Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-07-22

there vas AZ the time funds in the State Treasury
which had been set apart for that particular pnr
pose BY lawful appropriation.
An 1851 the Legislature. by an act which re-
ceived the approval Of Governor Morton. declar
ed that III the Treasures Of State shall pay out
any public money in any other manner than az
prescribed BY law, he shall be deemed guilty of
mlsdemeanoF. and upon conviction thereof. shall
be fined IN eny sur1 not les than City
than FIVE hundred dollars, and imprisoned in
the county prison not less than one year.
The same act further provides that"lf the Au-
ditor OF State shall draw any warrant upon the
Treasurer of State. unless there be money in
the Treasury belonging to the particular fund
upon which the same is drawn 10 pay the same,
and. in conformity to appropriation made by law,
he shall be deemed guilty Of mIsdeneanor, and
upon conviction thereof he shall be fined in any
sum not less than one hundred dollars nor more
than five thousand dOilars. and imprisoned in
the county Jail not less than one month nor
more than six months"
Governor Morton, let il be remembered, ap-
proved this law vet In lS63, when his Republican
friends seeded from the Legislature and pre-
vented the passage OF the needful appropriation
bills. in order that the funds in the Treasury
might be legally drawn upon for the support OF
the State government. he refused to call an ex-
ira session OF the Legislature will read the
reasons which he has given for his conduct, and
YOU will readily see that in the very publication
which he has made, over his own signature, he
admits that he has been guilty of gross violations
Of the Constitution and the laws. but pleads ne
cessty and the public good in justification of his
acts. Re says:
THE Legislature of 1863 adjourned without
making appropriations for defraying the or
binary and extraordinary expenses OF tire State
government The former appropriations for the
Benevolent Institutions. the Hospital for the In
sane. Institute for the Blind, and Asylum for the
Deaf and Dumb had been nearly or quite ex
hausted The Northern Prison had not only
hausted the appropriations hitherto made, but by
mourning q heavy debt in the construction of
buildings, had exhausted its credit also. More
than one hundred thousand Of our citizens had
been sent TO the field to assist in suppressing the
rebellion, yet the only fund at my disposal, from
which the contingent militfry expenses. including
the care of the sick and wounded. conld be paid,
was n small remnant of the appropriation made
In 1861 For the civil contingent expenses Of
the Executive Department there was no provision
whatever The Auditor and Treasurer of State,
upon being consulted by me. Immediately after
the close of the session, decided that not a sin
Gle dollar, in the absence Of legislative appro-
priatons, should be drawn from the public funds
in the Treasury for these objects"
Here he SAYS in so many words, that the Au-
ditor and Treasurer of State told him that the
laws Of the State should govern their acts, and
that not n dollar of money should be drawn out
of the State Treasury until it had been appro
prated according to law. He could have passed
no higher eulogy upon the character and conduct
of those officers of State. than he has done in
this single paragraph Of his own report.
He further SAYS:
The alternatives thus presented to me were.
G a., ko,a r-tif he
closed and to permit the unfortunate inmates to
be thrown back upon their respective counties.
or upon the charities Of the world for care and
support: or, secondly, to cOnvere TIE Legisla-
ture in extra session. in hope that the majority.
who had full control, would pass the appropria-
ton bills "
WHY he knew they wond pass those bills.
He knew that the majority would have passed
them at the session of 1863 if the minority bad
not refused to allow them to do il If Governor
Morton wanted those bills passed. he had only to
call back his friends to their seats in the House,
and it would have been done. All the time that
revolutionary minority we're away at Madison the
majority were at the Capitol awaiting their re-
turn for the express purpose of passing these
very appropriation bills And Governor Morton
knows, that as well as you or l any other man
knows it,
He saws further:
ITO have closed the Asylums would have been
shame and disgrace "a well as a crime against
humanity itself To have called back the Leg
stature. after the majority for fifty days, during
which time quorum was present in each House,
out of the fifty nine days of the regular session,
had failed and refused to bring forward and pass
the appropriation bills. believed would have
been perilous to the public peace and dangerous
TO the best interests of the State
Did YOU ever know an usurper that did not
plead the public interest and the public welfare
as an excuse for his usurpatons? When Charles
the First began to perpetrate his usurpat0ns. he
levied his ship money in the name of the public
peace When Macmillan reached the shores of
Mexico, he proclaimed to the peope-"I am
come to rule YOU for your good | intend to rule
YOU with a rod Of iron: ] exDect TO govern BY
the power of the sword; but it is all for your
good Public peace and the welfare of Mexico
demand that she shall be governed by the strong
arm of force
Gov. Morton, when he seizes upon the entire
power of the State, and shows the utmost disre
gard and contempt for coordinate branch of
the State government, rivals Charles and Maxi
MILAN, and tells US it is all done for the public
good If you should see fit to select me your
Chief Executive, do not expect TO constitute
myself your dictator. but will administer the af-
fairs of the State to the best of my ability.
cording to your Constitution. until you see ft to
change il yourselves
But Governor Morton further says:
ain this contingency, determined to procure,
if possible, sufficient money to carry on all the
institutions of the State and keep the machinery
Of the government in motion. | accordingly
established bureau of finance, and appointed Col.
W HH.Terrell Financial Secretary. My success
in procuring funds exceeded my expectations.
and am gratifed to state that provision has
been made for all the means which are likely to
be required to meet every proper demand up to
the next regular meeting of the Legislature
This is the account which he gives of his own
action. propose to examine it according to the
Constitution and the laws, and see whether you
desire your State government to be placed IN
snch hands and managed in such way as that.
In the first place. then. he saws that upon the
adjournment of the Legislature the Auditor and
Treasurer of State decided that not a dollar in
the absence of legislative appropriations should
be drawn from the State Treasury. As already
shown, in 1861, Governor Morton himself had
approved and signed law making it peniten-
tary offense for either Of these public officers to
pay out any money that had not been lawfully
appropriated. and yet, in this publication which
he has given to the world over his own Signature
he admits that he sent to them request to com
init this very offense, an ofense punisheable with
Imprisonment in the penitentiary. He, however,
does them the justice to say that they refused to
accede to his proposals, preferring obedience to
the laws and fidelity tOtheir oath of Office.
hold in my had capy of the report of W
II II. Terrell, Governor NortOn's Financial
Secretary" and will call your attention to few