Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-08-27
Report of the DefalcatiOH Matter.
JOHN G.. BRESLIN
PROVED TO BE GUILTY OF THE
Entire Embezzlemet,

in order to give our readers the full report
of the Auditor and Commissioner upon the
deficit in the State Treasury, copies of
which we have received in advance of the
papers by the politeness of the editor of
the Estate Journal" We have no room
for comments. Let everybody read for
themselves.
To HIS ExceNency, S. P. CHASE, Govern
or of Ohio:
In pursuance of the act prescribing the
duties of the Auditor and Treasurer of
State, relative to the receipt, safe keeping
and disbursement Of public moneys, and
accounting thereof" and the act supplement
tary thereto passed March 80, 1857, the
undersigned have made the examination
required by said acts, and herewith submit
AREPORT
Of their examination, and of the actual
condition of the Treasury on the 18th day
of June last.
The duties of the undersigned, as set
forth in the acts above mentioned, are as
follows:
1st- Carefully to count all moneys, of
every kind, in the Treasury.
I'd. Personally and carefully to examine
the book accounts, vouchers and official
correspondence of the Treasurer, relating to
the receipt, custody and disbursement Of
the moneys of the State, or any part there
of.
Sd, Tocompare the same with the books,
accounts and vouchers in the Auditors Of
flee, or with proper abstracts thereof.
4th. To examine and take copies of full
descriptions of all drafts, bills of exchange,
certificates of deposit, and other evidences
of debt due or belonging to the Treasury.
9TH. To ascertain the sums of balances
actually due the State on account of mo-
neys deposited or kept elsewhere than in
the Treasury office at Columbus; the re-
sponsibility of the depositors thereof and
the terms and conditions on which such de-
posites shall have been made
And 9th. In consequence of recent
disclosure of heavy deficit in the funds of
the Treasury, there is necessarily imposed
the further and more arduous duty of as
certaining the extent and the author or au-
thors ofit-
There was no law in this State requiring
thorough, periodical examinations of the
Treasury, until the passage of the act of
April sth, 1856, which was improved and
made more stringent by the Supplemental
ry Act of March 3Oth, 1857.
Previous to the passage of these acts, ex-
aminations had been made at long and ir-
regular periods by committees of the Leg
islature, and by special commissioners ap-
pointed by Joint Resolutions of the Gener-
al Assembly.
Since the passage of the acts above men
toned, several examinations of the Treasu-
ry have been made. Cotemporaneous with
the enactments of the law of 1856, the
Senate appointed committee, consisting
cfMessrs. Kelley, Marsh, Taylor and Buck
land, and instructed them to inquire into
the condition of the Treasury, its funds
and accounts. They reported to the Sen
ate ON the 7th of April, and the act allud-
ed to passed on the day following. The
Legislative duties of the members of the
committee did not permit them to make a
critical and thorough examination of the
Treasury. They relied upon the statements
of the Treasurer as to the condition of the
funds,and nothing was elected showing that
they were not under his control On the
Ilth of April, 1856, an act was passed,
constituting one member of the Senate and
two members of the House of Representa-
tives "a joint committee of the General As
sembly on Finance,2 and requiring them
during the recess of the Legislature, "to
investigate all the transactions of the pub
lie agents who now have or heretofore have
had the custody or disbursement of the
public moneys or any part thereof, and to
report at the adjourned session the result
of the investigation, and the true condi-
ton Of the finances of the State" This
committee was occupied during the whole
summer in the discharge of its duties, and
made an elaborate report to the Senate on
the 3oth of January last. This report
gives full statement of the condition of
the State on the 18th of December prece-
ding. There was apparectly no deficiency
IN the funds Of the State at that date.
The Auditor of State made an examina-
ton of the Treasury in November 1856,
as required by the act of April Sth of that
year. Having in the earlier part of his re-
port, stated the cash balance in the Treasu-
~ oathe 18th of November to be $780,
$40 So. At the close of the same docu-
ment he says: ''The amount of the ayaila-
bic balance in the Treasury on the 18th
November, 1856, has been stated in pre-
ceeding page. I deem it proper to say
that the accuracy of the amount reported
was ascertained not only by the books of
this Office and those of the Treasury De-
partment, but by personal examination and
count of the funds in the Treasurer's vaults,
as required by the provisions of the act of
Aprii 9Th, 1856, prescribing the duties Of
the Auditor and Treasurer Of State relative
to the receipt, safe keeping and disburse-
ment OF the public moneys and accounting
therefor, and In accordance with the special
provisions of the 18th section of said act y
1t is clear that there has been no Iacl ~
vigilance in guarding the Treasury. The
number of examinations during The wear
was unusually large. The ability and ex,
perience devoted to them were much great
er than this kind of service and the com
pensation for it generally command.
1t is generally clear that each and all o
these Investigations failed to expose an,
serious official misconduct on the part o
the Treasurer, or any defalcation in tn
funds of the State. At the two last ex
amlnations the sums reported were fount