MESSAGE
OF
GOVERNOR THOMAS W. HARDWICK
TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF
GEORGIA
JUNE 29, 1923

MESSAGE
OF
GOVERNOR THOMAS W. HARDWICK
TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF
GEORGIA
JUNE 29, 1923

TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
In accordance with practice, and in obedience to law, it now becomes my duty, for the last time, to gi\-e you "information on the state cf the c-ommonwealth" and to recommend for your consideration such measures as may seem necessary or expedient.
I wish to assure you, at the outset, that in the performance of this high duty I am inspired by no other motive except the good of the State amt the well being of its people. Retiring as I shall in a few days from public station, I shall i.;arry with me into private life and into such other public duties of a very different character as await me a deep and real love for the people of Georgia, a sincere and grateful a:Jpreciation of the many mal'lrn of confidence and esteem that they have at various times bestowed)\Pon me, and a real and anxious soi1citude for their prosperity and happiness, and it is in this spirit that I address you in the performance of the last public duty that rests upon me as Governor of Georgia.
As I attempt to give you information on the state of the commonwealth, I am c;onscious of a feeling of deep solicitude and of keen anxiety respecting the immediate future of the State, which I cannot conceal and to which I feel ob:igated to give frank and candid expression.
In Georgia and throughout the country public opinion is now and has been for some years in an uncertain and unsettled condition. We are barely beginning to emerge from that unrest and dissatisfaction that always accompanies and characterizes the reconstruction ,~eriods that inevitably
a and inescapably come in the vrnke of great ,var. In such
a period restlessness and instability seem inseparable from necessary readjustment. I ha,e eYery confidence, however, that in Georgia and throughout the country reaction to normal sanity and to the great fundamentals upon which
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both our society and Olff government rest is rapidly replac-

ing that restless spirit of mobocracy and la,~lessness. that

seeks and tends to destroy respect for and confidence in

all governments, national, state and local, and in the men

who administer them, to undermine and destroy all re-

~;pect for and confidence in the courts and the men who administer the law therein, and to substitute for the otderly processes of representative government, both in the m~king of the laws and in their administration, the re~kl'.ess passions and seething prejudices of an unsettled hour: In
such a period one of the most powerful and irritatirig of the
forces that make for restlessness is financial depression, and no thoughtful or informed person can doubt that much of the radicalism and unrest that has marked our pfesent reconstruction period comes from that source.

A deflation of both currency and credits that, in my judgment, was entirely too drastic and too sudden, closely followed the armistice and cost this country in lowered values, dropping prices and contracting business tnany times more than the great war itself cost us, even if we include in that cost the billions we lent to our late associates in that war.

In the country as a whole the marvelous vitality 'a:nd re-

cuperative power of American business seems to have with-

stood the shock and weathered the storm so well that as a

rule recovery to normal prosperity is general and is at hand,

but it is also a fact to which we would be foolish to shut

our eyes that certain sections of our country and certain

classes of our citizens have not as yet shared to any ap-

preciable degree in the improvement to which I have: al-

luded.

. ,

Throughout the nation the agdci'.iltural masses have suffered most and have recovered mo~t' slowly. The prices of
their staple products have, as a rule, dropped fai below the
high prices of the war period and that without any comj)ensating reduction in their costs of production or iri their

3

cost of living. How to meet and cure this trouble is the greatest problem that confronts the real statesmanship of the day, for no real statesman can fail to apprehend that this country, as a whole, can have no real and permanent prosperity so long as agricultural production languishes, or is profitless.
The Southern farmer has not only shared in the general distress that has come to the farmers of all sections, but just at this juncture he has been burdened and cursed with the boll weevil pest that has threatened the destruction of his great money crop and that cannot be fought with any measure of success without a great increase in the cost of producing cotton. The farmers of Georgia have been among the heaviest, if not the very heaviest, sufferers from this combination of falling prices and the boll weevil, for in Georiia the climax of boll weevil troubles and of the sudden deflation to which I have alluded came together, hit hardest and bit deepest. The Georgia farmer, however, comes of stern and fighting stock. He has no "cry-baby" spirit, and the word 'quit" is not to be found in his old-fashioned dictionary. He inherited this indomitable spirit from his fathers. That spirit has been in splendid evidence this year in Georgia. Inspired by it, the debt-burdened Georgia farmer has sold his timber down to its smallest trees and has skimped and scraped in every posible and conceivable way to raise money to buy fertilizer and calcium arsenate and to employ labor, in a herculean effort to produce one more good crop, in the hope that he could thereby reduce the burden of his debts. He has exhausted every source of credit and strained every nerve in one supreme effort to "come back." Weather and crop conditions since the planting time, and continuing up to the very moment that this message is being prepared, have been so untoward and so unfavorable as to cause the gravest concern and to make it extremely doubtful whether, regardless of the boll-weevil or financial difficulties, anything like a full and profitable
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crop of either cotton or any one of our other great staples can be produced in Georgia this year. There is, of course, the hope still remaining that continued hot and dry weather for the balance of the summer may, to some extent, repair the damage that has already been done, but I have a very great and a very real fear that we are actually facing not only a possible but a probable crop failure in Georgia this year, and so deep is my concern over this situation that I regard it as my solemn duty to invite the attention of the General Assembly to it, so that the General Assembly may proceed with great caution and extreme prudence just at this juncture and may apply to the fiscal affairs of the State and to the appropriations it must make the most rigid and ruthless economy.
FISCAL AFFAIRS.
This brings me directly to a brief discussion of the fiscal affairs of the State, which are, just at this juncture, of paramount importance. In presenting to you what I shall endeavor to say on this subject I shall not follow the custom that I have hitherto followed on similar occasions-present you with a mass of figures and a wealth of detail. On the contrary, for details and figures I shall refer you to the very able and comprehensive reports of the Comptr0ller-GeneraI of Georgia and of the State Tax Commissioner of Georgia for this year and to my message to the General Assembly of Georgia of date June 29, 1922. By omitting details and figures as much as possible, and merely referring you to the sources from which accurate and reliable figures may be obtained, I hope to be able to add force as well as terseness and comparative brevity to what I shall have to say on this subject.
The report of the Budget Commission created under the Act of August 15, 1922, is or will be before you. It correctly sta,tes the condition of the State's finances and gives you what I believe to be the only wise and safe course to
5

follow in making the appropriations for the years 1924 and 1925, except that I shall recommend in another part of this message certain, special economies and retrenchments in various departments of the State government which are not touched upon, e,:cept in a very general way, in the report of the Budget Commission.
I now wish to present to you a very brief review of the fiscal history of the State since the beginning of the present administration and up to the present time. This is not done with a view of either defending the fiscal policies of my administration or praising them, but merely for the purpose of enabling you to see exactly what the true condition of the State's fiscal affairs is at the present moment, so that you may enter upon the discharge of your duties at this critical juncture with a fair understanding of what the real situation is.
When I was inaugurated Governor of Georgia, two years ago, the State of Georgia faced a deficit of more than $2,000,000; (See message of 1921, page 7). In large measure this deficit came from increased appropriations for pensions authorized by the Acts of 1918 and 1919. To make up this deficit the General Assembly of 1921 authorized the Governor to discount the rental due the State for a period of five years for the W. & A. Railroad, and to apply the same to the current appropriations that were due and unpaid. After a heated controversy, this legislation was challenged in the courts and was finally held to be constitutional by our Supreme Court; and of the sum of $2,297,586.21 realized from this railroad rent discountal (at th~ discount rate of 5.95';{) the greater part of $1,960,408.00 was employed to pay off all arrears in pensions due the Confederate veterans and their widows up to January 1, 1922. The remainder of the sum realized by the discount, $337,178.21, was paid on the appropriations for the common schools. At the same session of the Legislature, in 1921, in order to replace the rentals thus discounted, a
6

.special tax of one cent per gallon was levied on gasoline, and as that tax has actually produced a net revenue of about $750,000 per annum, it has more than replaced the discounted railroad rental, which amounts to $540,000 per annum.
By this major operation and by cutting all other appropriations ten per cent, where a cut was possible, the General Assembly, in 1921, restored the balance to our fis,~al affairs and left income and outgo balanced, with a reasonable margin to cover expected and unavoidable deficiencies, except that it made, of course, no provisions for increases in either the classes of pensioners or the amount of pensions for the year 1922 and 1923, and except that it made an unfortunate and impracticable appropriation to the common schools of one-half of the excess of the revenues of the State above $8,500,000 for the years 1922 and 1923, to both of which matters I shall now call your attention, with some particularity and concerning both of which I shall have certain definite and specific recommendations to make. Before I undertake to do this, however, permit me to say that the deficiency appropriations made by the General Assembly in 1922, and approved by the Governor in 1922, did not destroy the balance between revenues and appropriations, between income and outgo, though they did wipe out substantially all surplus, and left the budget within $10,000 or $15,000 of a balance. When the General Assembly met in 1922, however, great pressure came on the question of pensions. It now becomes my duty to call your attention to what has happened so that you may understand the present situation with respect to this matter and may fairly and intelligently discharge your duty to the State. By the legislation of 1918 and 1919 and by the constitutional amendment approv~d by the people in 1918, important changes were authorized in ou'r pension system, both in the classification of pensioners and in the amount of the pensions to be paid. Prior to 1918, no Confederate vet-
7

eran who returned property valued at more than $1,500 was permitted to draw a pension, and no widow could draw a pension unless she had been married to the veteran, for whose service she drew a pension, prior to January 1, 1870, and the amount of each pension was fixed at $100 per annum. By the legislation to which I have alluded, passed in 1918 and 1919, the property qualification of $1,500, to which I have referred, was eliminated from the law and the time limit within which the widows must have married the veterans, for whose service they drew, was raised from January 1, 1970, to January 1, 1881. It was also provided in this legislation that all the pensions should be increased from $100 per year so as to be $125 per annum in 1921; $150 per annum in 1922; and $175 per annum in 1923, and $200 per annum in 1924. It must be remembered, however, that these changes in the law merely conferred upon the General Assembly the bare power and authority to make appropriations in these amounts and to these classes, without making it either the legal or moral duty of the General Assembly to make such appropriations unless and until that body could provide sufficient revenues with which to meet and pay the same. On the contrary, it is, I think, indisputable that, whatever the legal power and authority of the Legislature was to make these appropriatio:-.s, it had no moral right to do so unless it also provided, in some way, the revenue with which the appropriations could be paid. At the session of 1921, it will be recalled that the General Assembly provided for all arrears in pensions to both old and new classes up to January 1, 1922, and then provided, in the general appropriations bill, for an appropriation of $1,250,000 in order to pay the old classes, namely: veterans who did not posses property of more than $1,500 in value, according to their tax returns, and widows who had married prior to January 1, 1870, and to pay only these classes at the old rate of $100 per annum. At the session of 1922, the General Assembly under-
8

took to appropriate for 1922 and 1923 to all classes of the veterans, new and old alike, and at the rate of $150 for 1922, and $175 for 1923. Because the Legislature provided no additional revenue and because it was, in my opinion, useless, and worse than uselss, to make these appropriations when to pay them was impossible with the revenues of the State as they were and without increased revenues, I was forced to withhold my approval from this legislation.
Income and outgo must be kept balanced in Georgia. Pay as you go, is the motto of common sense which ought to apply to and govern public and private business alike, and I was utterly unable to give my approval to any legislation that sought to appropriate money for any purpose, when I knew that the revenues of the State could not meet and pay the appropriation and when the body making the appropriation, also clothed with the power to levy taxes, failed and refused to provide any adequate additional revenue out of which to pay the appropriations.
Now, let us see briefly and fairly what the situation is with respect to this pension matter: In round figures, there are about 10,000 names of veterans and widows of the old classes on the pension rolls, and about 7,000 in the new classes. To pay what the law authorized to old and new classes alike would require, in round figures, $2,500,000 for the year 1922, instead of 1,250,000, or an increase of $1,250,000 for 1922. In like manner, to pay all classes $175 per annum for the year 1923 would require, in round figures, $3,000,000, instead of $1,250,000, or an increase of $1,750,000. And in like manner, to pay all classes, old and new alike, $200 per annum for the year 1924 will require $3,400,000, or an increase of $2,150,000 for the year 1924. In other words, to proceed on the theory that if the Legislature is either legally or morally bound to appropriate this money simply because it has authority of law to do so, and to pay to all classes, old and new alike, pensions according to the
9

ascending scale fixed in the Act of 1918, and to appropriate for arrears as well as for the future, means that over $5,000,000 additional must be found to meet our pension bill up to and including the year 1924, at the new rates, in addition to the $1,250,000 that we have been annually appropriating for this purpose. I submit to you, in all candor and sincerity, that this is financially impossible, under the present fiscal system of the State. You can not, in my judgment, find the money, under the constitutional limitations under which you labor, and the practical situation that confronts you is that all pension legislation since 1918 should be repeakd and the pensioners of the old classes be paid at the old rates, as they were prior to 1918. Nothing else is possible, under the present revenue and fiscal affairs of Georgia; and, besides, I doubt very much whether it is ~ither wise or just to pay pensioners without regard to t:heir wealth, for I believe that if the toiling masses of the State can stand more taxation for this purpose, that larger pensions should be paid to those of our Confederate veterans ~nd widows who are poor and needy, and nothing to those who are very wealthy or well off.
In the general appropriation bill of August 15, 1921, there is the following provision:
"For the support and maintenance of the common or public schools of the State, $4,250,000 for each of the years 1922 and 1923, and should the revenue of the State exceed the sum of $8,500,000, then one-half of the excess of each year to be applied to said common or public schools."
The final provision above quoted rests, of course, upon the basis that the total appropriations made by the Legislature for 1922 were not to exceed $8,500,000, for if they were in excess of that figure then, necessarily, either other specific and certain appropriations or this conditional appropriation would be nullified to the extent of such excess

over the sum of $8,500,000. But the general appropriation bill referred to, and the very one that contains this provision, carried appropriations amounting to $9,452,237.15; and at the 1922 session the General Assembly increased these appropriations for the year 1922, by deficiency and special appropriations, to the sum of $9,736,047. In my annual mesage to the General Assembly of Georgia of date June 29, 1922, (See pages 11 and 12), I pointed out this situation to the General Assembly and urged that this provision be repealed, since to pay the conditional appropriation therein caried was impossible and impracticable.
The Legislature did not repeal the provision; it made other appropriations for 1922 that I approved, amounting to almost $300,000, and others that I could not approve, amounting into millions. It provided not one cent of additional revenues to met the appropriation contained in the provision, or to meet the appropriations I was forced to veto. The deficiency appropriations approved by me carried us dangerously close to a balanced budget, leaving an excess of only about $14,000 of revenue aboxe expenditures for the year 1922, even if all tax collections are made as estimated.
Under our fiscal system all property taxes are returned in the Spring of one year, collected in the Winter of the same year, or more generally in the early months of the following year, and sometimes, in hard times like the present, where some leniency in tax collection must be shown, not until Spring of the year following that when they are due.
The two largest items of our State budget are for Common Schools and for Pensions. These items are so large that they can not be paid without due regard to when the State actually receives the bulk of its revenues.
Consequently, following the law in part, as in the case of School appropriations, and unbroken executive precedent and practice as regards the pensions and other appropria-
11

tions, the School appropriation is paid after the bulk of the State property tax comes into the Treasury, in the early Spring, and in the meantime a system of discounting the school warrants established in the Act of 1915 is maintained. One-half of the Pension appropriation is paid in the Spring, when the property taxes come in, and the other half in the Fall, when certain special taxes on corporations are collected. All other appropriations for all departments and institutions of the State are paid monthly, the appropriation being in each case, so far as possible and practicable, divided into twelve equal installments and paid to these departments and institutions at monthly intervals. Naturally and necessarily while and so long as the State must spend the bulk of its money the year before it is collected, there is a constant over-lapping both of receipts and expenditures from one year into another. It is unavoidable and inescapable. This system has obtained for many years, is authorized by law and exists under the executive discretion vested by law in the Governor and other fiscal officers of the State. Under it the appropriations for all departments and institutions for 1922 have been paid. Under it, the $4,250,000 appropriation for the common schools has been paid, under it the obligations for 1922, except the appropriation made by this provision, have been met and paid.
If this State and all of its various departments and institutions, was to continue to function, it was my imperative duty to make provision for monthly payments to these various departments and institutions, during the year 1922, especially since each of these appropriations was positive and certain, and I had no right, as Governor, to deny the payment of these positfve and certain appropriations in order to await the ascertaining of a fact which could not be known until June, 1923, particularly as the schools were being operated on the basis of the $4,250,000 appropriation, and contracts with the teachers for the year 1922 had already been made and were being executed on that basis in
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conjunction with whatever support the common schools were receiving in any given county or community from local taxation. Before the time arrives when the amount of the revenues of the State for the year 1922 can be officially and accurately determined, for any payment at all on this uncertain and conditional appropriation, the entire revenues of the State will have been lawfully and necessarily expended to pay certain and definite appropriations.
Do not, I beg you, misunderstand me on that question. I yield to no man in Georgia in my devotion to the Common Schools of the State. No man sees more clearly than I do the imperative necessity for their liberal support and rapid advancement. No man believes more strongly than I do in them, and in the absolute necessity for them.
To them, as well as to pensioners and to every one else, we must, however, apply the same fundamental fiscal principles. Income and outgo must be kept balanced in Georgia. It is useless, and worse than useless, for the Legislature to make appropriations, even for the common schools, without also providing the revenue with which to meet and pay such appropriations.
I, therefore, unhesitatingly advise you to repeal that part of the appropriation bill.Jo "'.hich I have alluded, and not to make future appropriations of that character, for it is both impossible and impracticable to pay such an appropriation, under the present fiscal system of Georgia.
The present revenues of Georgia are just about adequate to pay the general expenses of the State, providing the pensions are kept clown to the old basis and providing the unfortunate blanket provision for common schools is repealed. Without these two policies being maintained, the revenues of the State will be inadequate and insufficient. If you will repeal the school provision referred to the books of the State of Georgia will show income and outgo in balance, both for the years 1922 and 1923. If the State is to undertake larger and more ambitious schemes for the
13

appropriation of money, then it must have a new and a larger revenue producing system, but I urge upon this body the absolute necessity, at a critical time like this, of going slowly before attempting any radical change, applying to our present system the principles of a real and rigid economy in all the branches and departments and institutions of the government.
RETRENCHMENTS AND ECONOMICS IN ADMINISTRATION.
I unhesitatingly repeat my previous recommendations, consistently and persistently maae since my service as Governor began, regarding the various State bureaus, boards and commissions, and I unhesitatingly urge upon the General Assembly of Georgia a very careful examination into the-operations and expense accounts of every part of our State government, and of every board, bureau and commission that exists by virtue of State law or State authority, with a view to determining:
1st. Whether such agency of the State government performs any useful or necessary function or not. If not, it ought to be abolished and the expense of its maintenance ought to be saved.
2nd. Even if such agency of the government performs a useful and necessary function, then its operations ought to be examined into with a view to determining what economies can be effected, without impairing its efficiency.
It is not my purpose to impair useful public service in any line of legitimate or proper governmental activity, but I do insist again, as I have always insisted, that in times like these it is imperatively necessary that we abolish every useless place, purge the payroll of every unnecessary official and cut out extravagancies and waste wherever we find it.
No Governor can accomplish this kind of retrenchment by executive action alone. Whenever sinecures and use-
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less places exist, they exist by virtue of law, and can only be abolished by the General Assembly, which alone has the power to repeal the laws under which they exist.
I unhesitatingly recommend the abolishment of the ~ocalled State Department of Archives and History. It 1s neither useful nor ornamental. It performs no necessary function for the State, and its records can well be kept in the State Library. If the work of indexing is to be completed, it can just as well be performed by a Library clerk, at a salary of not more than $1,500.00 per annum.
I unhesitatingly recommend the reduction of the PubliC' Service Commission from five to three. This Commissioll has very little to do with fixing of railroad rates within the State, since recent Federal statutes, as construea by
the Supreme Court of ,t.he United States, have virtually
deprived it if mueh of its power. The Federal statute in question is in plain derogation of the right of the states to control their local affairs, and so far as it confers upon the Interstate Commerce Commission any right to fix rates wholly within the State, it should be repealed. Until it is repealed, however, there is no necessity of maintaining a Commission of five members on the theory that they are needed to perform any considerable amount of work in the fixing of railroad rates. Besides, it will be remembered that this Commission functioned for many years in Georgia with only three members, and it was only after the conclusion of a political campaign that it was necessary to increase its number, to carry out the policy of a new administration and to carry into effect the will of the people of Georgia as expressed at the ballot box in that campaign. No such situation now exists, and it seems to me, in a time like this, that the people of Georgia can well dispense with two of the Commissioners that have been added to the body, and can well reduce its number from five to three, thus affecting a saving of $7,200.00 per annum. Nor is it, in my judgment, a sufficient reply for the advocates of keeping
15

the number of the Commission at its present figure, to say that the railroads and other public service corporations now defray the expenses of the Commission, including the salaries of all of its members, under the provisions of the law passed last year-for, after all, while the expenses of this Commission does not come directly out of the Treasury, it comes out of the public service corporations, who must be allowed, in their rates and charges, to recoup for this expense, and they can only do so out of the consuming public. In this connection; it is worthy of note that thirtyeight of the states of the Union have only three railroad commissioners and that no Southern state except Georgia has more than three ..
The State of Georgia is board-ridden, commission-ridden and trustee-ridden. I concede that it can probably be said with truth that very few of these boards or commissions represent activities that are wholly bad or for which some good things cannot be said, but I belieYe it can be said with even more truth that many of them represent activities more or less paternalistic, that they are not essential to the proper conduct of our State Government, and with which we can well dispense, especially in hard times like these. The University of Georgia system alone has 277 trustees. Of course, I mean by that, the University of Georgia and all of its branches.
I am of the opinion that a board of regents or of control for the entire higher educational system of our State should be provided to take the place of the present board of trustees of the University of Georgia and of all of its branches, and of every other institution of learning or education supported by the State. In my judgment, economy in the administration of the affairs of these institutions-economy in the purchase of the supplies needed by them, and a systematic corellation of the work of each one of them with the other would be obtained by the adoption of such a plan, and as a result we would have a systematized, coherent and
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comprehensive educational system. Many of the more important and progressive states of the Union have adopted this plan, and not one of them that has ever adopted it, in ,vhole or in part, has ever been willing to abandon it or to return to the antiquated, disjointed and expensive system that we maintain.
In my opinion, the Department of Agriculture has many unnecessary employees, is far more of a political machine than an agricultural department, and is conducted at far too great an expense, both direct and indirect, to the taxpayers of Georgia. A careful summary and recapitulation of the appropriations, fees, etc., received by the Department of Agriculture for the year 1922, made by the expert accountant employed by the Budget Commission, shows that the Department of Agriculture, in the year 1922, employed 472 persons, largely as inspectors and traveling agents, and paid these persons, for salaries and expenses, a total of $451,631.28, a part of which was paid by direct appropriation from the Treasury of the State, and a part of which was paid by the special taxes on oils and gasoline and fertilizers. The inspection tax on oils and gasoline, from which more than $400,000 annually is realized, is not iic any sense a special burden on the agricultural interests as such, but is a burden on all consumers of gasoline and oils in the State, in whatever pursuit or calling engaged.
A careful examination into this subject will show that we have in Georgia two hundred oil inspectors, who are paid a total annual compensation of $99,319.72. As I shall endeavor to demonstrate to you, even under a proper system of oil and gasoline inspection, the employment of so large a number of persons for that purpose can only be accounted for on the ground of political, rather than business, necessity; and it is particularly unfortunate that such a condition should continue to subsist and exist at the expense of the consumers of oils and gasoline, when the law under which the inspections of oils and gasoline is made
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in Georgia, is so antiquated, old-fashioned and obsolete that the tests provided by it afford no real protection to gasoline consumers, and confer no real benefits whatever. ThP inspection used in the tests of oils and gasoline is commonly known as the specific gravity test, and was established by the Act of 1889, and will be found in Section 1809 cf th~ Code of Georgia, Volume 1, 1911- This test was adopted at a period when there was little if any use af gasoline throughout our State, especially for the purpose of furnishing motive power for automobiles and trucks. For that purpose it is antiquated, obsolete, old-fashioned and useless.
In the adjoining State of South Carolina, the Government Navy specifications have been adopted by the State and made a part of the State law. Without undertaking to state to you in detail the provisions of that tests, I will .say that it secures the use, by the people of South Carolina, of the very highest grade of gasoline, and protects the con.sumers of gasoline in that State. Under this oil inspection law, I am informed by the authorities of South Carolina that two oil inspectors are kept exclusively on the work of oil inspection all of their time, in addition to one resident inspector in Charleston, who gives a part of his time to other duties in other departments of the State government. These are the only three men regularly employed in the inspection work for the entire State of South Carolina, under its new and modern test laws.
In the neighboring State of Florida the tests adopted for testing gasoline, kerosene and similar oils are those promulgated by the United tSates Bureau of Mines, and the same will be found fully stated in Technical Paper 323, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, officially adopted February 3, 1922, and revised October 31, 1922. The specifications for gasoline will be found on page 3 of this Report and the method of procedure for the testing of gasoline and kerosene on pages 43 to 58, inclusive. As I understand this
18

somewhat technical matter, the test employed in Florida is of the same general nature as that employed by South Carolina, and both are largely combustion or distillation tests and United States Government tests-modern and upto-date-and afford effective protection to the consumer.
In this connection, I do not think it will be inappropriate to quote from a letter written to me by the Honorable William A. McRae, Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Florida, under date of June 11, 1923:
"We have three State Inspectors and they give particular attention to taking samples from shipments coming in by boat or otherwise, carefully inspect pumps at dispensing stations, and do anything else that may be required of them for the good of the Department.
"The State of Florida has the best and simplest inspection law of any State, so far as I know, and the various oil companies doing business in this State will verify this statement. They have been very strong advocates for law, aud have at all time done their best to comply with its provisions."
"The inspection work in Georgia could be done with not to exceed six inspectors, with an expense account of $150 per month. Your laboratory should be well equipped for the work and all samples as received from the inspectors should be promptly anlyzed."
"You will note from my report that our overhead expense has all the way through been very small, considering the fact that we have taken care of every penny of the expense attached to the office-tha~ is, one analyst, the laboratory costs, one clerk in the Department, three inspectors, with their salaries and traveling expenses, and all other costs incident to the running of the office."
"When our Oil Division was established, our Inspectors found fifty per cent of the dispensing pumps were giving short measure anywhere from a quart to one gallon on a five gallon purchase. It would be safe to say that the sav-
19

ing to the consumers of gasoline in this State, since the Inspection Law was established, has saved the State many times what the Law has cost. It will be safe to say that Georgia will get the same results. To know that you are getting a standard that is high enough to be fair to the consumer and low enoug'h net to put extra cost on the refiners, and to know that you are getting the quantity of oil you desire to purchase is something to be desired."
"Gravity tests alone are worth nothing in determining the quality of oil. No mention of gravity is made in the Bureau of Mines specifications. In this connection you will note that the Florida law permits the Commissioner of Ag, riculture to promulgate a standard and I have accepted the standard of the U. S. Bureau of Mines as the State's standard. This was done for two reasons; first, because the Bureau of Mines is furnished every facility for making tests and for the employment of the best equipped analysts and for the further reason that there will be no clash between the State and National Government on interstate shipments. We have found this to work well and we believe the standard as promulgated by the Bureau of Mines to be sufficiently high."
I have no doubt that the Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of Florida speaks advisedly and accurately in this matter. I do not hesitate to state that I believe that by following the example of either Florida or So 1.1th Carolina, we can secure a real and adequate inspection of both gasoline and kerosene oil, with a force of not more than six inspectors, and can save to the public the expense of maintaining and paying a force of two hundred inspectors, whose appointments are made for political reasons and whose services, if any, are purely of that character.
If this course is adopted, the entire expense of gasoline and kerosene inspection can be borne by the State Treasury, and the present tax of one-half cent per gallon for inspection purposes can be abolished, and that amount can be
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added to the gasoline tax levied by the General Assembly in 1921, without any additional burden upon the consumer, with the result of givng to the consumer of both gasoline and kerosene real, adequate and modern tests of both quality and quantity of the products they consume in such vast quantities, and at the same time saving to Treasury o the State nearly one hundred thousand dollars per annum.
In my opinion, several economies and retrenchments can be affected in connection with the State Prison Commission.
I recommend the abolishment of that Commission, and the substitution therefor of a State Warden, to administer the penal system of the State, and the employment of an efficient pardon clerk, with adequate compensation, to fully examine into all applications for executive clemency and to make proper recommendations thereon to the Governor. I believe that by pursuing this method very important economy can be effected in the State's budget, and that a more efficient administration of the fiscal affairs of the State can be obtained. Of course, the General Assembly will understand that in making these recommendations, I am not making any attack either upon the efficiency or character of any of the individuals who now hold office in any of the departments concerned. I am merely advising the General Assembly of the reforms and retrenchments I think can be accomplished in the government of the State, and am seeking to urge upon it the consideration of these questions, to the end that unnecessary offices may be abolished, and real and substantial savings be affected.
TAXATION.
It is not my intention in this message to undertake again a general discussion of taxation. I have never been either a champion or apologist for our present equalization law. My own belief, consistently and fully expressed in all of my public messages and speeches, has been and is that the State could, with profit, follow the example of Nortli Caro-
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lina, and impose an adequate income tax sufficient for all State purposes, remitting the State tax on property. If this is done, the present Equalization law could be repealed without damage to the State, provided the date of repeal were postponed until the proposed change in our revenue system could become effective. If this is done invisible ,vealth now escaping taxation can be forced to bear its proper share of the burdens of government, for pradica!lv all invisible wealth is income producing.
If this is done there would be no necessity for the present State Tax Equalization law, for the reason that the State would derive its revenue from sources other than property taxes, and could leave to the counties and the cities the undisputed field of property taxation. The valuations and assessments could be adjusted locally and without regard to the valuations, or assessments employed in other localities.
I do not believe that it would be fair for me to fail to call your attention to the fact that it is neither sensible nor safe for the State to destroy or abolish its present revenue system unless and until it shall provide another and adequat(? revenue system, to take the place of the system so destroyed. Indeed, I am of the opinion that in hard times like the present it is both difficult and dangerous to undertake a complete change in the fiscal system, and it may be the course of wisdom not to undertake that change until normal prosperity has come again in Georgia. Certainly, you should proceed with great caution in this matter, and take no step that is not based upon prudence and sound common sense, and destroy no piece of governmental machinery necessary to produce revenue until you have constructed something better to take its place.
AUDITING SYSTEM FOR THE STATE OF GEORGIA.
I strongly and emphatically urge the creation of a complete and adequate auditing system for the State of Geor-
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gia. It is folly to continue to administer the fiscal affairs of the State, under our present antiquated system. It invites gratfing and waste. Every account should be audited before it is paid, and not afterwards. We are already spending $15,000 a year, in round figures, on audits of the various departments of the State, and it will require but little additional expense to establish and maintain a complete and c:'fficient auditing system.
Since I do not know that I could add anything to what I said in my message of 1922 on this subject, I merely desire to repeat the recommendation that I made, and to do so with all possible emphasis and force. I invite your attention to that recommendation, which will be found on pages 16 to 24, inclusive, in my message to the General Assembly of June 29, 1922.
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT LAW.
I urgently recommend that Section 18 of the Act of August 21, 1921, providing for a secret ballot in Georgia be stricken therefrom. This law is a great step forward in the effort to secure fair and honest elections in Georgia, but in order to make it accomplish its highest and best purposes, it should be effective uniformly throughout the State, and should not depend for its operation on the grandjury action of the respective counties. If the ballot be made secret, and secret all over Georgia, the temptation to use money in our elections will be destroyed, and the right of the individual to vote his own convictions, without let or hindrance or influence, will be established and safe-guarded.
EXECUTIVE MANSION.
Acting under the authority of the Act approved August 15, 1921 (Acts of 1921, Page 194), the Commissions appointed under the provisions of that Act, effected a lease for a period of fifty years of the property known as The
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Governor's Mansion, located in Atlanta, at the intersection. of Peachtree and Cain Strets. A report of the acts and doings of that Commission was submitted to the General Assembly at its 1922 session. The average rental through the period of fifty years for whic hthe lease was effected, amounts to $30,000 per annum. I invite your attention to this subject again for the purpose of recommending that suitable provision be now made for the purpose of furnishing a suitable residence for the Governors of Georgia. It is my opinion that the annual rental for a period of yean can be easily discounted and the proceeds of the discount be employed to provide a suitable residence for the Governors of Georgia, and I recommend that this course be followed.
In making this recommendation, I also suggest that it would, in my judgment, be appropriate and fitting for a mansion to be erected which should be made a replica, as far as possible, of the old Governor's Mansion at Milledgeville, both because of the suitableness of that structure for the purposes for which it was employed, and because of the many historic and sentimental associations that attach themselves to the old aMnsion. I believe that if such a Mansion could be constructed out of Georgia marble and granite, at a reasonable cost, that it would be not only historical in its significance, but appropriately commemorative of two of Georgia's greatest products.
I recommend that a Commission be appointed by the present General Assembly to consider this matter and to give it appropriate direction.
FORESTRY.
I desire to call your attention to the report of the State Board of Forestry. Within the last two years increase in lumber production has been so great throughout the State as to .make it imperative that the State should take such steps as are necessary to protect its forests against vrnnton

and useless destruction, and to provide, as far as possible, for reforestation.
I unhesitatingly repeat my recommendation of last year on this subject and urge you to give favorable consideration to the very moderate and reasonable request of the Forestry Board on this subject.
REFORMS IN OUR PENAL SYSTEM.
In addition to the changes that I have recommended respecting the Prison Commission, I desire to recommend the passage of a law prohibiting the appearance of any member of the General Assembly, during the term for which he was elected, as the hired agent or attorney for any applicant for executive clemency, either before the Prison Board, the Pardon Clerk, or the Governor; and I desire to recommend, further, the passage of a law prohibiting the appearance in any matter, for compensation, before any department of the State Government, of any member of the General Assembly, during the term for which he has been elected.
In the very c, eful and earnest consideration of the many matters that have been brought to my attention in which executive clemency is asked, I have been forced to consider, in many cases, the deplorable suffering and poverty that is sometimes inflicted upon innocent and helpless dependents of the man who commits crime and is punished therefor. In many cases the loss of the bread-winner of the family has brought his innocent and helpless dependents to poverty and almost to starvation. It seems to me that it would be a wise and humane policy for the State of Georgia to provide that, after a person is convicted of crime and sent to its penitentiary, that such person shall be allowed to have a part of the proceeds of his labor to be devoted to the support of his innocent and helpless dependents. Of course, no such provision should be made until the convict shall repay to the State from
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the proceeds of his labor the cost of his up-keep, including guarding and every other element that enters into such cost, and no such provision should be made except in cases where the value of such labor is in excess of the cost of such upkeep. The value of the convict's labor, whether he is engaged in public work or is employed on the State Farm, or elsewhere, should be carefully appraised by competent State authority, which should also determine the cost of his upkeep, as defined above. The law should then determine what percentage of the excess of the value of his labor above his upkeep should be devoted to the support of his dependents; and in determining that question the good or bad conduct of the convict should be carefully consid,ered, and in that way additional methods of enforcing discipline can be provided. In like manner, the same principles should be applied, in some degree even to convicts without dependents for if one of the objects of penal punishment is to reform the convict and restore the citizen, then it can be readily seen how important it is when the convict emerges from a term of servitude he should have some financial resources, however comparatively small, with which to begin life anew that he may thus have a better chance to become a useful citizen, rather than to deteriorate into a hardened, confirmed criminal.
Other states have applied these principles with great success. It seems to me that the voice of humanity and wisdom demands that an effort should be made to apply them in Georgia to our penal system. If objection is made -as it doubtless will-by the county authorities, that if the counties are to employ the convicts on public roads, then the sums of money necessary for the establishment and maintenance of this system will come out of the counties, then my reply is that the object is not good, for neither the State nor the counties should have any right to expect to make a profit out of crime. Humane and wise prqvision for the reformation of criminals and for the protection or
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.society, rise far above mere financial consideration in a matter of this kind.
Acting under the authority of law, which requires me to approve or disapprove all rules and regulations that may be promulgated by the Prison Commission as to the government of convicts in our penitentiary system, on the 24th day of February, 1923, I disapproved the rule of the Prison Commission permitting flogging as a part of prison discipline. I am glad to report to you that, from the best of my observation and information, the prison system is being operated even more satisfactorily and efficiently, as a whole, since the abolition of flogging. I was impelled to take the action above referred to by reason of the fact that our Constitution prohibits flogging as a punishment for crime. It seems to me that the Constitutional provision, fairly construed, also prohibits flogging as one of the means for enforcing discipline in the prison camps, in order to enforce the penalties imposed by the courts. If the courts could not directly sentence a man to be flogged, then it must follow that the Prison authorities have no Constitutional right to inflict flogging, in order to execute the sentence of the court. If that were to be permitted, we should be doing indirectly what our Constitution prohibits us from doing directly.
OTHER STATE REFORMS.
I recommend that a Constitutional amendment be submitted to the people, fixing the term of Governor of this State at four years, instead of two.
Experience has demonstrated that a Governor can h?rdly hope to carry out any important administrative reforms or to accomplish any real and substantial results, if he is given a term of only two years and is to face a campaign for re-election before his work can be half done.
In like manner, I believe that the term of the members
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of the General Assembly should be made four years, instead of two, and that we should have bi-ennial instead of annual sessions of the General Assembly.
If this system is adopted, we can elect a Governor and the members of the General Assembly and all other officers, State and Federal, on one and the same election day, and have but one election every four yars and in which we would vote for all officers from President to Coroner.
I believe that this step will serve to secure a larger and more representative vote of our people, and will giv us a more stable and responsive government.
In this connection, I recommend that the annual sessions of the General Assembly be changed from the fourth Wednesday in June of each year, until the first Wednesday of January in each year. I believe that when the Governor and the General Assembly elected in November of the preceding year are installed at the first of January following, our government wil lbe more immediate responsive to the will of the people, and without unnecessary delay or long hang-over terms. Once the Legislature has met in January, it is my judgment that it should both organize and transact all of its business without wasting either time or energy in an adjournment over to the Summer period.
The Constitution provides that the Governor "shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed and shall be the conservator of the peace." The fact is, however, that while the Governor is clothed with Constitutional responsibility in this respect, he has very little power. He can do nothing, no matter how outrageously the peace is in danger or the laws are violated, except to call out the State Militia, under proper request being made therefor by certain civil authorities. In order that the Governor may be enabled to perform his duties, under his oath of office and under the Constitutional provision above referred to, I make the following specific recommendations :
1st. That a small body of State constables or police-
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men, to be appointed by the Governor and subject to his authority alone, shall be provided for and that the Governor shall be given broad power to use the police force so e~tablished in any section of the State where, in his judgment, it is necessary to employ them in order to conserve the peace or executive laws of the State.
I make this recommendation without any intention or purpose to reflect upon our present Military forces. The National Guard as at present constituted is an exceptionally fine body and is, in my opinion, in the most efficient and serviceable condition that it has ever been in the history of the State. But there are many acts of lawlessness and violence which the National Guard cannot be employed to prevent and there are many occasions when conservation of the peace requires the employment of a much smaller and more mobile force than the troops of the State.
2nd. I recommend that the Governor of the State be given the same power as is given to the Governor of many of the States to suspend or remove a Sheriff or peace officer who, in the judgment of the Governor, is guilty of such breach of duty as to require such action.
In this connection, I invite your particular attention to the laws of Florida on this subject, and submit for your consideration the system employed by that State, which is worthy of your close attention.
INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT.
We have no room in Georgia for invisible government of any kind or character.
Government in Georgia should be in the open and above-board. I have no objection to the existence of secret fraternal organizations, whose sole purpose and practice is the cultivation of civic virtues and social relations; but I do object, with all of the force and emphasis of which I am capable, to any secret organization that assumes to cen-
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sor the conduct of other persons or to sit in judgment upon their actions. Men who follow such practices are themselves the worst of criminals, and strike at the very foundation of all governments. They vrnuld subvert the courts, and enthrone the mob.
:'.\fen who are trying to walk right, in the sight of God and man, do not need to cover up their faces, in this State, while they are doing it.
The General Assembly of this State should pass a statute making it unlawful, under heavy penalty, for any man or woman in Georgia to wear a mask over their faces on the public streets or the roads of the State, or in any other public place.
The General Assembly should also pass a law requiring every secret order in Georgia, Gentile or Jew, Protestant or Catholic, white or black, to file with the Clerk of the Superior Court of each county in which such organization maintains a lodge or local unit, a full list of all the officers and members of such local lodge or unit, and the list of officers and members should be kept by the Clerk of the Superior Court for purposes of inspection and public information at all times.
LAW AN ORDER AND CITIZENSHIP.
In a period of unrest like that of the immediate past, and to some extent the present, it has been difficult for the civil :rnthorities of the State to maintain perfect order at all times, or to secure the prompt and general enforcement
of all the lmvs. I think I can say to you, with candor and
with truth, that from the GoYernor down, the civil authorities of Georgia have done their utmost to prevent and check
lawlessness and to maintain and preserve peace and good
order, and I have the earnest hope that in their effort to do so they have received and ,vill continue to receive, the approbation and support of all right-thinking men and women in Georgia.
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\Ve have no room in Georgia for petty hates and for either political or religious bigotry. The right of free speech and thought is fundamental to American and to Georgia institutions. The 1;ight of every man and woman and child to worship God as he or she pleases, is fundamental and basic. The separation of church and state is decreed in order to secure and maintain freedom of religion. I trust the time will soon return in Georgia when no man or woman will incur ill will or suffer persecution in the exercise of his or her religious belief or faith. Bigotry and religious intolerance are the two forces that ahvays destroy freedom. If Georgia is to remain a land of freedom, we have no room for these forces in our State.
Governments were not ordained and established in order to transact the ordinary affairs that each individual citizen should attend to. Paternalism is not only destructive to individualism, but also of free government. Against the false doctrines that lead us more and more into paternalism I would put the immortal doctrines of the fathers that strengthen and preserve the self respect and self reliance of the citizen.
Too much government and too much regulation tends to destroy the sturdy individuality and the splendid self reliance of the citizen; and to teach our people that they can be expected to be supported by manna that rains either from Washington or Atlanta, is so foolish as to be difficult of characterization, and so destructive of the fundamentals of real American citizenship as to occasion the greatest alarm to every lover of our country and every thoughtful student of the principles of free government. May the powers above us that control and shape the destinies of states and of people lead the people of Georgia back from bigotry to liberality and tolerance, from paternalism to individualism, from narrowness of soul and spirit to breadth of vision and purity of purpose.
May the best interests of the State of Georgia be en-
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throned in your hearts and minds during this momentous session of the General Assembly.
Respectfully submitted,
THOMAS W. HARDWICK, Governor.
Atlanta, Ga., June 29, 1923.