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Show I PUBLIC MONEY I EARNSJTEREST H State Treasurer Favors Law Making Provision for Two Per Cent On Balances I Salt Lake City, Jan. C A change I In the law governing the control of the state funds In such a manner as LW to permit the stato to receive from yW hanks interest at the rate of 2 per it on dally balances, Is suggested in the biennial report of State Treasurer Da-1 Da-1 Tld Mattson. The proposed enact-1 enact-1 ment Is Intended to Include all pub-1 pub-1 lie moneys In 'the state whether state I county, city or school district funds; I nnd It provides that any bank may I share In the holding of tho funds If It comply with the requirement to furnish a bond for more than the I maximum amount likely to be depos-I depos-I Ited with It at any ono time. I The proposed law names the gov- I ernor, tho secretary of state and the K attornoy general ns tho personnel of the state board of finance; tho conn-I conn-I ty commissioners of each county as I the county board of finance; tho mayor ma-yor and councllmcn or commissioners as the caso may be, of each city as the city board of finance, the mayor nnd trustees of each Incorporated town In tho state as a town or piunl-clpal piunl-clpal board of finance; nnd the board of trustees of each school district as a district board of finance. Two Years Benefits, $80,000 The report shows that during tho paBt two years the state has benefited bene-fited to tho amount of $80,000 from concessions from banks, particularly In tho sale of state bonds. "Th.s earning," says the report, "while u cannot be directly termed as Interest, Inter-est, should nevertheless be cliselflcd as such; for had a straight Intorcst of 2 per cent on tho dally bilanco on deposit In tho banks been collect-I collect-I ed Instead theso banks certainly I would have returned no such favors I or concessions to the state, and the I earnings accruing from such an nr- rangoment would havo been practically practic-ally Identical In nmout to thg con-cessions con-cessions mentioned above. I havo mado reference to this mnttcr not only to show that tho state funds hove been mnnaged ns JudlclouB'y ns tho circumstances would permit, but 1 1 demonstrate the fact that wo have to a considerable extent, satisfied 'he remands of thoso citizens of ttie state who believe that Interest should be earned on public funds. I fully r.-l,nnwledgo tho Justice of thoso rlnlms and It becomes our duty to glvo heed to them. The pcoplo aro do numolng prompt action In ih m.Uv h.ii'. by every ru'n of rcasj-) they are right In their contentions. The proposition, prop-osition, therefore, ns I view It resolves re-solves Itself Into n clear question pi Just what course to pursue to beat accomplished the results. "In thlB connection, I am firmly of the opinion that It will be necessary to enact now legislation completely covering this subject beforo wo can reasonably liopo to Bccuro permanent and substantial earnings on our. public pub-lic funds. It Is very true that tho Btate funds have shown a fair earning earn-ing during tho past four years, but then It should be observed that tho condition of the stntes flnnnces was extraordinary during this time and that such conditions Is not likely to prevail much longer. That Is to say that had It not been for the exlstcnco of the reservoir fund overdraft nnd tho Issuo of tho Btnte university nnd state road bonds, tho state treasury would havo had no opportunity to effect ef-fect such favorablo negotiations for tho stato. It Is also true that hero and there throughout the state the funds of some local governments are earning Interest, but theso are ex-ceptlonal ex-ceptlonal cases, and I venture tho assertion as-sertion that the great bulk of tho county, city, town, and school funds In tho'stato aro not earning Interest And I deem tho same to be likewise truo of a large portion of the state funds which nro In tho hands of the several state boards, ofilcers and Institutions, In-stitutions, and over which the state treasurer has no control. "As tho matter now sUnds in this state, tho collection of Interest on public fundB Is" optional with tho of ficial or officials having tho custody of the same, it is an open question howover, whether any Buch official can legally loan public funds. Hut whatever tho legal status of this question may be, It is my opinion that thu collection of interest In any Instance presumes the existence of a loan In some form o,- another; and that u loan In any form always entails en-tails n risk. Therefore any custodian custodi-an of public funds In this state who negotiated such a transaction would be llablo on his official bond for any losses resulting, nnd because or this situation thero aro none who care to assume the risk. I hold, therefore, that In view of such conditions as now hold In this state, It would bo eminently unfair to compel by law, or oven to expect, tho collection of Interest on public fundB until tho custodians cus-todians of such funds havo flr3t been relelved of at least a major portion of tlxjlr presont liabilities, and thoso liabilities fixed elBowhcro. "Public agitation has thus far j seemed content to center Its demand ' for the collection of Interest on tho stato funds nlono. It should be ob served, however, that the stato funds comprlao but a small fraction of tho combined total of all tho public funds In tho stato. It Is my Judgment that If Interest bo collected on nil public funds, and there Is no good argument to the contrnry. Therefore when wo undcrtnko to compel by law tho collection col-lection of Interest on state funds we will, If we nro slncero in our purposo provldo accordingly for tho collection of interest on tho respective funds of tho several counties, cities, towns, and school districts in tho stnto. And wo will further provldo for tho collection col-lection of a uniform rate of Interest an all of theso separate funds. From I this viewpoint, tho question nssumes .reat magnitude, and I am firmly con vlnced thnt wo will never obtain satisfactory sat-isfactory results until wo enact a depository de-pository law, with sweeping provisions provi-sions affecting every public fund, great and small In tho stato. In this respect I am not alono In my opinion; opin-ion; tho experience of other states will fully bear mo out In theso contentions." |