Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-09-22

fee until 1856. He had the custody o
the public treasury under the laws as the,
then existed. As early as 1851 speal
that which l know-rumors prevailed tha
there was something wrong, something
rotten in the Denmark of the public treas
ury. The Democratic party vas then ii
power. Rumors unfavorable to Mr.. Bres
lin were aaoat. They were indefinite, bu
still they prevailed. and in their face Mr.
Breslin was re;nominated and reelected in
1853. We find that as early as Novem.
Der, 1854, the fact was proven TO Mr.. Nor
gan, Auditor of State as well as to some
other officials, that there was something
rotten in the Treasury. This fact soon be.
came more transparent. As early as June,
1855, the fact was known to Mr.. N 'rgan
that there was not the amount of money
in the Treasury called for by the books Of
the department. The interest on the pub
Lie debt natures on the 1st of July and the
,st of January. Just before the time for
the payment of the July interest of 1855,
the Treasurer informed the Auditor that
he would not be able to meet the draft
drawn by the latter for the interest. Mr..
Morgan wrote 10 Mr.. Edgerton letter,
from which 1 read the following extract:
OFFICER Con-. OF SINKING FUND,
COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 81, 1855.
Hon. A. P. EDGERroN,
DEAR SIR;
My motive in placing this amount in
your hands Immediately, is to provide
against failure on the part Of Treasurer
of State to place in New York the full
amount in draft for July interest. On
last evening l was waited on by Mr.. Bres-
lin, and notified of his inability to meet
the interest in full by proper time. He
assured me, however, that the deficit
would not exceed, at the utmost, one hun
dred thousand dollars, and that the sum,
if loaned in New York by the Commis-
sioners, should be repaid in full within thir-
ty days,
1 need not state my very great surprise
that Mr.. Breslin should have withheld from
the Commissioners the remotest intimation
on this matter until this evening. He
states, however, that he has been unex-
pectly disappointed by Cincinnati parties
on whom he relied. l still hope that he
may be able to meet the draft at maturity.
In case this is not done, you will please fur
nish this office written notice of the failure.
WIN. D. MORGAN,
Acting Commissioner Sinking Fund.
At>ihat time the books of the depart
ment showed that there should have been
five or six hundred thousand dollars in the
Treasury of the State, while the interest
only amounted to fraction over $780,
600. Mr.. Morgan called upon Mr.. Bres-
lin for the ecessary means to meet the IN
terest of July, and was told by him that
be had not the money in the Treasury
Instead of having $500, or 100000 in
the Treasury be had not 100000 there.
Do you want more palpable proof of this
fact than that given by Mr.. Morgan, the
Auditor of State, the Sentinel upon the
tower of the Treasury, the man above all
men to whom the people looked for the
close guarding of the peoples money, in
his correspondence to his friend, MIR. Ed
gerton, in which he informed that there
was not money enough in the Treasury to
meet the interest on the lst of July? So
this fact was not only known to him but
must have been known to the Governor of
the State. The relations between them
must have led him to have communicated
this astonishing fact to Governor Medill.
Did Morgan communicate it TO the people |
of the State? Were you advised that
there was money being misapproriated by
your Treasurer! Was there any intima-
ton that the public funds were being alb
stracted from the Treasury? Not word,
nv feliow-citizens. Everything was kept
Quiet and under cover. These men who
knew of the plunder of the Treasury, in
stead of compelling Mr.. Breslin to leave
his office because of his unfaithfulness In
the discharge of bis duty, seek to bolster
him up, and secure his reelection. They
each accepted nominations for their respect
i've Offices with Mr.. Breslin on the ticket.
Call you this the faithful discharge of du-
ty? Call you this acting as public Off
Ger should act! Call you this the proper
of the public money? Your
officers, your Democratic Governor and At
torney General, they all come forward and
gave Mr.. Breslin their Endorsement. This
cannot be denied. 1t is one of those bold
facts that all men can see. The Treasury
was plundered, your public officers knew
it, and sought to impose upon you man
who is charged as being the defaulter.
Let me turn your attention 10 the ad-
and legislation of the Repub-
lican party upon this subject. They came
into power on the lst of January, 1866
One of their first acts was to provide what
they deemed suitable legislation for the
safe keeping and disbursement of the pub
lie moneys. Whether that act was the
best that could be devised, it is not neces-
sary for me now to discuss. Irefer to the
fact that they framed law by which they
gave the Auditor of State supervisory pow
er over the Treasury. 1t required the Au-
ditor to examine periodically and at short
the treasury-provided that no
money should 60 into or be drawn from
the treasury but on the Auditors warrant
and other safeguards. Had that law been
enacted by the Legislature when under the
control of the Democratic party, between
the years 1852 and 1856, in all probabili-
ty your treasury would not have been plum
dered as it was at that time. This law