Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-04-14
The Treasury ReP0rt...Letter
from Hon. e, N. Sill.

from Hon. e. N. sill.
sCUYABoeA FALLS, o., March 2s, ,59
To- A. II. LEWIS, Esq, Dear Sir::-
Since you called my attention to the Re
port Of the Treasury Investigating Com
mittee, / hare devoted to its perusal sucl
time as my multiplied engagements bare
permitted, and. have at length finished it
And it may fairly be summed up about as
follows:
Dishonesty and peculation have beer
the invarisble characteristics of the Whig
and Republican discussing officers of the
Stale. The Committee have given di-
rect attention only to the historic periods
of peculation-but enough has incidental
/ " cropped out upon their researches to de
monstrate this great fact. And they
mourn over it, as all honest men should.-
They-partly because of the losses that
have resulted to the State, but chiefly be-
cause of the cdemoralizing effects of such
bad examples in high places, as illustrated
for instance, IN the case of that inexperien-
eed but brilliant and hopeful young man,
Mr.. j. G. Breslin, one of the brightest or
naments of the Democratic party, who,
through the pernicious example of his pre-
decessor, Bliss, and especially through the
still worse example of bis successor, Glib
son, had well nigh fallen victim to the
contagion of dishonesty. And the RENE
dy which the Committee desire to have
adopted evidently is-"Henceforth, Jet none
but Democrats have control of the Public
Funds. .e ~ ..5...5 .-.4s rtz
1t is true that of n great mass of the al
legged facts of the Report L know nothing
But, if from that part of the Report refer
ring to two matters with which my own
name is specially connected, it is right to
infer the character of the remainder,-then
is it true that it is not merely colored by
political prejudice, but that Its Chief pur-
pose must have been, not to exhibit truth
and to do justice to the State, but to secure
advantage to a political party by screening
or paliating the misconduct of its friends,
and by false ipputation of wrong doing
to its opponents. r t.l1
In the tabular 'Recapitulation" of de-
faleations and losses, is the following item:
-"Loaned by E. N. Sill, former fund Com
missioner, to Akron Railroad Company,
renewed by Breslin, $40, 800"
This Committee must have known that
this loan was not made by E. N. Sills, but
by the Board of Fund Commissioners, of
which he was member, in their official
capacity. That it was made in the name of
the State and for the sole benefit of the
State-made as an investment of the Sink
ing Fund in accordance with laws requiring
the Fund Commissioners to 'invest" and
areinvest this fund" and to amanage it to
the best advantage and that it was fully
entered upon the books of their office at
the date of the transaction. They also
knew, or might haze known, that the in
terest of this loan, at the rate of seven
O per cent. per annum was paid to the
State so long as said Fund Commissioners
remained in ofice-that the loan was Sc
cured, not only by the bond of the Com
pany and guarantees of individuals, but By
$4,000 of the bonds of Summit County.
They certainly knew too,-for this they
elsewhere admit-that the loan was fully |
repaid to the State through Treasurer
Breslin, as with such security it must
necessarily have been, and that the "Re-
newaT was no renewal at all, but new
loan or deposit made by j. G. Breslin in
his own name, and probably for his own
Enthusiastically with no color of author
lily for doing it for the State-and without
any pretence that it was SO done-and so
far as appears, with no security, save a |
credit in account to j. G. Bres!in on the
books of the Railroad Company--an ac-
count finally adjusted by Mr.. Breslin after
ais term of officehad expired.
And yet, knowing all this, the Commit
lee evidently intended by their exhibit,
hat it should be inferred that the original |
oan (of $4,000, not S42,0OO.) was of
he same character with the alleged rehew-
4 by Breslin-made with the same want
If authority, and for the same purpose,
md that the loss sustained by Mr.. Breslin's
Ict was result Of the original loan.
1t cannot be necessary to specify the
suppressions of the true, and
suggestions of the false, in this item.-l
They must be discernable by the most stu
oid and admitted by the most bigosed.
1t is perhaps just to say that Demo
,ratic Court, long after this loan was made
md paid, has decided, in another case, that
III of the laws which have been made to
egulate the management of the Sinking
fund, since 1925, the date of its establish,
nent, have been repealed, not expressly,
ut in effect, by the law of 1916, to pre-
ent the embezzlement or the use OF the
ublic moneys for priuate use. That, al
hough the law requiring an annual appro-
ration of more than 100000 to the
sinking Fund remained in force-yet it
Ias no longer lawful to make any "inyest-
1ents" in -it-or in any way ''manage it"
Dr. the benefit of the State; but that it
ad become the imperative duty of the
'und Board to keep 1t unemployed-loek-
d up in its own possession.
Without raising any question here of the
echnical correctness of this decision-it is
cry safe to say that neither the Court,
or the Investigating Committee. nor any
ody else believes or ever did believe that
was the intention of the General Assem-
IL to involve itself and this important in
crest in such ruinous absurdity. That
be decision was eminently satisfacto-
v to the Administration that had then
gently succeeded 70 the management"
f fund amounting, or soon to amount,
D more than half million of dollars, no
ne will be disposed to question. l only
Ill a. Ill