The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-04-06

OF lneS6 DOnuS never COutd NOVe OecH
approved by faithful public officer.
Now, Sir, these facts were all laid before
Gov. Chase as early as January, 1857. A COM
mittee of his own political friends gave him to
understand that the Treasurer was loaning out
the public funds in many cases on wild cat Sc
curity, and in others security at all
What was his duty in the premises? It is
plainly pointed out by the 18th section of the
act of April 8, 1856, which reads as follows
'Sec. II. If from any such examinations or from
any other satisfactory evidence, the Governor shall
certain that the State shall have suffered any dam
age, or shall be in immediate danger of any Injury
damage from any illegal act done about 10 be done
by the Treasurer, from his neelecng or refusing
TO comply with any requirement of law touching the
receipt, Keeping or paying out of any moneys be-
longing to the State, the keeping rendering ac
counts thereof shall hare taken Insufficient secif
for any money deposited elsewhere in the Treas
ury Office at Columbus, it shall in every such case
be The duty of the Governor to direct the Attorney
General to forthwith institute the proper proceedings
in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin county to
restrain the Treasurer from all such illagal acts or
to compel him to act in compliance with the proyis-
ions of law" SC.
Now, sir, I assert, and L know what am
saying, that Gov. Chase took no measures un-
der that section to restrain the illegal acts of
the Treasurer. The factis brought prominent
ly to his notice in January, 1857, that the
Treasurer was loaning the money of the State
without security, in violation of law, and here
is an act which he had taken on his soul the
obligation of an oath faithfully to execute, re-
quiring him to move torth,oiM to restrain the
/ Treasurer, and save the public funds but, sir,
he never moved hand or foot. This robbery
of the Treasury is allowed to go on, with his
knowledge, and without interference on his
part. And had not the defalcation been dis
covered, as it was in June following, Heaven
above only knows how long Gov. Chase
would have allowed the Treasurer to proceed.
1t is fair to presume, from his guilty and gross
neglect of sworn duty between Jannary and
June, 1857, that he would never have inter-
fered, and that Gibson would have gone on
plundering the State to the end of his term,
without let or hindrance. Now, sir, by this
negligence of Governor Chase, the State has
lost s34, 900 at least, and it is by no act of his
that the loss is not much greater
What do the gentlemen on the other side
now think OF their doctrine of particeps Grim
ants Sir, 'fapply the poisoned chalce to
their own lips" let them drain it to the dregs
But again. We are told by the gentleman
from Cuyahoga that John G. Breslin is now
upon foreign soil, beyond the reach of pro-
cess, with 100000 available assets in his pos
session, the property of the State, that he re-
fuses to-girc them up, and deies the atithori-
ties and people of the State. Well, sir, sup
pose that to be all true, uhose fault is it, that
Breslin thus stands on foreign Jurisdiction
VIII ehS hiOilCJ VI pCOpIC anu QcueS tDG1G 4.
After the great deficit IN the Treasury was dis
covered, John G. Brcslin was allowed for the
period of two weeks to walk the streets of Co
lumbus unmolested, and then at his leisure.
without hindrance, to wcnd his way to Canada
What your able and efficient Governor do
ing all this time? Instead of seizing the.Eeys
Of an empty Taeasury, why didn't he arrest the
thieves that had plundered it? Had Gov
| Chase done his duty in this crisis, John G.
,-c,,1d j
have been compelled to disgorge this $500, 900,
over which the gentleman from Cuyahoga
mourns. He would not have been quite SO
defiant if, instead Of standing on foreign soil,
he had been furnished lodgings in the Colum-
bus jail
Now, sir, when public officer wilfully per-
mits burglar or thief to escape with his pllin-
der, the inference all honest minds draw issthat
the officer is confederate, or at least an ac-
cessory. How do the gentlemen ike this doc
trine of particeps c,4neints
Again, sir: The Report of the Investigating
Committee, just laid before u.s. shows the as
| founding fact that nine. months after Gibson
had been compelled to resign the office of
Treasurer, and eight months after he had been
indicted for embezzling the finds of the Treas
ury, he proposed to the Acting fund Commits
sioner, Auditor Wright, to borrow from the
Treasury, in an indirect way, the sum of $14,-
600, and succeeded in making the loan Now,
sir, Gov. Chase was consulted by Mr.. Wright
on the propriety of making this loan; and the
| Governor, instead of scouting the proposition,
advised the Auditor that to make the loan
would be advantageous for the State. And, in
defiance of law, Gibson was again allowed to
| thrust his hand into the Treasury of the State.
Yes, sir, a man whom Gov Chase had deemed
unfit to hold the keys of the Treasury; man
whom, as he boasted, he had compelled to re-
sign; public plunderer, at the very time un-
der Indictment; such a man, in the face and
eyes of the law, the Governor allows to lay his
hands upon the treasure of the people, and to
bear it off from its proper place of deposit. 1t
may be true that the State suffered no loss by
| the transaction. The circumstance however,
proves one fact: that Chase was in the power
of Gibson, and did not dare to deny him. Let
the gentlemen on the other side again apply
their doctrine of pdrttceps crinainis
Once more. No man supposes that the de-
faulting Treasurers, actually took from the
Treasury and used for their own purposes the
immense sums missing from the Treasury. The
great loss arose from the fact that the deposi-
tories of the public funds failed to pay back
when called upon to do so. No sooner was
Breslin elected Treasurer, than he was sur
roundsd by crowds of bankers and brokers ca
ger to receive portion of the public money
for safe keepfng Now, sir, while have no
word of extenuation for Mr. Breslin; while on
the contrary I denounce him as lost to all
honor; as man who abused the confidenc of
the party that had cherished and honored him;
who betrayed the interests of the people whom
he had sworn faithfully to serve, yet, sir, the
loss the State has suffered by him is not wholly
attributable to him. The cormorants greedy
for pluhder, who surrounded, seduced, and be-
trayed him, must take their share of condem-
nation And there is still another class who
must bear portion Of the odium due to Bres-
Inns conduct. I allude to the men in high
station who aided and abetted these plunderers
in their designs upon Breslin. In this latetr
class 1 am sorry to find Gov. Chase.
1t appears that, Immediately upon taking
the keys of the Treasury, Breslin made large
deposits with the City Bank of Cincinnati
The State lost through those deposits irrevoca-