Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 12.djvu/117

 FINANCIAL HISTORY OF OREGON 109 quired, but unlike those funds in that the principal and not the interest income alone from them was available for disburse- ments. They were not "irreducible." The land funds, or the very prospect of funds from the state grants, were enough to engage the plotting of those facile in beguiling legislatures to subsidize plausible schemes for internal improvement from which the schemers alone would reap the harvests. From 1876 on a conspicuous item in the financial statements of Oregon is that of outstanding warrants payable from different land funds as proceeds of land sales be- came available. The accumulation of these funds was anticipated and, as the astounding size of the element of accrued interest in connection with the outstanding warrant liabilities indicate, the appropriations fo,r the internal improvement schemes had been made years in advance of the realization of the moneys from land sales. Yea, transfers had even to be made from the general fund account to effect the final liquidation of these liabilities. The following statistics of outstanding land fund warrants tell pretty plainly their own story : 1876 "Outstanding Wagon Road Warrants, pay- able out of Swamp, Tide, Overflowed, 5 per cent U. S. Land Sale Funds and other Funds" $109,154.00 1878 "Wagon Road Warrants, payable out of Swamp, Overflowed, Tide, 5 per cent U. S. Land Sale, and other Land Funds" 138,600.00 1880 "Wagon Road Warrants, payable out of Swamp, Overflowed, Tide, 5 per cent U. S. Land Sale and other Land Funds" 134,304.00 1882 "Wagon Road Warrants, payable out of Swamp, Overflowed, Tide, 5 per cent U. S. Land Sale and other Land Funds" 116,876.05 1884 "Wagon Road Warrants, payable out of Swamp, Overflowed, Tide, 5 per cent U. S. Land and other Land Funds" 83,859.45