Wabash express. [volume] (Terre-Haute, Vigo Co[unty], Ind.) 1841-186?, 1860-08-22
Carrnntion Exposed.

member OF the last Legislature OF this o1s'e .
and prominent member on the committee :
of WAYS and Means. The condition of the :
Swamp Land Fund was inquired into BY 4
that committee. and the Entertainment
Bill passed, to prevent further robberies
by the State officers. Gov Willard vetoed
thai bill, and thus refused to put stop to
this political robbery. This Swamp Lend
Fund, was. as the reader will recollect, a
donation from the Federal Government to
this State and amounted TO more than
900 900 acres and worth more than So
600 900. The lands were TO be sold and
the proceeds to be common school fund.
Gov Wright, IN his first message after this
bountifu donation from the Federal Gov
eminent, congratulated the people Of the
State upon thi. rich fund. enough to I'll
most school all the poor children 10 the
State Well hat rich and munificent gift I
has all heen squsndered. stolen - the State
and the School Fund have been robbed Of
Is. and more than S3.0OO.000 put into the
pockets Of dishonest partisans, and the fol-
lowing ia the way that portion Of it went
Read it and then determine what is best
to be done with party whose leaders are
thus corrupt.
/ come now 10 the second resolution. for
which the Republican party is responsible
and of which the Governor so bitterly com
plains. The resolution is in the following
words: "That the fiscal affairs of the State
I 4 L. II hot
State officers have been shown to be def-ul
tiers to large amounts and suffered to go un-
prosecuted That large amounts OF the
public moneys have been squsndered to
| enrich officials and partisan favorites, and
that when the representative of the people
sought to stop these speculations by the
passage of an embezZlement bill, the Gov
ernor of the State vetoed that bill, and
thus kept the dnsr of the treasury opened
to be further robbed by dishonest parts
ans"
To notice fully all the objections which
the Republicans urge against the Demo
cratic party as embraced in this resolution,
and to fully answer the arguments and
objections of Governor willard in his speech
made against it, it will be necessary for
me, like the Governor, to go back about
nine years not, however, previous TO 1874,
4
at which time the general Government
made such a muRificent donation TO the
, people of Indiana. i refer to the Swamp
Land Donation, made in 1860, when Con-
gress gave to us without money and with
: out price .252 ,635 acres of land, the pro-
ceeds of which, our constitution provides,
after paying the expense OF selecting and
draining the same, should remain q per-
petual fund the income thereof to be inriOl-
ably appropriated to the support of commos
schools and TO no other purpose whatever;
that magnificent fund in expectancy, which
= Gov. Wright in his messages spoke of in
such glowing terms, aud congratulated the
people Of Indiana in tteir great success in
). the cause Of education. Where now are all
those lards and their proceeds? Where is
!, that magnificent fund that the people of
: Indiana have so long looked forward to,
as a source of education? these little chill
dreu of whom the Governor SO tenderly
and pathetically speaks, are crying all ov-
: er the land and anxiously asking aud seek
: ing for those lands or their proceeds, which
SO justly belong 10 them. Where are theyf
/ answer in the hands of spectators, and
out Of which these children have been rob
bed by fraud and corruption. These lands
came to Us during Gov. Wright's admins
tration. Gov. Willard succeeded hin and
in the meantime nearly every foot of them
have passed from US. Who is responsible
!, for this great lossH Gov. Willard attributes
: it all to the election of Talbot, Collins, g.
!, Co., in 1854, but that kind Of an apology
will not satisfy those little children, neither
> will it stand the light of investigation
, And even Col. Hendricks the Democratic
; candidate for Governor in a speech made
, from this stand on last Monday. charged
y l. a u
Talbot and Collins, and for the purpose OF
= confirming it and making ybody be-
). lieve that he was sincere in his statements
said that il any man could point out as
great frauds committed by any democrat in
office as by Talbot and Collins, he would
: decline the race and give Mr. Lane clear
: field.
!. l now propose TO give these Swamp Land
& Frauds thorough "airing;" and il in the
4 course of my remarks, shall happen to
4 stun bic on democrat, whose frauds exceed
!, or even equal those of Talbot and Collins
e ! suppose Col. Hendricks will remember
his promise. / want it, however distinctly
understood, that am not the apoIogist OF
+ either Talbot or Collins in their Swami
. Land Frauds, but we will presently see
who are, While in the Legislature, / vo
o ted IN every instance in which the question
n was presented, not only to expose but to
burst up their frauds. and the frauds of all
others connected with Oh EN- in reference to
those lands. | freely admit that Talbot
and Collins did about all they could in their
official position to enrich themselves and
those Democratic friends who confederated
with them, out Of those lands, which by
the by, could not have amounted to any.
thing, if all others in office, con nected with
y the business, had done their duty. But
the history of the Swamp Land transac-
{ tons, shows that there were others who
: were Just as piIIing souls, and acted ont
p. their part as well IN these frauds as Tai
q bolt and Collins.
- Now let Us commence at the very begin
. ming and see who had control over these
lands, and what powers Talbot and Col
> Inns could exercise over them, under the
. law. By sec. Of Swamp Land Act, 1 vol
:, R s.. 1889, page All, it vas made the du
ty OF the Auditors in the various counties
. where there were swamp lands, to offer
. them for sale. Those that remained un-
sold, were aherward under section 81 of
the same act, made subject to entry Sec
: : ~ OF the same act made it the dsty of the
y Governor 10 appoint some suitable and
competent person, Swamp Land Commits.
sioner IN each county where there were
!, such lands. Under sec %, it was made
= the duty Of these commissioners, 10 let out
I the contracts for the dItching OF these
I lands. Sec. "a made it the duty of these
Swamp Land Commissioners to Issue Ger
0 tihcates, certifying the amount of money
due to the various persons for draining
these lands. Sec. 80 made it the duty of
the Auditor Of State on the presentation
to him of these certificates. to give the per
son therein named, an order on the Treas
urer Of State for the amount of money
, therein stated. payable out of The Swamp
Land Fund. Sec. as provided that il
should and nigh, be lawful for the Treas
urers of the various counties to receive in
payment for lands, these orders issued by
the Auditor OF State. Sec. 81 gave the
Governor full power, and authorized him
to remoue any of these Swamp Land Com
missio1ers and appoint others in their
; place, when in his opinion the interests OF
the State required it. After the lands were
sold. under sec. ID, it was made the duty
for the Auditor OF State TO prepare the
deeds the Governor to sign them official