Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 12.djvu/113

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FINANCIAL HISTORY OF OREGON 105 to the treasurer of which the secretary knows nothing; and, on the other hand, the treasurer is just as constantly paying out interest on warrants, etc., of which the secretary is equal- ly ignorant." 1 When this matter of the account between the treasurer and the state was referred to again, nearly thirty years later, there was no complaint regarding the receipt side of the account. The requirement of the secretary of state that he countersign the official receipt sufficed for getting a record of all of the treasurer's receipts. But evidently for more than forty years this account between the treasurer and the state was a mere farce, for the secretary of state had no means of obtaining a record of the treasurer's payments. Secre- Secretary Dunbar in securing the filing of all warrants as soon as paid and the keeping of a warrant account remedied this defect. 2 Trust Fund Administration. The treasury administration of trust funds involves activities quite distinct from those need- ed for the care of the general fund. Collection, safe-keeping and disbursement are the stages in the process of handling the moneys in the general fund. But the accumulations of the irreducible trust funds are to be loaned, collected and re- loaned, the interest income only being disbursed. There is, however, a still deeper basis for the contrasts exhibited between the administrative history of the trust funds and that of the general fund. These arise out of the fact of difference of source and of the use of these two classes of funds. The moneys of the trust funds are not taken out of the pockets of tax-payers as such, but are given in exchange for lands that were gifts to the state by the national government. Further- more, the trust funds are not applied to meet exigent needs of preserving order, protecting rights of persons and prop- erty, establishing justice and promoting material welfare, but only the income of these funds is available for advancing the intelligence of the rising generation. Because the trust fund i Secretary of State's Report, 1872, pp. IX-X. sSecretary of State's Report, 1901, pp. 49-51.