The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1864-02-10

O0hlo WSA aioPOoS0 VI oA0 a. ~
composed of three Member should have been
engaged a period of eight mouths, equivalent
to two years for one person in allowing thirty
eight thousand dollars, and disallowing about
that sum, will in all probability not hereaf-
ter remain a mystery. Tod says, in his mes
sage, it was "for want of time" the Board did
no more. Had Tod the Attorney General in
his mind at that time? That ten days would
have been sufficient time in which to perform
this labor, no one acquainted with the char
acter of the business viii dispute. =
OF the irregular meetings held by the
Board, | never had information until examin-
ing their record lately. Very shortly after
the Board first met, / suggested that the best
plan to facilitate business would be to hold
continuous meetings, both in day time and
at night, and finish the matter up, as ! saw
that at each subsequent meeting the Board
commenced about where they started but
the Board refused on the ground of other of,
fetal duty, aRd that they received nothing for
their services. As a general thing, the most
trifing affair was sufficient to induce the Board
not to meet, or to adjourn and the general
understanding in all their deliberations was,
that they would do what they could without
any special inconvenience. In truth, I won
der that any body got their claim allowed
At the outset, the Board met for q few times
regularly, but after a little while scarcely a
quorum could be got together, in so much
that when they did meet-they thought it nee
essary to notify me in addition to the general
notification of the rule adopted. When I was
in the city, which could not be on every Tues
day and Friday night, 1 attended at the room
where the Board met, but often found no quo
rum and none of the Board. That 1 did not
meet every night with them, is admitted !;
that Iscoald not is not strange But in no
instance when I could, did 1 fail nor did L
e ver refuse to meet with them or decline to
attend any more meetings of the Board. But
the meeting s became so few and far between,
so irregular, that when, in the month of Sep
TENDER, no meetings at all were held, either
from that fact or from some one connected
with the business, I received the impression
that the Board had about run down, and
didn't intend to wind up again during the
year. Inertia seemed to be the prevailing
state of the Board. But afterwards, I heard
the Board had removed the place of meeting
to another Office, and changed the time of
meeting. l called around at the new time
aid place. but there was no quorum present
and nothing done.
The I'd section of the act of April Is, 1868,
creAing the Board, provides that "the said
Board shall have power to call witnesses be-
fore them and examine them under oath" and
also to require the production of books and
papers. And the 4th sec. provides that the
expenses, etc., should be paid from any money
refunded or that might be refunded by the
United States. These two provisions were es-
%sential to the performance of the duty enjoin-
ed by the act. Without them, the allowance
of claims involved mistakes, and injustice to
the State or to- the claimant-rendercd the
performance of the duty of the Attorney Gen
eral almost impossible, and liable to charges of
mismanagement and ineficiency. Neither the
Board nor the Attorney General ought to
have advanced one step in :the performance of
the duty until the proper funds were provided
forthe purpose. It is doubtful now whether
much if not all the Board did ought not to
be reconsidefed. And yet not a cent was in
the Treasury to enable the Attorney General
to exercise the power necessary to perform
the duty. All concerned felt the impossible
ty of proceeding, and frequently spoke of it.
1 appeared before the Board ''to contest the
validity of such claims" as "should rot be al
lowed" 1 asked for witness es ; some were
present and xamined b. me Others were not
produced. In the Stevens case, Involving
some eleven thousand dollars, 40 witnesses
could be had and it was finally decided upon
erparte statements hunted up by Dorsey
The question of law involved in that case was
verbally decided by me in presence of the
Board, some four or five times, and an opinion
in writing was afterwards given ; but on the
evening the case was finally decided, the Board
had not read my opinion, and asked me to
state it's contents, which I did The case of
Muskingum Agricultural society of the Cuya-
hoga County Agricultural Society of Lowrey
for the destruction of a boat on the Ohio riv-
err; of persons, several in number, for goods,
.ect., furnished to Ford, when he raised his
regiment of persons who had claims arising
out of the Governors call for the defense of
Cincinnati, and other claims which I can not
name ; all these received my attention at not
less than a dogcn meetings of the Board. In
addition, l examined between meetings of the
Board various claims, and those of large
amounts or which appeared improper or excess
sive were taken to my Office and examined
No claims, not even the one specified, the
Stevens claim, was delayed one moment for an
opinion but it was delayed for proof, which it
never received in a proper manner. Still fur
Their, when l was present with the Board, the
claims. we're classified as far as possible-for
substance, recruiting, use of grounds, destruc-
ton of property, ect.; and the greater portion
of them were supported by af6davits of officers,
ect., about which it was almost impossible to
raise a contest. They likely needed nome
IF they had, no examination could have been
made for the want of money to procure testi-
mony, as even the claims allowed are now rec
commended by Tod to be paid by an appropri.
alton
In conclusion, the gentlemen who made the
s%tatemen connected with Tod's charges eth
er were forgetful of what participation I did
have with the Board, or deliberately aided Tod
in carrying out his malicious intent.
The Sd sec. of the act provides that in case
either of the Board or the Attorney General
should refuse or be otherwise unable to serve
on said Board, the vacancy shall be filed by
appointment of the Governor. A reflection
arises out of this section Tod was informed
by Dorsey and Wright that I had refused to
servo. IF he believed it, it was his duty to fill
the vacancy as the law required. If the charge
against the Attorney General is true, the Gov
ernor neglected his duty. But to assume that
the Governor falsifed or gave currency to
false statements, in this specification, is incon-
sistent with the general presumption of the