/f5 L 182 .E4 1885 Copy 1 , Comptroller's Special Report UPON THE SCHOOL FUN D AND UPON Taxation and Revenue. >1* e *»^'^o V :j[A\ax*^ek. SPECIAL REPORT SCHOOL FUND AND UPON Taxation and Revenue. Transmitted to the Legislature February 25TH, 1885. STATE OF NEW YORK: Comptkoller's Office, \ Albany, February 25, 1885. ) To the Ho7iorable the Legislature of the State of New York : In the annual report, submitted in January from this Depart- ment, it was stated that the school fund would receive special con- sideration in a later communication. In the same report the statement was made that it would be possible within the next eight years to entirely reorganize the financial system of the State, greatly to the advantage of those who bear its burdens. Existing conditions of trade and industry call our attention sharply to the wisdom of beginning such a work. The country's sources of wealth remain unimpaired, it is true, but the mactiinery and methods of distribution have never seemed to operate more unsatisfactorily than for some three years past. Want and priva- tion have become familiar to many, whose complaints are the more to be regarded, because long deferred. Willing labor remains often unemployed. Agricultural energy, except in a few favorea instances, is more poorly remunerated and less able to bear its share of governmental burden than formerly. Even the apparent wealth heaped up in the great money centre is delusive, its accumulation being but a morbid congestion due to sluggish circulation. Mindful of these things, and in obedience to that provision of law which makes it the Comptroller's duty " to suggest plans for 2 the improvement and management of the public revenues," I submit to your Honorable Body the first suggestion towards the adoption of new financial systems under which the necessary cost of government may be much reduced, and direct taxation may, perhaps wholly, certainly in great part, disappear. The school fund had its origin in chapter LXYI of the Laws of 1805, passed in response to a recommendation contained in a special message of Gov. Morgan Lewis. The act provided that " the net proceeds of 500,000 acres of the vacant and unappro- priated lands of the people of this State, which shall be first sold by the Surveyor General, shall be and hereby are appropriated as a permanent fund for the support of common schools." No distribu- tion was to be made until the annual revenues of the fund amounted to $50,000. At the time of the passage of this law, the funds ot the State, meaning by this term certain stocks, bonds, mortgages and loans, produced more than sufiicient revenue to meet the ordinary expenses of government. The erection of this special fund was a modification, therefore, of previous usage rather than a departure from it or innovation upon it. During the years immediately suc- ceeding its foundation, the school fund accumulated rapidly. Sales of land were frequent. By enactments in 1819, 1827 and 1832 other sources of revenue were made tributary to it, certain posses- sions of the general fund were made part of the school fund, and its functions as a factor in State financial procedure were enlarged by making it the Comptroller's duty to invest school moneys in tlie purchase of securities of the general fund whenever the latter did not contain sufficient money for purposes of government. These statutes, with other incidents in the State's financial his- tory, chief among them being the forced resort, in 1842, to direct taxation as the only adequate means of raising revenues, mark the collapse of the fund system as applied to general purposes. So complete was the collapse that a productive capital of $4,396,943.97, possessed in 1814 by the general fund, was entirel}' consumed and gave way to a general fund debt of $5,885,549.24 on September 30, 1845. But in the meantime the school fund had thriven, gradually absorbing the best investments of the general fund. Its history in detail is shown in tables herewith submitted. Table " A " shows the amount of its capital and revenue for each year from 1805 to 1845. Table " B " shows its revenue and capital for each year from and including 1846 to the present day. These two equal periods are separated for the reason that by comparison they show that this fund for the accomplishment of present purposes is, and for years has been a mistake. The tables just referred to contain in their third column a statement of the amounts paid out of the State Treasury for common school purposes for each year since the creation of the fund. A comparison of these amounts with the revenue of the fund is singularly instructive in enabling us to properly appreciate the degree to which the State has abandoned reliance upon the fund, although still maintaining formal depend- ence upon it. From this table it appears that during the first forty years of its existence the fund's revenues were in all $3,081,719.80, while the total payments from the State Treasury for school purposes were $2,780,560. Even in those years the common school system far outgrew the fund. That system begins its continuous and organized lite in acts of 1812 and 1814, Previous attempts, founded upon Laws of 1795 and 1801, had been abandoned. The act of 1812 provided that the interest of the school fund should be divided among the different counties and towns, accord- ing to population, and that each town should raise by tax, annually, a sum of money equal to its receipts from the fund. The act of 1814 recast that of 1812, transferred the tax-levying power from the towns to the counties, and made the levy obligatory. The gross amount of moneys received from the State and thus raised by the towns was to be appropriated to the payment of teachers' wages. In the following year there was made the first distribution of the income of the fund. Such distribution, together with local taxation, pursuant to the act of 1814, continued annually until 1851. But during this period the schools drew largely from other sources, prominent among these being the rate-bill, which was the district charge upon each parent or guardian, based upon actual attendance of children, and imposed for the purpose of paying whatever balance was due teachers, after the proceeds of the fund and the equivalent local tax were exhausted. Your Honorable Body does not need to be reminded of the heated controversy and the years of agitation and excitement which pre- ceded the adoption of the " Act in relation to common schools," of 1851. This law provided for an annual State tax of $800,000, based upon property one-third of whose avails, plus one-third of the proceeds of the Common School and United States Deposit Funds, should be equally distributed among the several districts, the i-esidue to be apportioned according to the number of children of school age in each district, the rate-bill to provide, as before, for any necessary balance. In 1856 a tax of three-fourths of a mill on each dollar of the State's valuation was substituted for the $800,000 tax of 1851. In 1867 the tax was increased to one and one-quarter mills, and district rate-bills were abolished. From 1814 to 1867 they had produced $20,627,426.66, a yearly average of $381,989.38. Since 1851, when the State committed itself to the policy of levying a yearly State tax for schools, the amount of such tax has grown rapidly. The amount paid from the treasury in each year (shown in detail in column three of table B) was $800,000 until 1857 ; it then rose to about $1,100,000, at which point it remained for ten years; leaped in 1868 to $2,000,000, and in 1877 reached the proportions since maintained of nearly or quite $3,000,000 — the levy for this year being $3,180,393.90. Probably many citizens do not suspect that the gross amount paid from the State Treasury for school purposes for the forty years from 1805-1845 is less than the amount now paid in each year for the same purposes. At present, State school moneys, meaning by this term, the proceeds of the State tax," the incomes of the Common School Fund and of the United States Deposit Fund are divided and apportioned pursuant to chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864, as amended by chapter 374 of the Laws of 1876. After certain specific minor deductions affecting not more than one- sixteenth of said moneys (for salaries of commissioners, of local super- intendents, or clerks; for certain cities; for libraries; for a con- tingent fund; and for Indian schools), the remainder of said State school moneys being titteen-sixteenths thereof, is divided into two parts, one part, being one-third of said remainder, which is apportioned equally among school districts and cities, the unit of distribution, or minimum distributive share of each district being known as the district quota, title to a quota being based upon the actual service of a qualified teacher for at least twenty-eight weeks of five days each, including holidays, during the last preceding sciiool 3'ear ; the other part of said remainder, beinsj two-thirds thereof, is apportioned anions the counties of the State according to tlieir population as shown by the last preceding State or United States census, but in counties containing cities having special school acts, apportionment is made directly to the city of its share, the residue of the county's share being apportioned to the residue of the county. The moneys to be thus distributed during the cur- rent year aggregate $3,084,600, of which total the school fund produces $160,000. By far the greater part of the moneys is used to ]iay wages of teachers, of whom 21,411 share in the distribution- The people, therefore, are locking up four and one-fourth millions of dollars to contribute less than eight dollars per year to each teacher. While the school system has thus expanded, the principal of the school fund has stood still, and in very recent years its revenue has declined. None of its former sources of replenishment are now operative. By a provision of the Constitution of 1846 its capital gains $25,000 per year from the revenue of the United States Deposit Fund, a slow process of accretion that in forty years will add but $1,000,000 to its capital and $30,000 to its revenue. No other means of enlargement except the extremely unwise one ot direct taxation exists. That method has to some extent been resorted to. In 1882, $500,000 was transferred from the treasury to the capital of the fund. During the past eight years the fund has in five several years failed to earn sufficient income for the performance of its present narrow duties, thus compelling transfers from the Treasury to make up its deficiencies amounting to over $100,000. On October 1, 1884, its revenue was si\\\ deficient $60,177.01. The secondary purpose formerly served by the fund — that of Advancing moneys for governmental support — is now valueless. The State can, if necessary, borrow temporarily at three per cent from many sources, while the concentrated responsibility for finan- <;ial legislation, fastened upon the Executive by the constitutional amendments of 1875, has for years precluded such a necessity. Moreover, the school fund is and should be so invested as to have no casual moneys to lend. Closelj akin to the arguments just urged and hardly second in importance, an objection to maintaining such a trust fund arises 6 from its unfitness to fulfill the duties of a productive instrument at the present day. A fund earns revenue in but one way — by investment. Securities proper for such moneys as we are consider- ing pay a rate of interest which diminishes as wealth increases and the community becomes more and more highly organized. The stability insured by the earnest devotion of our citizens to peaceful pursuits, their varied energy, reflected in an industrial system of striking complexity, and their strict enforcement of rectitude in commercial dealings, sustained and perpetuated as these forces are, by advantages of situation and natural endowment, have in our own State accelerated and intensified the progress and operation of the economic law just adverted to. The bonds of our cities, as well as of the State itself", are readily disposed of at a lower rate of interest than was ever contemplated by those who founded or fostered this fund. The moneys of our active and ingenious fellow citizens, from whom taxes are drawn, ought not to be employed so unremuneratively as by hoarding them for investment at three or two and one-half per cent. The fund, as part of a present financial system, is doubly objectionable, in that its method of producing income is inadequate and antiquated, while at the same time its substance — the property of our taxpayers — is virtually subtracted from a multitude of small fortunes belonging to a frugal and industrious people. Tiiere is no worthier subject of legislative wisdom and solicitude than the protection of these myriad savings from continuous loss, minute or indirect though it may be. That such loss ensues from continuous investment and reinvestment of the money of an active people at declining rates of interest, is self-evident. In a few years the entire fund will necessarily be invested at not more, perhaps at less, than three per cent, producing barely $125,000, annually, on an investment of over $4,000,000. Tiie $25,000 which is now carried yearly, from the revenue of the United States Deposit Fund to the principal of the Common School Fund, under a new system, would annually be applied directly to school purposes, thus obviating taxation to that extent. The present investments of the fund, if turned into cash in 1887, or so soon thereafter as good judgment might dictate^ would realize over $4,250,000, being an amount equal to the revenue of the fund for thirtj'-liiree years. This amount, applied in reduction of taxation, would be beneficially felt until the State had entered upon a period of new financial methods and conditions. The conversion ot the fund into cash, therefore, would set free, for purposes of reduction of taxation, a perpetual annual contribution of $25,000 from the revenue of the United States Deposit Fund, as well as the entire principal of tlie Common School Fund. Clearer light is thrown upon the considerations just advanced by a study of the present composition and recent Iiistory of the fund. On January 1, 18S5, the fund was constituted as follows : SECURITIES. Manhattan Company stock Dist. of Columbia 3 (J5-100 bds. Village of Middletown 4 per cent of 1886 United States 4 per cent of 1907. Albany Co. ^X bds., 1901 to 1903 Albany Co. and City 4 per cent, 1899, 1907, 1906, 1908 and 1910. United States 4 per cent of 1907 New York City 6 per cent of 1901 and 190a New York City 5 per ct. of 1908. JJist. of Columbia 3 65-100 bds. 1827 1880 1881 1882 1882 1882 1883 1883 1883 1883 Bonds for lands Bonds for loans Mortgages for loans under act of 1840, in charge of Com. U. S. Dep. Fund. Money in the Treasury Par value. S50, 000 00 100, 000 00 53, 000 00 1, 563, 000 00 110,000 00 137, 000 00 710, 000 00 165, 000 00 500,000 00 250, 000 00 *$3, 638, 000 00 $11.3,872 97 16,018 07 30, 470 00 55, 040 50 t$3,853,401 54 Cost, lees accrued interest. $50, 000 00 99, 500 00 55, 650 00 1, 825.611 25 110,000 00 147, 676 25 850, 003 13 215, 053 12 625, 625 00 273, 750 00 14,252, 868 75 Present market value. $72, 500 113,000 53,000 1,906. 86 J 110,00(J 148,280 866,200 214,500 600,000 282, 500 $4, 366, 840 Rate of interest on money in- vested. 8 per cent. S% per cent. 2 9-10 per cent. 3 per cent 3J^ per cent. 3}4 per cent. 2% per cent. 3 7-10 per cent. S}4 per cent. 3J4 per cent. The first of tlie above items was acquired in 1827 by purchase from the general fund, which had acquired it by original subscrip- tion at par, in 1809. So old and profitable an investment is not often known. But by far the greater portion of the fund, to wit: Securities of $3,588,000, par value, have been purchased during the past five years. None of them will net over three and seven- tenths per cent, while the rate realized upon the $4,202,868, which is their aggregate cost, is but three and one-fitth per cent. Over three and one-quarter millions of dollars of the money lately invested draws less than four per cent. Wo have already seen that, in 1882, the capital of the fund was swollen by a transfer to it of $500,000 from the Treasury, and that within the past three years such transfers, on account of both capital and rev- * Total securities. t Total capital. 8 en lie, have amounted to $600,000. The foregoing statement shows a further drain from the moneys raised by taxation. The securi- ties purchased since 1880, in every instance but one, were bought at a premium. The difference between their par value and actual cost is $615,368.75, representing premiums and commissions. Of this siTm $567,226.04 was drawn from the proceeds of popular tax- ation, and must be added to tlie $600,000 already set forth. The total, $1,167,226.04, is the sum which the people without knowing it, have during the past three years, invested at about three and one- fifth per cent for the sake of augmenting a fund which produces less than one-twentieth of the proceeds of the direct school tax. Taking this rate of interest as a basis of estimate, the fund siiould contain at least $100,000,000 to enable it to play the part once contem- plated for it. There is exhibited in each department of State finance a succes- sion of methods corresponding to progressive phases of popular growth and development. In its application to general purposes, the method of establishing productive funds, although it seemed to afford relief from taxation, in reality was the forerunner of an era of indebtedness and embarrassment for which the only remedy was continuous and sometimes heavy taxation. Its failure in its appli- cation to the canals was of later date, but came not less inevitably. To-day there is no sucli thing as a productive Canal Fund, and the full cost of canal maintenance is added to the general burden of taxation. In school finances the fund survives, but only as a relic. At most it can but feebly and needlessly supplement the direct school tax, now in the thirty-fit th year of its operation, and yielding upwards of $3,000,000 annually. This succession ot financial methods brings us to the verge of a new era in financial legislation. It was statesmanlike for our ancestors four score years ago, when valuable State lands were abundant, to devote their proceeds to a fund. At the present day true financial wisdom will find special means of raising revenue as tlie progressiveness of the people takes on special forms or dis- closes new sources of wealth. The first step — and a significant one — in tlie direction just i?idicated was the adoption of the Cor- poration Tax Law. That law recognizes that it is wise and just to exact governmental revenue from organizations which in the normal course of business are easily able to re-exact their contribu- 9 tions from the multitiido witli whom they deal. It is not the purpose of the present communication to suggest a companion to the corporation fax, but to submit a proposition wln'cli will prepare the way. Such a proposition has already been outlined. It is that so soon after January 1, 1887, as good judgment may dictate, the school fund shall be converted inro cash, to be there- after applied in reduction of taxation. It need hardly be said tliat the submission of such a proposition carries with it no Jack of high regard for the rare conscientiousness and comprehensive foresight of those who founded and developed our common school system, of which the I'und has formed a part, or for the system itself. But admiration for the wisdom and self- denial of our predecessors need not blind us to changed conditions and necessities. Neither would it be just to forget the present in honoring the past. Whoever studies the educational system of the State cannot but be astounded at the enormous burdens which our fellow citizens bear year after year for its maintenance. The three and one-half millions which will this year be distributed from the State Treasury for educational purposes form less than one-third of the entire popular burden. The total school expenditures during the past year were $11,834,911.52. For the current year they will be as much. Nor have such contributions fallen below $10,000,000 in any year since 1871. Encouragement, even if needed, can no longer be provided in the ancient manner. The submission of this proposi tion docs not contemplate the abandonment by the State ot any present duty. Whatever inter- ests or individuals are in any way dependent upon the fund can and should be otherwise cared for. To properly apprehend the proposition it should be considered as part of a scheme bearing upon the State's financial policy during the eight fiscal years next ensuing. During the eight fiscal years ending September 30, 1893, the entire State debt will be paid ofi, the last installment thereof fall- ing due on October 1, 1893. This period, therefore, is one of transition to more hopeful conditions of State finance, and its begin- ning is a natural point of retrospect and comparison. Before contemplating tlie possibilities of the future period, we should note certain features of the corresponding period just closing. 10 1. The amounts drawn from the people by direct taxation for canals, schools and general purposes during the eight fiscal years ending September 30, 1885 (shown in detail in table C), equal $63,541,028.61, the average annual levy being $7,942,628.58. The sum of the amounts raised under the Corporation Tax Law (shown in detail in table D) is $7,812,328.52. Such receipts during the next eight years will be at least $12,800,000, or $5,000,000 more than those of the past eight years. 2. During the past eight years there have been appropriations for the construction of the new Capitol (table E), aggregating $8,600,000. 3. During the same period the appropriations for the sinking fund (Table F) have been $8,187,219.46. 4. There is now a surplus of $1,000,000 in cash in the Treasury, which can better be remitted to the pockets of the people by deducting one-half that sum from the taxes of each of the two next ensuing fiscal years. During the perilous weeks of last spring and summer there was no time when the deposits of the State were less than $5,000,000 in amount. At times they were far in excess of this sum. Any unnecessary burden, therefore, is extremely unde- sirable. We should further note : a. That not more than $3,000,000 will be needed hereafter to complete the new Capitol. h. That the appropriations wliich will be needed for the sinking fund during the eight remaining fiscal years which precede the extinguishment of the debt (Table G) will fall $3,000,000 below those of the past eight years. It will be seen, therefore, that for the eight next ensuing fiscal years, as compared with the last preceding, there is a possibility ot greatly reducing taxation : First. Because there is cash in the Treasury which can be safely and properly applied to tliat purpose during the next two fiscal years to the amount of at least $1,000,000 Second. Because the appropriations for the construc- tion of the New Capitol should fall below those of the last eight years by 5, 600, 000 11 Third. Because the appropriations for the sinking fund will fall below those of the last eight years by $3,000,000 Fourth. Because it is possible, by converting the Common School Fund into cash, to apply to the purpose of such reduction the further sum of 4, 250, 000 fifth. Because the amount produced by the Corpora- tion Tax Law will exceed the amount produced during the eight years now ending by at least 5,000, OOO Sixth. Because, as has been shown, $1,167,000 was taken during the past eight fiscal years, from the proceeds of taxation, to make good the capital and revenue ot the school fund. If the amendment submitted is adopted no such items will appear in the tax levies of the next eight years. Again, the annual contributions from the revenue of the United States Deposit Fund to the capital of the school fund, amounting, in eight years, to $200,000, would also be available to lighten taxa- tion. These two items aggregate, 1,367, 000 It is, therefore, easily possible to reduce the aggre- gate of taxation during the next eight fiscal years, as compared with that of the eight last preceding, by the surprising sum of $20,217, OOO This is an average reduction of $2,527,000 for each year. The average amount raised by direct taxation during the past eight years was $7,942,000. The average amount, therefore, of such taxation during the eight next fiscal years should not exceed $5,415,000, which is less than any tax levy since 1859. Upon the present valuation this amount would ensure to the people an average annual tax rate of not more than one and eight-tenths mills for the eight years under consideration, being lower than the rate ot any year since 1856. The proposition involves an amendment of the Constitution — a proposed form of which is herewith submitted. Should your Honorable Body see fit to pass the same, the fact that a new Legis- lature will be chosen this fall makes it possible to submit the amendment to the people in November, 1886. Your Honorable 12 Body and the Legislature of 1SS6 can, by judiciously remitting to the people the cash surplus now in the possession of the State, and by availing yourselves of other favoring conditions of the time, at once reduce the tax rate to less than two mills, that is, to a lower point than has been known since 1856. But the chief merit of the proposition will be found in the fact that it does not eflect a mere temporary and casual lightening of the popular burden. It ensures a prolonged and an increasing freedom from heavy demands upon the taxpayer until a date at which our State will find itself with no debt, and with no consuming project to bewilder financiers, to debauch the minds of workingmen and to infuriate plain citizens. Before that date arrives it will be possible, in the clear light of the future, to develop new methods of raising revenues. These new methods, coupled with the Corporation Tax Law now established, supported by a population of 6,000,000 of souls and by a valuation of four thousand millions of dollars, as they are sure to be, will place the burden of taxation upon those who are able to bear them and who also are able to distribute them. That such methods can be devised in a mmnent is not to be expected. It is, however, in the power of your Honorable Body to prepare the way for them by broad, intelligent, far-sighted public policy. ALFRED C. CHAPIN, Comjptroller . 13 Table A. COMMON SCHOOL FUND FROM 1805 TO 1845. The following table exhibits the School Fund, according to the annnal reports of the Comptroller, from the formation of the fund in 1805-6 to 1845 ; also the annual interest or revenue derived from the fund, and the amount annually apportioned from the State Treasury : YEAR. Capital. Anonal revenue or iuterest. Sum annually paid from Slate Treasury. 1805. 1806. 1807. 1808. 1809. 1010. 1811. 1813. 1813. 1814. 1815. 1816. 1817. 1818. 1819. 1820. 1831. 1833. 1823. 1824. 1835. 1826. 1837. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1881. 1882. 1833. 1834. 1835. 1836. 1837. 1838. 1839. 1840. 1841. 1843. 1843. 1844. 1845. $58,757 24 183.163 96 807.164 56 390,687 15 428,177 ill 483.826 29 558,464 69 036,758 07 833,064 94 861,457 89 934,015 13 982,343 26 971,861 31 108,949 09 329,076 00 315,526 00 152,630 57 155.827 40 172,918 38 288,309 47 319,886 -36 853,477 64 611,096 80 684,(138 80 661,081 24 696,748 66 704,159 40 735,175 28 754,046 84 791,821 77 875,191 71 917,494 17 919,647 08 929,707 51 933,431 99 088,807 95 036,625 68 968,290 72 975,093 15 993,1116 35 090,632 41 Not stated. Not stated. Not stated. Not stated. $24,115 46 26,480 77 36,437 64 45,216 95 47,612 16 57,248 39 57,539 88 64,058 01 69,555 39 68,770 00 70,550 04 78,944 56 77,144 56 77,417 86 72,515 09 75,815 05 81,815 41 86,429 98 81,381 90 89,084 96 94,626 35 100,678 60 80,043 86 93,755 31 109,117 77 104,390 78 184,016 40 118,486 67 94,349 98 103,994 09 117,473 37 103,400 65 96,073 85 90,092 46 107,370 62 133,836 51 113,458 87 No distribu- tion to be made until the revenue amounts to $50,00«. !{ 60,000 00 60,000 00 60,000 00 60,000 00 70,000 00 80,000 00 80,000 00 80,000 00 80,000 00 80,000 00 80,000 00 100,000 00 100,000 00 100,000 00 100,000 00 100,0(0 00 100,080 00 100,080 00 100,080 00 100,0(.0 00 100,000 00 110,000 00 110,000 00 110,000 00 110,00»» 00 110,000 00 110,080 00 110,080 00 110,080 00 110,080 00 $^,081,719 80 $2,780,560 00 14 Table B. SCHOOL FUND FROM 1846 TO 1885, INCLUSIVE. The following table exhibits the School Fund, from the year 1846 to 1885 also the annual interest or revenue derived from the fund, and the amount annually paid from the State Treasury each year, from fund and tax : YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30. 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 18(51 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 Capital. $2 133, 2 170, 2 211, 2 243, 2 290, 2 325, 2 354, 2 383, 2 425, 2 457, 2 491, 2 526, 2 551, 2 586, 2 607, 2 625, 2 658, 2 694, 2 734, 2 765, 2 799, 2 827, 2 853, 2 880, 2 915, 2 978, 3 004, 3 029, 3 054, 3 080, 3 105, 3 130, 3 156, 3 226, 3 251, 3 276, 3 802, 3 827, 3 852, *3 877, 943 01 514 47 475 14 563 36 673 23 449 72 530 09 57 23 211 97 520 86 916 14 392 24 260 52 251 16 036 68 476 94 116 42 552 33 213 15 760 77 630 04 465 34 396 40 017 01 633 04 576 52 513 55 513 55 772 10 107 68 107 68 762 78 062 78 285 54 285 54 601 54 901 54 901 54 901 54 901 54 Annual revenue or interest. $123 131 117 119 135 132 140 146 144 143 159 169 159 164 152 153 158 157 154 186 170 183 192 164 174 175 168 175 178 179 177 199 202 188 183 178 122 147 162 *160 458 12 554 21 220 25 903 76 792 10 009 15 295 42 303 76 116 97 127 73 849 17 160 59 544 28 249 77 992 82 010 51 656 18 649 42 882 30 462 20 580 65 821 84 006 92 143 79 007 31 252 96 603 49 191 34 813 72 304 66 687 36 151 60 122 62 874 95 674 58 465 80 142 21 068 54 564 49 000 00 5,433,717 54 StTM Annually Paid from the State Treasury. From School Fund. 1106 110 119 79 161 76 179 95 169 145 145 185 204 160 160 182 183 167 160 161 163 178 188 214 172 174 174 120 226 175 176 177 174 202 199 178 448 513 175 *175 073 81 820 32 902 00 407 14 030 06 001 81 242 09 010 60 961 40 513 26 638 98 l';8 45 864 00 206 71 071 05 508 57 977 54 906 42 485 76 560 79 142 58 806 80 550 28 900 78 520 39 422 91 268 98 967 12 903 96 820 20 744 77 110 90 974 22 485 30 955 84 584 71 798 21 712 03 793 81 000 00 $7,168,824 54 From School Tax. 800 8«0 800 800 072 074 053 053 064 081 086 090 125 163 148 080 207 325 458 565 610 662 711 959 082 100 927 917 802 056 062 099 180 000 00 000 00 000 00 000 00 000 00 362 83 982 20 680 74 873 04 473 14 325 57 977 96 ^41 11 749 90 159 76 422 22 134 65 611 42 150 96 751 48 672 37 784 31 032 98 634 84 725 13 834 09 207 86 326 72 147 10 088 12 633 67 050 82 165 66 393 90 $65,685,194 55 * Estimated. Note — The payments from revenue for 1882 and 1883 include over $600,000 for premiums and commissions on bonds purchased. 15 CD T-l O IJI OJ O -^"cl CJMC50oioooeoi> O 05 • l> 00 00 -* t 1 0> t- >-< OJ 1-1 o I ■* lO GO 00 ■* 00 t-*co T-( oo 00 eo O O O 00 Ol o 05 ■* i-H lO CJ 00 I'eo'ic « w eo w H pa I— ( o w 02 o PU & .£~-^lOi-l iCIOQOOOIOi-iWKl 00 T-T lo «c -^ 05 1- 00 t— 0>Ow50COOt-I O5ooooaoo0'-'OJ> t-coc~oocoo»cco OCO-^OOCOiOCOO» (N03r-lOC0OT-lW O r^ £> CQ to (M 05 O OC'l-r-IOlOCOOiCO i-iClCSOOOOO — o o I— ( M H P3 3 H ^§ ►JO < =» 'T § <=? ^ k!> ^ ^ r-iO500THTHrt 00 Si O T— I C5 CO ■^ t>t-t-0O0OQO0O0O 00000000 0000 oo 00 bO «1 16 Table D. RECEIPTS FROM CORPORATION TAX. For fiscal year ending September 30, 1880 $141 ,127 03 " 30,1881 992,725 16 80, 188-i 1,539,684 27 *' 30,1883 *1, 935, 179 31 " 30,1884 1,603,612 75 •• " 30, 1885 (estimated) 1,600,000 00 Total $7,812,328 52 This tax will protluce at least $1,600,000 per year, i. e., $12,800,000 during the next eight years. It will increase but graduiilly, as by far the larger part of it is drawn from a few great corporations, whose number and individual magnitude are not likely to be much augmented hereafter. « The receipts forl8S3 include over $350,000 lack taxes of 1880. Table E. APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE ERECTION OF THE NEW CAPITOL FOR EIGHT YEARS. Year 1877, chapter 336 $500,000 00 " 1878, " 7 $300,000 00 " 1878, " 252 'J 00, 000 00 1,000,000 00 1,000,000 00 1,600,000 00 1,000,000 00 1,250,000 00 1879, " 65 $500,000 00 1879, " 272 500 1 000 00 1880, " 33 $100,000 00 1880, " 138 1,500,000 00 1881, " 24 $250,000 00 1881, " 325 750,000 00 1882, '• 7 $250,000 00 1882, " 295 1,000,000 00 1883, " 9 $250,000 00 1883, " 320 1,000,000 00 1,250,000 00 "1884, " 37 1,000,000 00 Total. . . $8,600,000 00 17 Table F. APPROPRIATIONS FOR CANAL DEBT SINKING FUND. Year ending September 30, 1878 |!)00,208 50 Year ending September 30, 1879 805,083 31 Year ending September 30, 1880 789, 'i24 90 Year ending September 30, 1881 878,!)38 03 Year ending September 30, 1882 758,797 92 Year ending September 30, 1883 I,115,(i48 46 Year ending September 30, 1884 1,9^8,508 34 Year ending September 30, 1885 950,;il0 00 $8,187,219 46 Table G. There will be needed for the Canal Debt Sinking fiscal years, as follows : Fund for the next eight Interest. Sinking Fund. Total. Year ending Sept. 30, 1886 . . $500,310 00 $330,000 00 • $830,310 00 Year ending Sept. 30, 1887 . . 476,866 50 330,000 00 806,866 50 Year ending Sept. 30, 1888 . . 406,5:^6 00 330,000 00 736,536 00 Year ending Hept. 30, 1889 . . 406,536 00 330,000 00 736,536 00 Year ending Sept. 30, 1890 . . 406,536 00 330,000 00 736,536 00 Year ending Sept. 30, 1891 . . 341,997 00 330,000 00 671,997 00 Year ending Sept. 3o, 1892 . . 148,380 00 330.000 00 478,380 00 Year ending Sept. 30, 1893 . . 28,380 00 330,000 00 358,380 00 $2,715,541 50 $2,640,000 00 $5,855,541 50 The securities and ca&h in the fund will earn interest which cannot now be exactly computed. It is safe, therefore, to estimate that the total taxation caused by this fund in the next eight years will M\ $3,000,000 below that of the eight years just closing. 2 18 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Proposing an Amendment to Section One of Article Nine of THE Constitution, Relating to the Capital and Revenue of certain Trust Funds. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section one of article nine of the Consti- tution be amended so as to read as follows : Section 1. The capital of the Literature Fund and the capital of the United States Deposit Fund shall be respectively preserved inviolate. The revenue of the said Literature Fund shall be applied to the support of academies. So soon after January first, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, as good judgment may dictate, the Comptroller shall convert the capital of the Common School Fund into cash, which shall be paid into the Treasury, and be applied in reduction of direct taxation. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS t1lll!IIIIIIIIIIH:!ll'l'flll' 021 504 235 2 HoUiE p] LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 504 235 2 # Hollinger Corp. ._ . ^u ft n.