ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Hon. Theodore Thurston Geer having received the highest
number of votes cast, the speaker of the house thereupon declared
him duly elected governor of the state of Oregon for the ensuing
four years.

On motion of Representative Reeder, a committee of three was
appointed to wait upon the governor, the governor-elect, members
of the supreme court, the retiring state officers and state officers-
elect and ex Governor Moody and invite them to attend the joint
convention, and invite the governor to deliver his biennial mes-
sage, and the governor-elect to deliver his inaugural message.

The president appointed as such committee Representative
Reeder and Senators Brownell and Bates. The committee es-
corted the distinguished gentlemen into the house, and his excel-
lency, Governor Lord, was introduced by President Taylor, and
proceeded to deliver his message, as follows:

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

Gentlemen of the legislative assembly:

You have assembled, in obedience to the requirements of the
constitution, for the purpose of enacting such laws as may be
needed, in your judgment, better to protect the rights of person

and property, to conserve the public interests and to promote the general welfare. The important duty is devolved upon you to carry out the mandate of the people for retrenchment and reform to abolish useless offices, boards and commissions, to cut off unnecessary expense, and to rid the body politic of abuses and hidden emoluments, if any exist; to withhold needless appropriation and reduce needed ones to a minimum, in order that excessive taxation may be avoided and that the public expenditures may be reduced to the lowest possible limit consistent with a wise and economical administration of the state's government. To qualify yourselves intelligently to perform these duties, it will be essential for you to acquire a thorough knowledge of the true condition of the state and its institutions. This knowledge will be brought to your attention through detailed reports of the various departments of the state and the institutions under their charge, through committees appointed by your body to investigate and report on their condition and needs,-and through such information of the affairs of the state as the executive may feel it his duty to communicate for your consideration and action.

Gentlemen, you have imposed upon you grave and responsible duties duties that you cannot neglect or evade without incurring the just condemnation of the people, and inflicting irreparable injury upon your state. They are duties that demand, for their faithful and intelligent discharge, the uninterrupted use of every available hour of the 40 days alloted for your legislative labors; duties, I repeat, that if well performed, will afford no time for factional fights or senseless struggles for mere party advantage, or trades and combinations to fix legislative appointments to office. You are assembled under circumstances fraught with less discouragements than those which confronted your legislative predecessors. The extraordinary financial and commercial depression which afflicted our country and blighted its prosperity is passing away. Already we feel the pulsations of reviving business, and hear the hum of industrial activity echoing throughout our borders. The future that awaits our state is full of promise. The natural conditions that environ it, backed by the energy, intelligence and skill of its people, and aided by wise legislation for the development of its abounding and varied resources, will make our state a center of financial and industrial activities. Nothing short of a policy handicapping its government with bad laws, excessive taxation and lavish expenditures can make Oregon a laggard in the procession of progressive and prosperous states. While it is true, there are some laws of trade and finance which control business, and which no statute can affect or abolish, it is equally true that legislative enactments often perform an important part in stimulating business and

industrial enterprise, in opening the channels of trade and commerce, in protecting life and property, and in preserving many valuable natural resources from waste and destruction. To the extent that legislation may assist in the accomplishment of these objects, without disturbing or restricting trade, it ought to be enacted. Much has been done by past legislatures to aid in the development of some of the resources of our state, and to preserve others from extinction-much to serve the public interests, by the adoption of measures of retrenchment and reform, which have kept her free from public debt and in the front rank of an advancing civilization; but much still remains to be done to supply her wants and more fully improve her resources and meet the growing demand for general enlightenment, for higher standards of public duty, for better political methods and for more economical government. Upon you, gentlemen, rests the responsibility of inaugurating such measures as will effect these reforms. You alone have the power to pass bills and change existing laws, to inaugurate measures for bettering the condition of our institutions and reduce the tax levy. You owe the people a conscientious performance of duty according to your best ability. I pray that you may not disappoint these just expectations.

It now becomes my duty to present you a variety of information concerning the condition of the state, and to recommend such measures as may be deemed to be expedient:

FINANCES.

Oregon has no debt, but there is a surplus in the treasury of $763,699.23. The following indicates the condition of the state's finances:

The receipts into the state treasury during the biennial term ending
December 31, 1898, including the balance on hand as per last report, were $2,777, C31 50
The disbursements out of the several funds were..

[blocks in formation]

2,013, 332 27

$ 763,699 23

$191,236 62 444,898 17

70,747 02 9,308 63

938 07

3,093 27

2,661 54

2,687 45

Thurston monument fund, interest

University tax fund

Military tax fund..

Total__-

19, 201 57 1,246 08

14 44 15,919 34 1,747 03

$763,699 23

I call your special notice to the fact that the principal of the common school fund, which was $150,398.28 two years ago, is now almost three times that sum. Also, I desire to call your attention to the fact that the tax levy of this year is greatly increased, on account of appropriations made by the special session, for objects not anticipated or contemplated by the board when the tax levy was made, towit, $33,000 for the Eastern Oregon asylum lands, $41,000 for the unorganized legislature of 1897, $15,000 for the Omaha exposition, $25,000 for an agricultural college building, and others, making in all about $200,000, in excess of the amount levied by the board, or one-fourth of the entire tax levy.

ASSESSMENT AND TAXATION.

No matter of public concern is the cause of greater complaint, or beset with greater difficulty in its practical operation, than the law regulating the levy and collection of taxes. The cause of the complaint is the inequality of taxation. To insure uniformity and equality, it is indispensable that the law regulating assessments and taxation should be based on some rule of apportionment that operates impartially and rests on fixed principles of justice. Our law is based on the theory that all property, whether real or personal, should be assessed at its actual cash value, and, it is plain, where all property in the state is so assessed there will be equality of taxation. But the same consequences would follow if all the property of the state were assessed at less than its cash value, provided that the reduced rate of assessment were made equally to apply upon all property. The assessment being equally distributed upon all property, there would be equality in the payment of taxes. Inequality of taxation, then, is due, not to the fact that property is assessed too low, but to the fact that it is assessed unequally. Where this is the case, the burdens of government are not shared equally, and a flagrant injustice is done some taxpayers. There is not so much difficulty in framing a law that, in theory, shall distribute the burdens of taxation as in securing its proper administration. Nor do I think our law, if fairly executed, according to its intent, fails to provide for an impartial assessment of property. The difficulty is not so much with the law itself as with its administration. If the officers to whom is confided the duty of enforcing our law should strictly comply with its provisions, there would be little cause of complaint relative to assessment and taxation. There might be some amendments to our law that would operate beneficially, but its general provisions are based on principles, which, if fairly complied with, would proximate to equality of taxation and remove much dissatisfaction.

At any rate, be slow in tinkering with tax laws, and, above all, be careful to avoid thrashing over old straw, for the result of your labors will be more apt to increase, than remove, the evil sought to be remedied. The framing of a tax law to supplant an old one, expected to remedy all defects and give universal satisfaction, is a delusion; but, somehow, it is a public service always attractive to youthful and inexperienced statesmanship.

PENITENTIARY.

Considering the poor location of the penitentiary, on low, wet ground, and the conditions surrounding it, it was highly essential, as a matter of ordinary care, that ample and thorough provision should have been made for its sewerage and that its lands should have been drained in order to ward off miasmatic conditions and to promote general healthfulness; that its buildings and outbuildings should have been kept in good condition and not allowed to become dilapidated and out of repair, with a view to their preservation and better to serve the interests of economy and good government. I regret to say, that, when the prison and its belongings was received by the present superintendent, this condition of things did not exist, and while it is true that many things had been done in this direction, they had not been prosecuted to the extent demanded by the plain necessities of the situation. The condition of the prison was such that the superintendent was compelled to make many improvements and repairs, the necessity for which had existed some time and could not longer be delayed though without funds for this purpose. Notwithstanding the difficulties which confronted him, the superintendent, by practicing rigid economy and intelligently utilizing the prison labor, was able to make pressing repairs and needed improvements. Besides mending the floors, putting in new window sills, planks in porches and guard walks, where they were rotten and broken, he painted portions of the building and fences, where needed for their preservation, and especially a large structure built of corrugated iron, that was rapidly going to decay from exposure to weather. Also, he built a new flume for the water race, cleaned up the prison yard and the channel of the stream and its banks therein, and renovated a portion of the sewerage escape, which when opened, disclosed that it had been illy constructed of unfit material, that made it a hotbed of filth and a breeder of disease; reclaimed several acres of wet lands, and tiled and drained others, to render them profitable for agricultural uses, and prevent malarial conditions. It is believed that the prison and its belongings are in a fair condition, considering the limited means for its repairs, though there are other improvements needed, especially with reference to its sew

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »