The Wateree messenger. (Camden, S.C.) 1884-1942, May 23, 1934, Image 5
Neville Bennett
Addresses House
?%.
At the close of the general assem
bly Hon. Neville Bennett, chairman
of the ways and means committee, I
delivered the following address to |
the house:
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the
House; If you will indulge me for a
few minutes before we adjourn, I wish
to present to the members some stat
istics, in explanation of wfeat seems
to me to be the remarkable accom
plishments of this General Assembly.
I am very sorry that I could not give
the figures last night, when more
were present, and when considerable
attention seems to have been given
to expressions of appreciation and es
teem. At that time it was my mis
fortune to be rather exhaustingly en
gaged on the Free Conference Com
mittee handling the so-called Deficien
cy Bill, and 1 was therefore deprived
of the opportunity at that more ap
propriate time of expressing to the
House my deep sense of obligation
for the many kindnesses and courte
sies and also for the many indul
gences so often shown me by the
Speaker and the other members of
the General Assembly. I have im
posed upon you and have been fa
vored more than my share and I ap
preciate it all more than I can tell
you.
Now !by way of preface, let me Fay
that the figures I shall use have beeo
compiled from records in the offices
of the State Auditor and the Comp
troller General. They are therefore
substantially accurate.
Although they may sound like any
other set of cold figures to the
thoughtless or ignorant, to intelligent
and fair-min<led students of our State
Government they will be eloquent of
the labors and accomplishments of
the last two General Assemblies, the
General Assembly of 1931 and 1932,
and the General Assembly of 1^33
and 1934. It is a record of splendid
business management, patriotically
carried to success in the midst of gen
eral business collapse and in the face
of appalling difficulties of finance.
Of course, this General Assembly has
been abused and will be abused, and
for many mistakes can be most justly
1 criticized, /but no one can take from
it the record of accomplishment that
belongs to it, nor erase that record
from the .Books of the Comptroller
General and the State Treasurer, nor
from the Statutes of the *5tate. There
it will remain forover.
When we came here last January
many of us did not realize our diffi
culties or the full weight of our re
sponsibilities; and today as we close
our period of service many of us do
not realize the fundamental fiscal
changes that have been made. The
first great accomplishment I wish to
mention is the reduction in the ex
penses of the State. According to
the records of the Comptroller Gen
eral's office, in 1929, the disburse
ments from the general' funds of the
State were $11,374,562.58, of which
the School received $3,788,367.00. In
1930 the total disbursements from
the general fund were $11,354,772.11,
of which the Schools received $3,500,
029.00. In 1931, disbursements from
the general fund were $10^657,911.20,
of which the Schopls received $3,500,
000.00. In 1932 the total disburse
ments from the general fund were
$8,768,341.78, of which the Schools
received $3,394,329.00. In 1933 the
total disbursements from the general
fund were $8,827,115.32, of which the
Schools received $3,096,895.00, and of
which also approximately $1,300,
000.00 was a deficit brought forward
from the preceding calendar year.
And according to the Appropriation
Bill adopted at this session there will
bo expended during the next fiscal
year from the general funds of the
State a total of $6,948,000.00, of
which amount the Schools will receive
$*2,372,980.00. In other words, for
every dollar that the State was spend
ing from the general fund in 1909, it
is now to spend 61c. Or in other
words, total expenditures from the
general funds of the State have been
reduced 39 per cent since 1930.
From the information I have been
) able to gather, this grebt reduction
has resulted in considerable hardship ,
at some of the State Institutions and
Departments. But, the services ren
dered by the (State to its citizens have
not been perceptibly reduced in num
' ber of efficiency. ?
The maintenance of former stand
ard* of service by the Departments
and Institutions of the State should
be put down to the credit of the State
official# and employee* who have
shown a wonderful spirit of patriotic
cooperation in the saving of the pub
He funds, and^-the rendering of effi
? cient service under great handicaps.
Your next great accomplishment
that I wi*h to mention is your main
tenance of State support for schools.
I 1 ws take the flgureal gave you ?
few minutes ago and separate the
'School expenditures from ths other
disbursements from the general funds
Iof the State we will get a surprising
result. Leaving out the amount/spent
for schools altogether, we And that In
HMO the other saqpenditors# from the
?*
a Engineering facts prove It. Ex
perience In building nearly ten
million cars confirms It. And the record off
over 3,000,000 Chevrolet Six owners removes
any shadow of doubt about It: The only
way to get real economy In a low-priced
car is to insist on SIX cylinders and
OVERHEAD valves.
SIX cylinders? no morel? because extra
cylinders mean extra cost for gas, oil, upkeep
and parts. OVERHEAD valves? * nothing
else/? for the same good reason that air
planes use them. And speedboats. And racing
cars. They get the MOST power out off the
LEAST gas. That's why overhead valves are
the choice off leaders? and champions. - ^
CHEVROLET MOTQR CO., DETROIT, MICH.
Compwt Chevrolet's low delivered prlcta and aaty QJULC.
terms. A General Motors Value.
MCM-'X AOVDmUMRNT j
Camden, S. C. D. M. MAYS Bethune, S. G.
general funds of the iState for purely
Stat? purposcR find not for tho public
schools was $7,854,741.11. In 1931 it
WRR $ 7, 157, 911.20. In 1032 it was $5,
374,012.78. In 1933, it was $5,730,
263.82, ami in the next fiscal year,
1934-85, the expenditures for ordinary
State purposes will he $4,580,724.33.
You will see therefore thnt the ex
penditures of the iState Government
outside of public schools have iheen
reduced from $7,854,741.11 in 1980 to
$4,680,' 724^83 for the next fiscal year,
o* a total reduction in purely iState
operating expenses, exclusive of
schools, of approximately 42 per cent
to the operating costs of the State
Government alone. Now, taking up
the figures for public schools, we find
that In 1930 the amount was $3,500,
089.00; In 1981, $3,500,000.00; in
1980, $3,894,824.00; in 1933, the calen
dar yaar, $8,008,895.00. During the
j eighteen month*' period, which in
| eludes the calendar year of 19JW and
t.ho first six months of 1934, the total
amount spent from the general funds
of tho State for schools including
teachers' notes, will amount to $6,
rry2,560/58. And going into the next
fiscal year for which we have just
made the appropriation, we find that
of the total bill of $0,048,000.00, the
sum of $2 ,372, 9ft 0.00 is definitely al
located to (Schools from the general
funds of the (State, hut that in addi
tion thereto, Schools will receive the
! proceeds of special revenue In the
amount of $1^JW, 000.00, making a
total of $ft,B72,9fiOiOO. In addition to
this, during the next fiscal year the
schools will receive from the general
funda of the \State *n the fofm of
payments made on teachers' notes, the
sum of $1 ,<200,000.00, malting a grand
total for the schools during the year
? next fiscal year ? of $4,906,000.00;
So that the result is that during the
same period in which the general ox- 1
penditures of tho iState Government
for purely &tato purpoaefl "were being
decreased 42 per cent, tho expendi
tures for school purposes had actually
increased from $>8, '500, 000. 00 to $4,
900,000.00, or an increase of approx
imately 40 per cent.
I have heard it said by thojte who
were unfamiliar with the facts that
this General Aasemlbly had not taken
care of the school*. iThe contrary is
true. iXhe truth being that during
the iflncal year 1&M-196, there will be
expended from the funds of the State
of South "Carolina, iboth school funds
and the general funds, the sum total
of $9,4ftS, 000.00, of which approxi
mately $4^00,000.00 wiH go to the
public .schools of the (State. This
General Assembly has devoted a
greater portion of the revenue of the
!st*t? to th? support of ihe Public
Schools than has any other ("Jencral
Assembly in the history of tho State.
There in more which I wish to any
with regard to the (Schools, hut I will
bring that i?| in oonnoction with tho
change of the fiscal year.
Changing tho fWal year op the
State from a calendar year 'basia to
a July 1st to June 30th date was tho
greatest aingle accomplishment, of
this* General Assembly from a fiscal
sandpoint. It is an accomplishment
that can be credited to the (preceding '
General Aaaemlbly as well as to this, |
and to the .people of South "Carolina
who approved the necessary change
In the constitution so that it could be
put into effect. T>aat year, when we
were making the change, it put a
great strain upon the finances of the
State. iNow that the change ha* been
negotiated and we are on the new
JUcftl haaia, the strain has been
parsed, and wo now And ourselves in
ft position of absoluto control and
safety of iRtat.e finances, a condition
which never prevailed tberfore. This
session ia the first regular aeaaion at
the General Assembly ir> 'which the
members came down to (Columbia and
were not called upon to reach ibeck
six or seven months trying to find
money to pay tfle costa of expendi
tures that had already been made.
The period for which we made appro
priation#* at this aession -wa* ih??
perio<l beginning this coming Ju)y lat
arul extending to next June 80th.
Bmployeea of the Comptroller Genr
eral'a office tell me that the atrain
of their -work has been cut in half.
The head<a of the Inatitutiona tell ua
that they are now able to formulate
their plana in a more (buaineaa-like
ami common a-emae way, and can ad
Juat their t>n4gets to the bndgat at