The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-01-10
of the ins,ahiliix of his firm to meet ther


There was in his hands, at the time, belong
ing to the State, the sum Of 1926, CAB %
As there was much doubt in the minds q
many, and some Of the journals OF the day
protesting to be fully informed, csniifen,i.
stated that the State would lose that amount
| repaired, Immediately on the close of tn
session OF the Legislature, to New YORK
taking with me the Hon. Uri Osgood, an nj
torncy, and then Senator OF the State, 10
the purpose of using every fosaio.s mean
IN s;.curc the interests OF the State. Tn
assignee informed me that the amount woulI
me paid. provided tue bond Mr.. W.dSworti
had given, with security, was Va lei aud bind
in.. then instituted proceedings in Tia,
Supreme Court of this State against the So
cui.ties. which court decided that the bono
was valid and binding, but other pleas 'av
Z ing been put in, the further disposition o
\ the cause was, on the application OF he Sc
! ct,ritics. continued until ihs next term OF tn;
7 Supreme Court. After the above decision
( another question still existed, IN the opinion
| O. the counsel had employed on the part
of the State, OF considerable difficulty. My
I pr. tieccssor, who hal appointed Mr.. Wads-
{ worth and taken the bond, III a few days al
/ ter that appointment, had mad another APP
puintnet.t of julius Wai>worth aud james
q Sheldon, without rcqu ring ANY new bond,
AN had paid over tIe money 10 them and
taken III ir receipts and had made settle
ments with them during the balance of nIa
term. The record OF L. err appointment ap-
p,arcl lii the issuing oi a commission To
/ them from the Office of the Secretary -;
State. II then entered upoi the dutl"S %!
the Office, found, on examination, bond
on fl given by +. {. sherman, Thomas
Dyer. Mark Skinner Hugh L. DIcaey and h..
;. WadswCith, "a securities Tor the faithful!
performance of julius Wadsworth "a State
interest paying agent. also found another
bond, Of the same date, signed by julius
Wad ;worth, with James q. Sheldon, con IL
toned for The faithful Performance OF julius
VI ad worth n, agent &c. From what was
on file N the oilic-, aad from what WAS tol.!
me by my p eiecesSuT, l regarded julius
" adsworth as the agent. | looked upon the
bond ample and safe. Secured as well as
could lac Nth the same uumber ui names in
State. | was toll. on entering the of
i!cc, that the practice hid been u send the
mon, on from time to tim To the agent, as
II was c0.lec'ed-illa: III. vault IN the STATE
House WAS not considered very safe. ! was
told The agent did not charge any fs,s or
commissions, and exchange was saved. |
Was iuiorGn,d that Nr Robert Irwin was au-
worth, ard on my first offer t. pay h,n,, he
produced and offered ne the re Opt Of
WadSworth 4 Sheldon cor the same, which
| declined 10 receive, and refused L. pay him
the money until IL s,nt 10 New YORK aui
pI o.ured tie receipt of JulI> W-d>vnrth.
/ did not then anticipate the d'fiic ii'y which
afterwards occurred from the future nj
Wagsworth AZ Snedon, hu; took that course
to 30 the public business There is prpba-
by but lji,le doubi that had any other course
been taken, the securities of Ju Jus Wai,.
worth would have been rcieaS d. Whether
they were not released by the appointment
Of Wadsworih Il Sheldon was the question
pending IN the Supreme Court, abou; which
the counsel ior the State had considerable
difficulty. Before the next term of the
Court, however, Mr.. Wadswortn proposed
10 pay the interest funds in his hands, in the
indebtedness Of the State. dollar for dollar.
After full consultation and the expression
IN writiAg) TO me of the doubt of the cogn-
sci ~ the Stale, | concluded 1t was much
safer for the State to make the proposed st
tieInent, and authorized the State Treasurer
10 receive the indebtedness aud receipt for
il, which was done. and the whole l. EoT
deposited IN his office. Although this ar
rangement ha. had the effect TO apply the
interest fund to a different object from that
intended bv the law, still the State haS not
lost anything by it. Had 1t been applied. a.
by law it should have been, to the payment
OF interest, il could only have paid 50 man:
dollars of interest. while the bonds, beng
on int rest, are cancelled, and that interest
- stopped In this manner il counts the
STATE 1900 more. cach year, as long a. the
bonds run, than il would have done IT 1t had
been applied to the interest according to the
rcquir, ments Of the law. had placed
other monty, arising from the iaad fund aud
surplus revenue, in the hands Of Wadsworth
ii Sheldon. for which | had taken NJ seruii-
~ This has all been paid TO INC aul settled
with the Site.
Il was undouhtedrv An error to place funds
whirh were 10 he reid uron 10 NEE, cert1in
payments on n certain day in the hands Of
any one who could use them in his own nri-
yate business. That. however. I qprrrhcud.
was an error of the iaw and not of its nj.
i i impossible II max,
- ec'sl deposit withog, the Repositories iIav-
nr tie power 10 Us" the money if they de-
sire t. 40 50. II NAV not b. unreasonable
to suppose that from tn, natur. Of the a
-an gem ~ made by my predecessor with
the State nothing for his services. provi tel
funds were placed in his hanis from thirty
to xty lays before thew were required TO
pa" the interest, that Mr Wadsworth sap
posed lhai the State expected him TO have .
the use of the fun Is in the slcarrue. Tle .
State is now pay No between SIX and seven
thousand dollars each year fnr the same
services performed by Mr.. Walsyor,h for
nothing. This sum wo ld more than drfray
he expense of an az MY authorized, which
'nnlc be made responsible and -e .urel by
nipple bonds. Il = submitted to you whe-
her safety to the finances of the State and
'un"tua ity of paying 1T interest do not re-
lujre that such legal agency should be es-
ab'i~hed
| beg leave to solicit your attention to the
.prratipn of the revenue law. as it now cX-
ST., upon these interpretations whose bu>i-
less pervsdcS large section Of thu State.
[ appears 10 me TO operate So uncqua'ly as
o require modifi alton. IAN no justice
u allowing the county through which a
abroad passes 70 derive all the benefits of
Is taxrtion Will: Il n-i.hbor'ng county,
having no railroad is deprived, not only of
* conyenienceS and the Increase in value of
property, but also of all advantages OF taxa
ion. \ railroad can hardly hc said to nave
local character. Usu,'ly it stretches thrn'
ntny counties, and nearly all that is local of
= character is its right OF way alons the
rack. 1t * only by the mcrest fiction that
= vilac can he estin,ted by any assessor
IT one point its erection may be worth a
nil'ion of do lars at another hut a few thou.
and Its cars of the value of hundreds Of
of dollars. may he one day in one
ounty and the mex; day in another. The
ane considerations apply equally to the
anking interpretations Of the State. Their
ffices have, it is true, a definite location, but
heir securities their main property--are
n deposit a; the seat of government. and
heir circulation is scattered throughout the
tate would not advocate the passage Of