Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-03-17
The Treasury Report.

uiSHOueStY, fOr tneSe are inSepara0ie from
humanity, as for its exposure Of the gem
eral corruption that from 1852 to 1856
while the State was entirely in the hands
of the democracy, infected all depart
ments of the government, legislative as
well as executive. The doctrine that 'to
the victors belong the spoils,'' first an
nounced by the highest democratic au-
thority III the nation, and adopted as a
fundamental principal of the party, has real
ly no limit short of plunder of the State
for the benefit of the party, TO the full ex-
tent of its capacity to bleed. The differ
ence between creating an unnecessary of
flee, improperly increasing the emoluments
OF an existing one, awarding govern
ment contract to the highest bidder, crowd
ing particular districts with useless gov
ernment employees to carry close elections,
as reward for party services, and taking
the same amount of plunder directly from
the treasury is so slight, that afte, brief
practice at the first lesson, the dividing
line disappears.
This demoralizing tendency, beginning
IN the corruption at the centre of political
circulation. is ramifed through all the ar
teries of the party system. Occasionally
victim, who has lost power as well as in
tegrity, is made a scape-goat to bear the
sins of the whole party into exile, but as
long as he has power and place, party vim
dlctiveness is in no case so spiteful as to-
ward those who expose his official dis
honesty, or would institute an investiga-
ton into his conduct. We need not 90
far back to show instances of investiga-
tions into official malfeasence suppressed,
or falsiied by party organs, aud the pri-
vate character of those who have instiga-
ted such Investigations baselv slandered in
order to break down the weight of their
disclosures. But the general tone of par
ty sentiment toward political dishonesty is
that of levity. Any application of the
moral code to official conduct is regarded
as good joke, as evidence only of the en-
Wy of the outs, as setting up a high stand
ard because it is for others.
1t is most disgraceful to our State that,
while it pays dearly for government, and
is provided with all governmental machin-
cry, both legislative and executive, its most
important interest, the finances, should be
kept in such condition that the treasury
may be robbed of half or three quarters of
a million, and the robbery concealed for
years, and especially when this facility for
plunder was fully known to all the depart
ments Of the government, and was repeat
edly brought to the attention of the legis-
lature. Until the session Of 1856, there
was no attempt made by the Legislature
TO establish any efficient system of accounts,
or place any check upon the treasurer
Large sums Of money were constantly
passing through the hands of the treasur-
er without the knowledge of the auditor,
and of which no entry was made in the
books of the Office; there were no checks
upon the auditor; nor could the treasurer
know from his books whether warrants
were legally drawn. Auditor Morgan in
his report of 1852, called the attention of
the legislature to this condition of affairs,
and characterized the system as inherently
defective; again in his report of 1858, he
referred to the same subject, but no action
of the Legislature followed these reported
recommendations.
Ordinarily, there is no way so easy to
alarm men as to create suspicion that
their money is in danger, but it seems to
have had a contrary effect on the legisla-
lures from 1852 to 1854. Why this con-
duct under the positive knowledge that
the State treasurer was receiving and dis
bursting millions of the public money with
out any check or responsibility; that hun
dreds of thousands might be abstracted
and covered up by the looseness of his ac-
counts, or rather the absence of any ac-
counting system? Is such remarkable con-
tidence natural? Is it usual to insist that
a public treasurer shall be entirely un-
trammelled in his use of public money by
even an efficient accounting system? Was
not this state of the treasury affairs con-
tinued, in the face of the warning of the
auditor, because it was convenient to the
party; because the treasury like the new
was in the hands of its friends,
and any system of checks that would pre-
rent liberal use of the money to the par
ty was just what the legislature did not
want? 1t is difficult to account for their
neglect and supineness under this knowl-
edge of the danger to which the public
money was exposed, on any other theory,
and the investigation committee freely ex-
presses the same conviction as follows:
"At the Inauguration of the first ad-
in 1852, after the adoption
If the new Constitution, the facts we have
stated were so garingly apparent, and the
suspicion existing, that Breslin was placing
himself and the funds of the State indian !
,er, through the influences we have de- ,
cribed, the attention of the legislature .
vas called to the then almost entire alb .
ence or inefficiency of the laws for their ,
ecurlty. An effort was made to procure
he passage of such laws as would have
ecured a frequent personal inspection of !
ne Treasury by proper officers, and effect. ,
ially protected the State against losses :
rising from official misconduct. Although !;
he effort was persistent, it failed of sue q
ess, because it would have been at once a !
cath blow to all further attempts to plum i
er."
Thus we see that the treasury was kept n
q a condition TO furnish unlimited facili- g
les for embezzlement, because it suited b
he party. 1t was only part of the sys- p
em that regards the State as pigeon, the t
lucking of which is the Legitimate reward {
political success. 1t is unnecessary to a
,ok any farther than to this damning fact il