The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-02-20
REPORT OF III LATE AUDITOR
OF STATE.

We have received andaperused the
last annual Report of Auditor NOR
GAN, exhibiting the condition of the f.
.|nancial affairs of the State. It will be
a long time before Ohio will have an.
other Auditor equal to Mr.. MORGAN
in ability and true devotion to the in.
terests of the State. To ave labor, re
transfer to our columns the following
synopsis of the Report from the Cincin-
natl Enquirer:
ave learn from the report of the
late Auditor of State, VIM. D. MORGAN,
that but two officers charged with the
collection and disbursement of the State
revenue, in 1855, have not fulfilled their
trust, and in one of them the cause was
fatal illness. This fact speaks we'll for
the honesty of the State officials. The
receipts into the Treasury in 1855, from
all sources, were $4,215,S54 %, and the
disbursements S3,512,484 20, leaving
q balance in the Treasury on the 18th
of November last, of SOB, $40 08. OF
the disbursements, the heaviest items
wei IL u SOLll1IOh OSAOOI III d,
apportioned and paid to counties, ST.
2l7,1l9 "a, payment of interest on the
State debt, $s54,069 go, and the cost
of the State government, which amount
ed to S446,972 go. The legitimate
cost of the latter is, however, much less,
as S234,S64 80 was paid toward the
support of the five benevolent i~nstitu-
tions of Ohio, and toward the erection of
the new State House. With these prop
er deductions the expenses of the State
government were but Sl43,515 rs, or
less than six cents per head to each in
dividual within the State. This may
be called, with propriety, an economical
State government.
ty in the State is $500, 877,3 1854, of which
S236,018,8I5 is in personal property,
money and credits. In 1850 the total
taxation was only $3.50, 900 1000, which
shows that it has doubled within the
last FIVE years. The total amount Of
taxes levied in 1855 in the State, for all
purposes, was $~8,954,51I 80, being
about s136, 900 less than the taxes Of
1854. Considerably more than two
thirds of the taxes, or Sc, 100, 704, are
levied for local purposes by local au-
thorities. This fact the people should
remember when discussing the cause of
high taxation. Since the 1st of Janua-
ry, 1852, the principal of the public
debt of Ohio has been diminished the
very considerable sum of S 1,6l6,46l 70.
This is in accordance with Democratic
policy, which favors the liquidation OF
State debts, holding them to be a curse
to the body polite. 1914, 900, is in the
State Treasury, applicable to the re-
demption of the debt in 1856. In a
few years, at this rate, and under the
policy which has been inaugurated, Ohio
will be entirely free from debt.
The Auditor recommends a very SEN
sible reform in the keeping of accounts
Columbus. He says that the expendi.
lures for the unfortunate inmates are
so mixed up and COMPOUNDED with those
incurred for the personal and family
comfort of the officers, that the former
are not distinguishable from the latter.
It is manifest that the accounts for each
should be separate, and that it would
result to the benefit of the State. In
speaking of the law authorizing the cree
ton of new lunatic asylums at Dayton
and Ne@hurg, thsFuditor-eo complains
that the trustees have made a much lar
ger outlay than was designed or author
lied for those buildings, and recommends
that in future laws of that character a
clause shozld be inserted rendering par
ties by whom unauthorized expenditures
are incurred responsible therefor in their
personal capacity.
We learn from the figures given in
the Auditors report that the population
of Ohio during the last eight years has
maintained about the same ratio of in.
crease as that which prevailed during
the eight years previous.