Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 12.djvu/98

 90 F. G. YOUNG by federal authorities within Oregon borders all pouring into the state treasury. 1 (2) The treasury as a reservoir with its accumulations of public funds the normal and economic con- dition of which involves absence of leakage and also absence of large aggregates of idle surplus moneys. (3) The legisla- ture carrying out the will of the people with its system of budgetary legislation, regulating inflow, safe-keeping and out- flows its success or failure in maintaining normal conditions with regard to each. What are the more striking developments centering in the treasury department at the state house that come into view as we attempt to visualize the course of events connected with the handling of Oregon's public funds? 1. County Delinquency and Non- Acceptance of Greenbacks. Suppose we bring into the field of vision first the money streams flowing into the state treasury as the result of annual state tax levies. The list given below of balances due from the counties at the end of the successive biennial periods indi- cate that the channels for the inflow of state tax receipts were not free from obstructions, or that the people did not always respond with alacrity in paying state taxes when due. 1862 . $5,236.26 1886 . 67,820.06 1864 25,324.73 1888 28,120.03 1866 24,280.30 1890 17,211.91 1868 28,018.30 1892 104,542.42 1870 22,283.38 1894 242,365.56 1872 14,881.16 1896 84,662.02 1874 13,646.44 1898 85,125.04 1876 26,517.95 1900 63,143.66 1878 24,681.40 1902 197,040.49 1880 15,895.69 1904 414,410.982 1882 20,613.10 1906 222,462.502 1884 64,077.38 1908 396,866. 48 2 i Receipts from national treasury include also indemnities, timber sale re- ceipts, etc. ^The large aggregate sums of these later periods are due to the fact that the reports are compiled in September, before the counties have remitted fully their receipts for the current year.