State would support every other State institution, including the entire civil establishment and the State Sanatorium, which alone annually demands nearly $600,000.00.
You will observe by the Comptroller General's report that a tax of 21/:.! mills, supplemented by the
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Constitutional appropriations to education, will raise the amount allowed to the Public Schools for 1913, being the largest amount ever granted for the purpose. A direct tax of 1 mills will provide Pensions allowed for 1913, being likewise practically the largest sum ever appropriated.
RECOMMENDATION.
I recommend that you propose Constitutional Amendments which shall provide that the appropriation for schools shall not exceed 21/:2 mills in addition to the Constitutional appropriation; and shall not exceed 11/:2 mills, or exceed $1,180,000.00, annually for Pensions.
In the event these amendments are ratified, you will have submitted to the people a practical plan for preserving the State's credit. You will have applied to the State's affairs the same plan now in force under the Constitution in reference to counties, which are required to specify the purposes for which levy is made. rrhe diminution of the pension fund may be expected, because of the rapid diminution of the pensioners.
As the wealth of the State increases the 2 mills
for sf'hools will produce a larger sum, and if local taxation, which has been suggested by educational authorities as a wise solution of the educ.ational question, should f'.over a larger territory, the amount f'onld he diminished if it be deemed proper in future .Years. Thus a flexible system would have been adopted.
In addition, these funds to Schools and Pensions would be f'Onsecrated to their special purposes and
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their recipients would be relieved from the delays consequent upon other demands. Certainly, in the present condition of the T'reasury, any larger appropriations would be futile, as their payments are being longer and longer delayed, and the lack of money would prevent the issuing or honoring of warrantS'.
The State must be like the father who educates his children according to his means, and certainly every one must pronounce you generous when the apportionment of the rate has been upon the basis of the highest appropriation yet made. And this generosity is emphasized by the fact that during the years for which the appropriations were made, the appropriations exceeded the revenue practically a half million dollars.
In this connection, it may be asked why a similar apportionment for every public purpose should not be made. The answer is obvious. In the case of the State Sanitarium, whose demands are ne:x:t largest in amount to schools and pensions, the State must provide for the insane, and no Constitutional limit can rationally be made. The sinking fund, the interest on the public debt, the new provision to be made for refunding the bonded debt in 1915, cannot likewise be imperiled by the pos'Sible diminution of values through a panic or other financial distress'. The same is true of the Legislative expenses, salaries of State House omcers, Judges', etc. Other items of expenditure are almost negligible, and the minute fraction of a mill could not appropriately be made the subject of a Constitutional Amendment. In fact, the courts and the entire civil establishment could be maintained without the imposition of one dollar ad valorem tax.
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REVENUE.
It will be apparent to those who have had legislative service, that unless some check of the nature proposed be made, the increase of revenue will be of no avail in preventing the :financial embarrassment of the State. Under the enthusiasm of the moment one appropriation bill may exhaust it.
However, I deem it wise to call to your attention an appropriate source of enlarged revenue, without placing upon the people an unfair burden.
More than four-fifths of the States of the Union derive revenue from what is known as an inheritance tax. Practically every nation of the world regards this source of income as fair and easily paid. By inquiry from citizens of States where it is in force, I am informed that this tax is the subject of least complaint.
By common law the right to transmit property was a privilege granted by the State, and was not an inherent right of the citizen. The recipient of a legacy is a beneficiary of another 'S' favor and when the tax is moderate and conservative, it is much less burdensome than a tax upon the industry and enterprise of the one whose labor has aceumulated the property.
In some States the heritage left to members of the immediate family is exempted, as' for example-New ,Jersey, '11exas and 'l1 ennessee. In a large number the tax is small upon that property left to the immediate family, but increases in proportion to the remotenese of the relationship, and is heaviest upon legacies left strangers. Charitable gifts and those of a similar nature are exempted, as is also a reasonable sum left to members of the family.
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It may be well to suggest for your consideration the Constitutional provision of uniformity in the imposition of taxes. Eminent lawyers have given it as their opinion that in Georgia no exemption based on amount can be granted, nor can the taxes be increased in proportion to the size of the estate. While legacies or inheritances can be differently taxed in proportion to remoteness of relationship, because of reasonable classification, it is questionable whether a varying rate can be imposed on the same class, Jependent upon amount. Upon this question of law I venture no opinion, but it is advisable to investigate this position, should you contemplate an inheritance tax law.
It must be admitted that the revenue to be anticipated from this source will be comparatively small for many years to come, and cannot be made the basis for appropriating money until tested by actual trial.
rl'bis form of tax has been approved by the highest authorities and is, one of the easiest borne and subject to fewer hardships than any other. No practical method bas been devised for forcing personal property to bear its just proportion of the expense of government. The drastic suggestions proposed operate as s11ch hindrances to commerce, become so inquisitorial in character, and are susceptible of so
many means of evasion, that all efforts to collect
taxes from this source have been unsuccessful. The inheritance tax is to some extent a corrective.
Thrift, enterprise and economy shauld be encouraged, but the small contribution suggested in the tax laws of other States, when made by those
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who enjoy the benefit of others industry and sacrifice, would not be the cause of just complaint among our people.
OccuPATION TAX ON CORPORATIONS.
Prior to the year 1905, many efforts were made to collect an occupation tax from corporations, but in the judgment of the Legislature the exactions suggested were to'O severe and imposed a burden too oppressive. Governor Terrell, in his message of the year 1905, called attention to the fairness of a reasonable charge by the State for granting charters to corporations, with the privileges accompanying such corporate life. He suggested in his message, that a small contribution from each corporation could be legitimately imposed, and recommended a tentative privilege tax based on capital stock of $100.00 pet year on corporations having a capital of one million dollars, or over. He anticipated from this source more ,than $100,000.00, a year, and thought that such sum could reasonably be expected without hardship. Governor Terrell stated at the time that if this sum was not received the tax could be adjusted so as to produce it. The State, however, has not received one-half this sum, and during the year 1913, the estimated revenue from this source is $48,000.00.
I recommend that the maximum occupation tax on corporations having one milJion dollars capital and over, be $200.00 per annum, and the tax on corporations' of leRs capital be adjusted accordingly.
EQUALIZATION OF TAXES.
The Democratic Platform of 1912, adopted at Macon, contains the following language:
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'' Among the most important matters affecting our State Government, which must be dealt with by the administration, is that of the State's finances. The solution of this question demands the attention and co-operation of all patriotic citizens.
"The State is rich, and no period of its history has shown a greater ratio of growing wealth than the present. But the State government's fiscal system has not developed with the times and the growth of our commonwealth. The period is approaching, if it has not already arrived, when the system must be reformed.
"Some method should be adopted whereby the State's finances will be rehabilitated and precautions should be taken to guarantee that at no time the expenditures will be permitted to exceed the revenues. Our system of raising taxes has been improved but little since the present Constitution was adopted. General wealth and the concentration thereof, having increased to such a great extent and our population becoming so diversified, the method of levying taxes has been reduced to the obsolete and inefficient. The burdens of government
should be placed in equal proportions to the
benefits conferred and the protection enjoyed. All property should bear in equal measure its share of taxes'. None should be taxed excessively and none should be permitted to escape taxation.
"We recommend that the Legislature at its next session make provision for putting into practical effect the above undeniably correct principles of government."
The foregoing extract from the Democratic creed
must meet the approval of all. At this time, with the
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necessity upon this' Legislature of providing for the refunding of over one-ha]f of the State's entire bonded debt, no revolutionary plan of dealing with our financial system can be attempted. Whenever it is done, if such course should be deemed wise, every feature of the new f,cheme will be subjected to attack on Constitutional grounds in both State and Federal Courts. No radical experiment should be made at this time.
No objection, however, can be offered to a fair and conservative attempt to justly apportion governmental burdens, without imperilling the general income.
It ean not be denied that injustice is done when one man pays taxes on ten per cent of the value of his property, while another pays on fifty per cent.
Equalization of taxes, either through the enforcement of present laws, or now correctives, S'o that each may bear his proportionate burden, would not mean the increase of taxes upon any one now performing his duty, but would rather mean the lightening of his unfair portion of the load.
I commend this subject to your attention.
PUBLIC ECONOMY.
In closing this part of my message, I beg to call your attention to the fact that I have emphasized more than the raising of revenue the necessity of economy. The fundamental doctrine that the exaction of a larger sum from citizens than is necessary for the maintenance of government is tyranny, is often overlooked in legislative assemblies. But the function of government in contributing to the wel-
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fare and happiness of the citizen is constantly enlarging. With this broadening of the field of its activities within conservative limits is found not only an increasing elevation of citizenship, but an accompanying growth of material prosperity.
BONDED DEBT TO BE REFUNDED.
An additional reason for establishing and maintaining the State's finances on a sound basis, is' the necessity of making provision for more than onehalf of the entire bonded debt of the State, maturing in 1915. This is an imperative duty resting on this Legislature.
In order that your investigation of this subject may be facilitated I give you the detailed statement of the history and amount of these bonds, which statement is supplied by the State Treasurer:
'' Statement of Bonds, State of Georgia, maturing, J915, quotation of Acts and Code bearing upon Sinking Fund, etc. Ga. 4% Bonds, Act ]884, issued
1885, due ,July 1915__________$3,392,000.00 Ga. 3% Coupon Bonds, Act 1894,
issued 1895, due May 1915_____ 287,000.00
Total ____________ --------- _$3,679,000.00
"Act 1884-5, Folio 116, No. 60. Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of this State, and it is hereby enacted by authorit.'of the same, That his Excellency the Governor be, and is hereby authorized and empowered .to issue negotiable bonds of the State to the amount of $3,455,135.00, and negotiate the same for the purpose of raising money to pay off that portion of the principal of the public
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debt which may fall due during the years 1885 and 1886, said bonds to be issued and negotiated at such times and in such amounts (not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of $3,455,135.00) as the Governor in his discretion may see proper, in order to meet the wants of the State, etc.
'' There were three deliveries made of bon<ls under Act 1884, namely : July 1, 1885, 100 bonds $1,000 each $100,000.00 ,Jan. 1, 1886, 250 bonds $1,000 each_ 250,000.00 May 3', 1886, 3042 bonds $1,000
each ______________________.__3,042,000.00

Principal ___________________$3,392,000.00

Premium of 5/16 on entire issue_ Interest less amount of old bonds
exchange<l __________________
Amount received, under resolution Oct. 13, 1885 ____________

10,600.00 49,927.50 1,730.19

$3,454,257.69
"Act 1894, Folio 127, No. 19. The Act provides for the sale of the Northeastern Railroad; to make provision for the discharge of the liability of the State on the bonds of the said Railroad Company, and for this purpose to authorize the issue of bonds of the State, the par value of which shall be equal to the amount of the State's liability by reason of its eudorsement upon the bonds' of said Company; to authorize the exchange of said bonds with the holders of the indorsed bonds, and to provide for the sale of so many of said bonds as may be neces'sary to pay such of the indorsed bonds as shall not be thus exchanged, and ,on all accrued interest on said indorsed bonds, and for other purposes, etc.

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Received from sale of 3% bonds $287,063.80
3 % bonds and premiums not
issued _________________________ 3,000.00 From Receiver N. E. R. R._______ 2,800.00
$292,864.46
"Sec. 914, Code. Ad valorem tax for payment of bonds. The Governor, by and with the assistance of the Comptroller General, is authorized and empowered annually, beginning in 1910, to levy and assess a tax on the ad valorem value of the taxable property of \this State at such rate as may be sufficient to raise the net amount of $100,000, as a sinking fund to pay off and retire the valid, outstanding bonds of the State as they fall due as required by article 7, section 14, paragraph 1, of the Constitution. The tax above authorized 1shall be specially levied and collected, and separate accounts of same shall be kept by the treasurer, and the money. arising therefrom shall be applied to paying off the valid bonds of the State as they may mature. 'rlie amount so raised in the year 1910 sha11 be applied to paying off and retiring the valid bonds of the State tmaturing in 1912, and so on continuously, etc.
CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA.
'' Sec. 6571, Code. The General Assembly shall raise by taxation, each year, in addition to the sum required to pay the public expenses and interest on public debt, the sum of $100,,000.00, which shall be 'held as a sinking fund to pay off and retire the bonds of the State which have not yet matured, and shall be applied to no other purpose whatever, etc.'
No sinking fund was provided by law to retire the
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bonds aggregating $3,679,000.00 which are due in 1915, since it was the intention of the General Assembly to later make provision for the retirement of this large amount.
The entire State's debt is $6,452, 500.00, which does not include the obligations to the University, amounting to $291,500.00, and the Landscript Fund of $90, 000.00.
All the debt of $6,452,500.00 is provided for, or will be provided for by the sinking fund required to be raised annually until the entire debt is paid off, except the $3',679,000.00 which falls due in May and July 1915, and excepting the bonds issued under the Act of 1891 and due 1920 amounting to $207,000.00, and those issued under the Act of 1895, and due in 1926, amounting to $230,000.00. No provision is made for the payment of $33,000.00 of bonds which mature in 1935, or of the University obligations.
It should be borne in mind that the fund from the sale of public property applic.able only to the payment of the bonded debt, now in the Treasury, amounts to $37,450.00, which will be increased $107,000.00 in 1915 by the last payment due by the Southern Railway Company on the purchase of the Northeastern Railroad.
If refunding bonds were issued in 1915, making the first $100,000.00 fall due in 1935, then the sinking fund could be made to run continuously and retire each year, until paid, $100,000.00 of this series of 1915 refunding bonds.
This plan would seem advisable in order to relieve the Treasury and the people of the increased burden at this time, unless financial conditions at the time
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of the sale of the bonds should demand that their redemption begin at an earlier period in order to effectuate their more satisfactory disposition.
Many details have been suggested to me in reference to making the investment in these securities the more attractive. Leading bond men in financial center$ have stated that if they were certified by some responsible rrrust Company, thus assuring their genuineness, and guarding against their being counterfeited, and if their validity were approved by attorneys who are specialists in this line, the expens'e would be more than repaid in the price that could be obtained. These are matters which you can determine upon appropriate investigation.
Certainly no safer investment can be afforded than these bonds. By our Constitution the issuance of any new bonds', excepting to refund old ones, is prohibited. Likewise the State is forbidden to incur any new debt. All the State's property, including the Western & Atlantic Railroad, is pledged as security for its bonds, and the Westem & Atlantic Railroad is worth three times the entire debt of Georgia. If every bond of the State were paid today from the sale of its railroad alone over ten million dollars would be left in the Treas11ry.
No Southern State, and so far as I know can any State, make sueh a showing. R.v Constitutional provision whatever else rnny remain unpaid, the interest on t.he public debt and the Sinking Fund to retire its bonds, must first be provided.
Free from every tax, Federal, State County and l\funicipal, we can offer these obligations of a proS'perous State as poss('Nsing everr attraction that can be offered to the investor.
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I recommend that through your appropriate Committees you consider at once the matter of refunding the State's indebtedness above referred to.
REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
'' There is' nothing of more importance than the protection of the purity of the ballot, for upon the franchises of the citizens the liberties of all must depend for perpetuation. However, the citizen should be encouraged to exercise the privilege of voicing his opinion in the conduct of his government. Severe and unnecessary restrictions should not be countenanced.
"We believe the pres'ent registration Jaw should be so amended that when a voter haR once proven his qualification by registering and being enrolled, he Rhall remain a registered voter unless disqualified for cause due to himself. Permanent registration would Rtop the confusing difficultieR now besetting the voter and provide a safe method for protecting the integrity of the ha11ot. VVe tnrnt the next Legislature wil1 amend the present law."
The foregoing extract from the last platform upon which I was elected, expresses a principle which deserves universal arceptance. It contemplates no change of the Constitution which provides for the
qualification of the voter. It recommendR no amend-
ment which would degrade the requisites of suffrage. It only endorneR the paRS'age of legiRlation that will render easy the exer<'ise of the inalienable right to vote by the man entitled to vote.
The farmers of a neighborhood have duly registered, but the succeeding year when busy with their
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crops they can not send their taxes to the collector by some neighbor going to town, except on penalty of being disfranchised.
The traveling men who have registered one year
can not send their remittances the next year to the
proper officer, and so it is with men in every calling who perform civic duties and who have overlooked the last day of registration, or have been prevented from registering anew by compelling reasons. The professional politician never forgets.
The regristrars must in any event purge the list. If the citizen has moved into a new community and if he wa-R not registered the year before, he may be required to register in accordanee with the present law.
But I reccommend that the preRent registration law be amended to correct the injustice indicated. It would always beassumed that the voter must have paid his taxes and not subjected himself to any of the disqualifications provided by law.
To place the present hardship upon the people j,, as indefensible as for Nero to have rendered it diffi-
cult for the people of Rome to learn its laws by
placing them on a wall beyond their vision.
HIGHWAYS.
It is needless to impress upon you the importance of our highways. Their value is an asset of the entire. State. The family that receives its daily mail, the farmer who hauls his product to market, the school with its improved facilities, are all debtors to good roads.
A student of the subject has declared that every hard rain in Georgia damages its roads more than
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one million dollars, due to unscientific construction. An intelligent Highway Commission, or Commissioner, clothed with proper authority, could be the means of untold benefit in suggesting proper methods of building the road adapted to the locality, or in solving the problems of engineering whi0h might arise in varous sections. This proposition was embodied in the original Bill placing convicts on the roads, ana was only defeated by one vote in the House. Its wisdom has been recognized by my predecessors and I concur in their recommendations.
w ESTERN & ATLANTIC RAILROAD.
I call your attention to the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the lease of which terminates in 1919. The wise disposition of this property requires' the most enlightened statemanship, and in view of its immense value, probably three times that of the entire State's debt, immediate consideration should be given to this splendid heritage of our F:athers.
Like any other proposition involving business judgment, this subject demands painstaking care and investigation. The suggestion has been made that at its terminals there is appurtenant much property unnecessary for railroad purposes, and which could be utilized by the State without damaging the railroad, at a largely increased revenue.
Whether this be true, and if true what arrangement should be made with such property, calls for accurate and detailed knowledge. The Western & Atlantic Railroad belongs to the entire State, and during the period of our darkest hours it supplied with funds our scanty Treasury and constituted the guarantee of our school fund.
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No one, I apprehend, would or should consider its sale, but the problem of its disposition should be considered by a commission with directions to report its recommendations and its reasons' therefor.
To delay this matter will mean to put the State at the inexcusable disadvantage of unpreparedness when the fone arrives for imperative action.
CRIMINAL LAw.
One of the fundamental purposes of government is t~e protection of life and safety of the citizen. While our people are law abiding, the enforcement of law must depend upon the machinery provided by the Legislature. If the rules of evidence are so shaped as to prevent the discovery of the truth, and if the State is deprived of the means of sifting the facts, the judges and juries are not to be blamed if crimes are allowed to go unpunished.
In the reconstruction period, when antagonism existed between emancipated slaves and their former masters, it may have been essential that the white man, struggling for his existence, be allowed to make a statement possessing a value superior to all sworn evideuee. 'rhis was a law of necessity, which grew out of the exigencies of the time.
But conditions have changed. It is an anomaly that a defendant should take the stand, make any statement that he sees fit, or that his shrewd lawyer has prepared, and being immune from cross-examination, demand that the judge shall charge the jury that they may accept his unsworn statement in preference to all the evidence in the case.
His carefully written statement may contain all
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manner of prejudicial assertions which constitute no defense, but the State is not allowed to disprove or to question them. The jury is by law instructed that they may consider them. Without introducing evidence, in order that his attorney may make the last speech, he declares that he can prove assertions by various witnesses, often disreputable men, and challenges the Solicitor-General to introduce them. This can not be done becaus'e the State can not vouch for their character.
This practice of making a statement under the provision of law now existing is scarce, if it be of force anywhere outside of Georgia. It's a provision which acquits guilty men and places al~ost insuperable ohstaclos in the way of their conviction. As a lawyer defending a guilty man, I should like the practice. From the standpoint of a legislator, seeking to render safe the life and pro11erty of tho citizen, and charged with the ohligation of making proper provision for the enforcement of tho htw, 1 believe it should he abolished.
Leading lawyers of this Rtah\ interested in the welfare of its ritiz;enship, doing n hirge rriminal practiPe, have urged upon me the wonderful corrective influence s1wih an act would accomplish.
I, therefore, rerommend that a law he passed nholiP-hing the defendant's statement, and. providing in its plaro that he be sworn as a witness, if he desires, hut his failure to he so sworn he not subject to adverse romment hy proic:ePuting counRel. 'rhis is in arrordanpe with enrr0nt Federal nnd Rtate law.
The legislation m Oeorgia against carryrng con-
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cealed weapons has in recent years boon conspicuous. It has been suggested by the law of self-preservation. Daily we read of men who have shot others, and have been acquitted on the old statement that the deceased threw his hand on his' hip-pocket, and the defendant shot in fear of his life. When searched, the dead man was found generally unarmed.
I do not believe in the severity, so much as the certainly and celerity, of punishment. It often-times happens that for the purpose of having a weapon repaired, or for other innocent reason, a man may technically violate the law. In such a case his punishment should be nominal. There are many who carry concealed. weapons with the tempta:tion 'to swiftly use them upon the slightest provocation.
If the carrying of concealed weapons were made a felony, subject to be reduced to a misdemeanor by either judge or jury, the deterrent effect of such a law would be the saving of many a life. I earnestly recommend tc you the consideration of this question.
BANKING LAws.
The banks of a State are necessary instrumentalities in the conduct of its commerce. They are important factors in the development of any community. Any measure which will stimulate economy and saving on the part of a citizen is wise, and to do this, confidence in our banking instituttions should he established.
They perform public functions, and as such are properly subjected to governmental superv1s10n. The bankers of the State, with the desire of maintaining a high standard of responsibility and of af-
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fording guarantees against improvident management that imperils the money of the people, recommend legislation looking to the accomplishment of these objects. I commend this subject as one worthy of your serious consideration.
AUDITOR.
My predecessors have rerommended the creation of the position of State Auditor, and in this recommendation I heartily concur.
No business dealing with the annual disbursement of six million dollars, would fail to provide for such supervision of its expenditures. T'he Legis'lature constantly appropriates money to be used in a specific way, but no means are provided for seeing that the legislative mandate is complied with.
vVhen the drain on the treasury is heaviest, it often happens thnt demands are made for warrants which eould be delayed if the Governor had the adequate information from an auditor.
His services could be utilized. in checking the rost of new buildings for which requests may be made h~the various institutions. Thos'e who have served on the Appropriation Committees are aware of the inadequate facilities of the State in nrriving at the amount of the necessary expenditures.
Such an offi,cer would many times repay the State the small amount of his salary.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
The Constitution is the expression of the supreme law of the land. It can only be rhanged by the people speaking in their sovereign capacity. In order that
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they may vote intelligently on any proposition it is essential that they understand it.
I have noticed a growing disposition to submit
amendments for ratification or rejection by referring to the Article and Section of the Cons1titution, conveying no intimation to the voter of the question proposed. I recommend that in proposing Constitutional Amendments, you plainly indicate the proposition to the voter in such language that he may understand the meaning of the question submitted.
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.
The Agricultmal Schools are doing a magnificent work along the lines for which they have been organized. In this field of education is one of the most splendid opportunities of the State. T'he stimulation of interest in them and the desire to enjoy the opportunities they afford would be of inestimable value.
My predecessor has called :=ittention to the fact that some of the Schools are well attended, while others receive little patronage, whether due to the matter of location, or lack of interest, or from what caus'e, I am unable to say. Each obtains the same appropriation from the State for maintenance. I recommend that you investigate their condition, and apply the proper remedies.
GENERAL APPROPRIATION BILL.
Allow me to suggest that the Constitution places upon the Executive as well as the Legislature, the duty of squaring the expenditures with the income. When the Appropriation Bill is submitted to him on
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the last days of the session he must either approve it, or call an extra session. If he disapproves an item it :must be passed over his veto, or be re-introduced as a new bill. I trust you may find it expedient to transmit to me the General Appropriation Bill ten days before your adjournment, in order that it may be considered in the light of the State's resources. By co-operation we may be enabled to arrive at some plan of solving financial difficulties that would be helpful to the State.
CONCLUSION.
In concluding what I have had to say in the way of recommendations, itis needless repetition to recount the many blessings enjoyed by Georgians today, which their State never possessed before. And yet, within the last few years' her citizens, through Constitutional Amendments and Legislative Acts have added heavily to her expenditures. Their Representatives, with the approval of their constituents, have diverted from the Treasury, the enormous sum of approximately two million dollars. This bas been since the limitation of the taxing rate. Shall Georgia deprive her children of their educational opportunities? Shall the schools which teach her girls the domestic accomplishments and render home attraetive be closed? Shall she be forced to eall on distant States for trained intellects to solve her agricultural, her technical and scientific problems? 'Shall work on her roads, with all its blessings, be lessened? I apprehend no Georgian will permit a backward step.
It is, however, absolutely necessary that we recog-
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nize the principle of economy, and resolutely decline to appropriate more than our income.
Character is as essential as knowledge, and is pre-
ferable to generosity, and to limit our debts to our
income is a fundamental requisite of the State. Even if it means sacrifice for a season, it will be a wholesome less:on to our citizens, and will emphasize the homelier virtues that make a strong, provident and self-reliant people. 'l'he passing of an appropriation bill without the means to pay it is of no aid to the beneficiary, and is not a credit to the Representatives who pass it.
To no detail or plan am I wedded. Those remedies I have suggested ihave largely been a development of the thought of others. My long legislative experience and observation have approved them. They are not spectacular, but practical. If other plans which accomplish the same result occur to you, I should gladly accept them. I am wedded to no specific corrective.
Georgia is your State and mine. Within her borders I was born and by her schools was I educated. With you, I love her people and every acre of her broad domain. I am ready to unite with every one of you in any endeavor to maintain and advance her unexampled prestige as the fairest in the sisterhood of States.
Governor.
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