The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-07-08
NO....l5 =

l Y
of serious and frequent complaint by the.
people. Pending the selection of pub
lie officers in the fall of 1851, the exist
ence aud practice ofthese abuses, and
the necessity of a change to secure their
of public discussion. What particular.
legislation may be necessary TO accom-
plish SO desirable an object, the wisdom
of the General Assembly will properly
determine m ~
SIN Pennsylvania, and other Statese
the accounts ofthe Treasurer are broue;lt.
to settlement at the close of every
month in the year, and the condition Of
the public funds, and the exact amount
of receipts and disbursements in eachsofi
said months, is fully exhibited in the
Auditors Annual Report to the Lcgis-
lature.n ~
From .4adifor .Hsrga1l,s Report Of 1853. =
tsA senseof duty requires repetilione
of the effort made in the Auditors last
annual report, to impress upon the Leg.
islature the necessity of placing the
revenues of the State under additionaf
checks and safeguards The.
impression is natural as we'll as gen
eral one, that all moneys paid into the
State Treasury become an Immediate.
charge against the Treasurer, on the.
books of the State Auditors Office, and
that the daily receipts at the one, are a.
matter of daily record in the other.-.-i
The extent to which this impression is
erroneous, may be judged by thesi1gle
fact that during the months of Novem
Der aud December 1852 payments ofmo-
ney were made to the Treasury amount-s
ing to sum exceeding three quarters of.
a apalla0n of dollars, of which the Au-s
ditor had no official information until
the following month of February. This
occurrence, although extraordinary, is
neitherznew nor 5hesoAly one Of itsskipdzi
1t will serve, however, to illustrate 7ther
utter. absence of accountability which.
exists between the Treasury and the CO.
ordinate department charged With the
duty of adjusting accounts pertaining toF
the receipt and disbursement of the 4
public revenue" 5ss 3 :
Extract from the last Semi Annual Report of The
signed Wm. ID. Morgan. Acting Com'r, and Hm.
7feoin Secretary Of State, dated JanqprB IA 1885,.
"In making prominent reference toJ
this subject at the present time, the Coma
missiouers are not impelled simply by a
desire to draw attention to the fact that
the Treasurer Of State las appenFs.in hisi
last annual repRrt,) has appropaiatedsto,
himself out of the public moneyssin. hiss
honae1-t stssts---et 10000 90, as the,
cost of exchange furnished by him To- the fisS
State. The payment of'this claim has
been peremptorily refused by the Cbtnzi
missioners, and the General ,AssembIya
now in session, will doubtless take such
action in the premises, as their sense of
public right and official responsibility
shall demand It has been deemed
proser, however, to preseUt thus pfoh1iz
nently the facts herein set forth, for the
additional puaposs of illustrating to the
Legislature the importance Of securing
future protection to the Treasury, by
the adoption of positive laws applicable
to the subject. In the judgments Of the
Commissioners, public money should be
collected in no greoter amounts, nor at
earlier periods, than the necessities of
the State demand. After the revenue
thus limited las been collected, its cus-i
tody should be entrusted to none other
than the custody of republic officers
chosen by the people to receive, keep
and disburse it. But if this theory
shall be deemed at variance with sound
financial policy, and it be held that the
use and custody of tue public funds may
not improperly be transferred to ebaDk1
ing institutions of solid responsibility,
then. and In that case, the Commission
iers most respectfully yinsist thatlits should
lbe done under statute authority and Oh
such conditions at least, that, the State
lseall at all times be furnished exchange,
free of cost, at such times and in what
eqer amounts its necessities require. ~