The State Is Broke: Why Olympia Needs an Emergency Legislature
A supreme court ruling on university lands has left Washington's brand-new state government without money to pay its own debts — and the Olympia Tribune argues the legislature must be hauled back to the capital before the state's credit collapses.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
That an extra session of the legislature is necessary is hardly a question, in view of the interests involved both for the republican party and the people of the state at large. The recent decision of the supreme court of the state with reference to the state university so plainly affects other financial matters that the quicker the legislature is called together the better it will be for the credit of the state.
Washington is one of the few states in the union that has attempted to get along without annual sessions of the legislature within the first ten years of its existence. The best regulated states in the union have their legislatures meet annually. It is now apparent that biennial sessions should not have been established by the constitution — at least not until the machinery of state had been in good working order.
In addition to the fact that no exact appropriation was made for construction of the state university by the last legislature, none was made for the payment of the tide land appraisers of the various counties; none was made for the payment of expenses in the selection of state granted lands; none for the payment of interest on the state bonds; none for the payment of military warrants; none for the payment of expenses in conveying juvenile offenders to the reform school; none for the payment of expenses in the sale of school lands, and none to satisfy judgments under the act of 1889-90 for the relief of innocent purchasers of university lands. There is also a serious discrepancy between the election law and the constitution relative to the returns of the election, as well as other matters which require immediate attention.
There are several judgments already secured against the state relative to the relief of innocent purchasers of university lands, and the furniture and other fixtures of the state are in danger of seizure at any time. Relative to the expenses of contests in the selection of lands, the governor's plan to have the county commissioners advance the necessary expenses will hardly meet with favor, because it is not strictly a county affair. It is proposed to issue certificates of indebtedness in cases where no warrants can issue, in order to tide matters over until the regular session of the legislature in January, 1893 — which session will again consume one-half of the sixty days in selecting a United States senator.
These certificates, of course, would not bear interest, would not be negotiable, and would be hawked about the state at a heavy discount for more than a year. There are other grave reasons why an extra session should be called which may be referred to later on.
“The quicker the legislature is called together the better it will be for the credit of the state.”
Three years after statehood, Washington discovered its brand-new government had appropriations for almost nothing — including the interest on its own bonds — and feared creditors would seize the office furniture. Then as now, the fight was over who pays for the promises the state has already made, and whether an emergency session can fix a budget the last one botched.
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