Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 11.djvu/444

 414 F. G. Young est on the state debt, if there be any." 1 Also, "Whenever the expenses of any fiscal year shall exceed the income, the legis- lative assembly shall provide for levying a tax for the ensuing fiscal year, sufficient, with other sources of income, to pay the deficiency, as well as the estimated expense of the ensuing year."* And again, "The legislative assembly shall not loan the credit of the state, nor in any manner create any debts or liabilities, which shall singly or in the aggregate with previous debts or liabilities exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars, except in case of war, or to repel invasion, or suppress insur- rection; and every contract of indebtedness entered into or assumed by or on behalf of the state, when its liabilities and debts amount to said sum, shall be void and of no effect." And finally, "The state shall never assume the debts of any county, town, or other corporation whatever, unless such debts shall have been created to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the state in war." 3 Notwithstanding these comprehensive constitutional restric- tions it seemed difficult for the successive legislative assem- blies to refrain from pledging the credit of the state in the aid of railroads and other enterprises of public improvement. In 1866 an act was passed pledging the state to pay the interest on the bonds of a railroad to connect the state with the trade centers of California. 4 This law was repealed at the following session of the legislature on the ground that it was in conflict with the constitution of the state. 5 This same legislative assembly, however, came to the aid of the "Willamette Falls Canal and Lock Company," organized for the purpose of constructing a canal and locks around the falls of the Willamette river at Oregon City. The faith of the state was pledged to pay this corporation $150,000 in annual installments of $25,000 in gold coin, after the satisfactory com- pletion of the work. The money for this aid was to be taken iArticle IX, Section 2. 2Article IX, Section 6. 3Article XI, Sections 7 and 8. 4General Laws, 1866, pp. 1-5. sGeneral Laws, 1868, pp. 44-45.