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

reads as follows /:

! reads as fOllOWS:
Sec. IA. To enable the auditor to make the ex-
animation required by this act, the Treasurer shall,
on the demand of the Auditor, submit to his full and
unrestricted examination. all the books, accounts,
vouchers certificates of deposit, and oil other eVi-
dences of moneys deposited the credit or subject
to the draft of the Treasurer and all the official cor
respondence in their Office or possession, or subject
to their conrol and the Treasurer shall, moreover
on oath to be administered by the Auditor, make
true, full and explicit answers in writing, to al
questions put him by the Auditor OF by his direc
ton touching the receipt the payment and touch
ing the deposit of moneys belonging to the State
And the Auditor may examine or cause to be exam
ined on OATH any or all book keepers and clerks in
the Treasurer's office and deposaries of moneys be
longing to the State all their clerks, book keepers
and agents. touching the payment OF moneys into or
out of the Treasury, rif moneys remained therein
or touching the deposit of moneys belonging to the
State elsewhere than in the State Treasury at Co
lumbus.
Now, sir, armed with the authority of this
law to make the examination of the Treasury
Auditor Wright so far from discovering any de-
iciency in the publicfu fund, reports upon"coun
that the assets which ought to be in the Trea-
sury are all there.
/ Yet, Sir, Auditor Morgan, without authority
to examine a single page of the Treasu-er's
books, or to set foot inside his counter, is
charged by the gentleman from Madison, with
completely in the robbery of the Treasury, for
not discovering and exposing what these three
committees vested with full powers and after
laborious investigation and examination were
unable to discover. If Mr.. Morgan is partt-
cops crimtnis, then, by the logic of the gentle
man, fortiori, are Alfred Kelly Felix Marsh,
R. w. Taylor, r. P. Buckland, B. f. Smith,
John A. Sinnett and Francis M. Wright the
members of the above named committees, pub
lie thieves and plunderers. The conclusion is
inevitable.
The gentleman from Madison (Mr. Harrison)
as well as the gentleman from Cuyahoga Mr..
Paraons) charge that on the 25th of June,
! 1855 Mr.. Bresiin communicated To Mr.. Nor
gan the fact that he was not able to raise
funds sufficient to pay the July interest, S414,-
| 704 20, by the sum of 100000, when the
Treasurer's books showed that a much larger
sum than was necessary ought to have been in
the Treasury. Therefore they say Mr.. Morgan
kne,c there was a deficit in the Treasury, and
therefore he is particeps crinrinis with Rreslin
Now what are the facts. Mr. Breslin, as
| Mr.. Morgan all along suspected, was following
| that custom of his predecessor more honored In
the breach than in the observance of deposit
ing the public funds with banks: brokers and
others. When the time came for the payment
of the July interest, 1854, Mr.. Breslin informed
Mr.. Morgan that certain parties III Cincinnati
had disappointed him in the repayment of the
public money deposited with them, and he
could not provide for the entire interest due.
To save the honor and credit Of the State and
prevent her from going to protest, the Fund
Commissioners, of whom Mr.. Morgan was one,
transferred sufEc cent means from the sinking
fatad to meet the deficiency, and
was replaced by Mr.. Brcslin, to the credit of
the sinking fund, within thirty days'thereafter.
The last year of Mr.. Morgan's term was half
gone when these things transpired, and all the
facts, were laid before the General Assembly
in the report of the Commissioners of the
Sinking Fund sent to the General Assembly
of 1856. The gentlemen have CLEANED these
facts from that very report.
Now, sir, if these facts were sufficient to give
A. Morgan to h1,cao that there was deficiency in
in the Treasury, they were sufficient to inform
the Gencnerl Assembly, Gov. Chase, all the
State officers and all the people Of the State Of
the very same thing. Where Auditor
Wright that he did not discover the deficit
These facts were published broadcast over the
State; why did not the astute gentlemen from
Madison and Cuyahoga discoverit? Where was
Alfred Kelly and R. w. Taylor, and the Finance
Committees Of the Senate and House, and all
your investigating Committees that they did not
discover the defalcation? They had all the
facts that were in the possession of Auditor
Morgan and many others; the very facts rela-
tive to the want Of funds to meet the July inter
est, 1855, were fully before them in print.
Now, applying the logic of the gentlemen,
the same'facts by which they seek TO prove that
Mr. Morgan knew of the defalcation in June,
prove that Governor Chase and all the State Off
GERS and the General Assembly elected in 1855,
and all the people of the State, including the
gentlemen from Madison and Cuyahoga them
selves were also accessories to the plunder of
the Treasury.
The gentleman from Cuyahoga makes
charge of gross neglect of duty against Auditor
Morgan. He reads from the report of the
Treasury Investigating Committee this passage:
sInsead of the published sreports aud statements
of the Treasurer and Auditor being made up from the
books they posted at the end of the fiscal ycar
or u any other period, as the Law .ecntempatcs.
and the public believes them to be- they not un
frequently in direct conflict with them. The precise
condition of particular fund is not, and cannot be
determined entirely by the books, but by abstracts
and statements made up from evidences outside of
them, which therefore made TO become the test
of accuracy, and not to the record itself."
And then he proceeds to ask:
.Who was Auditor of State during all ofthese four
years, that the books of the Auditors Office
that in order show the public the true
state of affairs he compelled go outside alb
and statements in order 10 present true and
| accurate account TO the people? Why, VIM. D. Nor
gan, and him only-and upon him let the blame fall
Here, Sir, we have another specimen of the
profound ignorance of the financial history of
the State, which appears to reign supreme on
the Republican side of the House The gentle
man from Logan charges that the Auditors
books were alright and did not reveal the defal-
cation, and the gentleman from Cuyahoga that
they were all wrong and did not reveal it and
therefore Mr. Morgan was guilty of gross neg
lect of duty. Now, sir, does not the gentle
man from Cuyahoga know that the Auditors
books were kept in accordance with the system
prescribed by law? Has he never read Mr.
Keley's report, which have before quoted, in
which he attributes the imperfect manner in
which the public accounts were kept in that of
flee to dctective legislation, and to the fault of
that officer? The fault was in the system, and
to this defectivesystem Auditor Morgan repeat
edly called the attention of the General As
sembly, suggested and urged reform Sir, L
ask the gentleman from Cuyahoga to point out
single particular in which the books of the
Auditor, during Mr.. Morgan's entire term, were
not kept in strict compliance with law? Let