Lincoln telegraph. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1836-1846, 1841-06-24

pending al which was uhuer us u"'.''''' r
shat he has been prominent actor in the events OF
the last two wears Now, sir how has that part
been acted Has he discharged the duty con''nn-
ted 10 him with prudence, skill and economy !"
the first ploce no part Of the disbursements oil mo-
ney, or anv other transacton IN relaIon " u Po'
Sc, appears on the books of the Lana Olpce
Though the whole affair was under tie superh'eao-
ence of the Land Agent, and all Tue payments
made BY him, yet not an entry was MIG ; eihe'
debit or credit, on the books oil 'he uep"'uI"" ~
show how the business has been conducted lie
nut implicit faith in The integrity of his agents, who
in most cases. were without responsibility and ms
sway of disbursins money appears 10 have been 10
nut large SIMS into their hands 10 be used, not IN
compliance with any law or specific nstnciIons,
but as their Judgment, or perhaps selh'hness' 10
give it no harsher name, might dictate The bills
paid by these Individuals and filed IN the ot'ee, ana
ihe accounts KEEP; by some oil them, al a distance
from The Office, are the only meunSof obtaining any
knowledge. general or particular. in relaion 10 the
expenses of the posse. The whole business has
been transacted in a loose, irregular, dlsorderly
manner entirely discredable 10 the State. 1t Is
strange that the business Of one Of the departments
should be so conducted Where we ought TO look
for examples of the most perfect system the great
eat exac,ness and regularity, we find only such
loose mode of doing business as would be decided
ly disrepu;ahe 10 the business character OF gro
gerry establishment beer shop,
9he law makes it necessary Tor The Lana
Agent to make out quarterly statements OF the
condition of his office and deposit them with the
State Treasurer But so far re lates to the pos
Sc expenses, this positive requirement Of law has
not been complied with. No statement having
any reference 10 the matter Is to be found there.
The law further requires him To "report to the
Governor and Council once in three months, and
oftener if required particular account of all his
donos-and they are authorized to audit and set
tie his accounts at the close of each year, prior to
The annual session of the Legislature, and at such
other times as may be designated" Here is an
other provision of law entirely disregarded.-
Whether Mr. Mcintyre made his quarterly reports
as the law requires not am unable to say
But do say that no annual settlement took place
Of such part ofhs doings as related to the civil
posse. 1t appears by report of the Council, da-
ted Jan. G. 1s4l, that his posse accounts were not
examined and settled by them from the time he
jrst mustered his posse in Jan. 1889, till the 9th
of Jan lS4i a period Of about two years. Here
is the most palpall1e negligence in the Executive
department, in a where strict attention TO
duty might have saved the State thousands and
thousands of dollars A settlement came ut last,
however, few days before MIR Mcintre was dis
charged, and the Council say +" they have cram
ined the accounts submitted, (accounts for the
years 1899 and 1540,) compared and examined the
numerous vouchers accompanying the same, GnH
find them correct, &C." One would suppose from
the language used in their report, that the Gov
,ernor and his astute Council went into a very
rigid and scrutinizlng examination OF these ac-
counts. They tell us "they have eramined'
them, "compareA and examined the vouchers and
find them correct Surely, after passing through
such fiery ordea-alter being very particu-
darby " examined and compared' all should be
right But, sir, how stands the fact' Notwth-
standing these accounts had had such a thorough
overhauiing and pronounced all "correet ru-
merous mistakes afterwards discorcrrd in
them, which amounted, in the aggregate, to ST.
526 81 against the State. Now is it possible that
these accounts were ever 'ezamiRed and com
parcd?" lfso, how happens it that not one of
their many mistakes was corrected How hap
pens it that such Il severe examination should end
in such perfect harmony with the unpardonlble
blunders ofthe Land AGENT There seems 10
have been a strong Discrimination to coming to
different conclusion from that to Which the Land
Agent had arrived Whether this was out of
sympathy for the Land Agent and desire TO re-
lieve him, or not leave for others to determine. 1
will only say it is very wonderful that the Cour
Gil should have fallen into precisely the same err
rors that the Land Agent dd-both making mis-
takes against the State amounting to the exact
sum of al 526, ST. Certainly these are very ex-
act mistakes, and deserve prominent rlace on
the record of remarkable colncIdents.
Still further to illustrate the wretched manner
IN which the public business has been performed,
! " i'll call the attention ofthe House to a few 9TH
or facts of an extraordinary nature. When the
militia was called home in the Spring of 1889,
there was quantity of stores ia the Quarter Mas
ters department on the Aroostook, no longer re-
quired for the use Of the troops. These stores
were priced by the Quarter Master General and
Land Agent, the cost Transportation added and
both charged to the Land Department; the stores
were then delivered to the Land Agent. The
appraised value of stores thus received from the
Quarter Masters Department was $l4,604, 07.-i
The Land Agent was as much bound to account
for supplies received in this way he was for
money drawn for the Treasury 80 purchase them
with. Yet he did not do So These articles
were not credited to the State, nor but small por-
ton of them, between two and three thousand
dollars worth, accounted for in any way. A
large sum of money was paid by the State for
these supplies--they were delivered to the dis
bursting officers under Mr.. Nc ntire for the use OF
the posse, and that is the last we hear Of them
No attempt whatever is made TO explain the mat
ter, and no information given or allnsion made to
it by the Land Agent IN his annual report. The
whole thing seems to have been conducted by the
officers in the manner most pleasing
to themselves, and perhaps in the way most con-
ducive to their peCunary benefit while the State
was looked upon as a good natured, Indifferent
sort of parsonage, and fair game for all who
had the inclination to pluck her. Again M
Mclntre settled and paid off two hundred and
twenty bills, amounting in all to over eight U,ol-
sand dollars, without having these bills receipt
ed, or in any way vouched for. These bills are
a part of those that underwent severe scruti.
,ny-that were compared and examined" by the
Governor and Council, and pronounced g cor
rect "Correct y really sir, they must have
had NOD