The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1859-04-06

MR.. KTR WOOD S,
Deliver ed in the House Of Repre-
senIatiVeS, Sa atuTday, March
~, 1869.

VIC lSpOlt vi IilS liSa7'y AA'SHN61biHS NOli
mittee. Mr.. Wonps said:
Mr. Speaker: The House will bear me wit
ness that during the time that have served as
member of this body, | have not troubled it
with much speaking Except when some local
bill interesting my constituents. was under dis
cussion have not addressed the House. Ny
only desire has been to reflect by my vote the
will of the people represent, and to discharge
faithfully the duties OF the position to which
the partiaity Of the House has placed me. But
sir, during this debate, three leading members
on the Republican side Of the House, West of
Logan, Parsons and Harrison have taken oc-
cason to go outside OF the record to assail the
official conduct and integrity of the Hon. VIM.
D. Morgan exAuditor Of State, gentleman
whom am proud to represent on this floor
cannot consistently with my duty to him or
the people among whom he lives, and who hon.
or him, and cherish his we'll earned and good
name, sit silent, and say no word in his de-
fence. The three gentlemen to whom have
referred have treated us to defamation without
argument, strong assertions without proof, and
violent censures with dignity and without mod
eration.' Strip their speeches of the misstate.
ments Of fact on which they are founded, and
they are all sound and fury signifying nothing.
The gentleman from Logan, (Mr, Vest as
sertS that the books of the Auditors office, du-
ring Mr. Morgans term. disclosed the fact that
de efalcation existed in the Treasury, yet Mr..
Morgan concealed it. Faom this statement he
draws the inference that Mr.. Morgan was dire
let in duty and accessory to the robbery of the
treasury Sir, when we remember that the
gentleman from Logan is lawyer by profession,
daily called upon to examine the statutes Of the
Stats, that he represents what has been suppo-
sed to be an intelligent constituency the gno-
rance displayed by him of the Legislative h,sto-
ry of the State reaches the sublime. Until the
passage Of the act of April 8 1856 for the
regulation ofthe treasury usually called Kclly's
law, the books of the Auditor did not and cod
not, under the system heretofore existing show
the condition of the Treasury. By the law Of
1916 the Treasurer of State was authorized to
draw upon the County Treasurer directly, and
thus hundreds Of thousands Of dollars found
their way into the State Treasury, no account
Of which was made upon the books Of the An.
ditor. The Treasury was entirely independent
of the Auditors office. The Senate Finance
committee, MIR Kelley, chairmanJ in their re-
port upon TIE cond, Of the Treasury, April
7, 1856, call the attention of the General AS.
Semhly to this state OF things and attribute the
hCC lliaI VIC Auu''oi olnIo wa" w CHe' uP"h
the Treasury to defective legislation, and hoped
the action OF that body would cure the evil.
NoW SIR, to cHnch TINS matter, and snow now
utterly 'alSe iE the premise from whlch the gen
tieman from Logan draws his conclusion.
Will state single tact W hen \. A Bliss re-
tired rom the once OF stare lrea$urer, the
DOCKS OF 'he Auo''or (bohn NoodS) cred''ed
hlm WIN disbursements TO larger amount
thah the iholllticS win Wi''ch ne was charged
thus apparently showing that the state was IN
dchted TO bliss At 'lc same da,c, however,
Bl'sS, own BOOKS IN thc lreasury once ShoWeo
that he was indcbted TO the State IN the sum OF
SI,IlbZfZ o2. Inc same system Ior lhe man
agement OF these TWO oIllces continued lhrchGh
Auditor MorganS term IN spite OF ms pelsls-
tent efforts to induce the General Assembly 70
lnanguTa'e better one Now, sir, IN 'he hght
OF Tins TACT, what becomes OF the statement OF
the gentleman rom Logan, that MI morgan
fn'" RON ms own DOCKS that there was oeh
clenry IN the leasury; ana MS inference there-
from that Mr., Morgan was an accessory 10 Ihe
piunder OF the public money!
The gentleman from Madison, Mr.. HARRISON,
hewever, being little better posted on inc MS
tary OF the State than my r'end rom Logan,
takes different line OF argument to snow mat
Mr.. Morgan was accessory to the robbery OF Inc
Treasury. lie tells us that Mr.. Morgan might
have aScertalned the condition OF the treasury
by sending circulars to the County lreaSnrers
and learning what omount OF money had been
drawn from them by the lIeaSursr OF otate'-
In answer to THIS nave 10 say IN the hrSt
place that 1t was no part ol ms duty' lheTe
was no law upon the statute book to authorize
or require it. In the next place even II he had
adopted the sage plan OF the gentleman from
Madison it would have been utterly 'utlle lie
might have found how much money had gone
into the Treasury, but how conid he find out
whether it remained there! lie had no more
authority to cross the threshold OF the Treasu-
ry for the purpose OF counting the assets there,
than the gentleman from Madison. You could
with as much reason, make the same charge
against the School Commissioner or the Board
of Public Works. But, SIR for the sake OF the
argument let us suppose the Auditor armed
with the authority OF law to make an investi
CATION into the condition OF the Treasury
Now we have had the experience OF three dit
ferent committees to show us what the result
would have been. The Senate Finance Com
mittee, Alfred Kelley, chairman, AFTER by the
authority Of the Senate, making an examination
of the condition of the Treasury, reported A
prl Z, 1856, and were unable to discover any
deficiency in the public moneys. Inc late he
publican General Assembly raised, it will be
recOllected,a joint committee to examine the
condition of the Treasury, Il. w. Taylor, chair
man. This committee was authorized to send
for persons and papers, and after an investiga-
ton OF months, after examining witness after
witness, after careful scrutiny OF the Ireasu-
rer's books, and count of the assets in the
Treasu'er's vault, were not able to discover
any deficit, as will be seen by their report made
in December, 1886.
Again: under the provisions of the act Of A
pril 8, 1856, the present Auditor OF State exam