Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1867-05-29

Mr.. Rutter its President or that he knew
anything Of the fand being placed with the
bank until, last winter, as Washington, ne
saw It in the newspapers Who the other
tWeive members are we are not told. Let
US nave their names, so that, if guilty, they
may receive due censure If not. that this
caiumny may cease. Members of the Le-1
glslature, IKE Other people, have occasion
sometimes to borrow money. and in eonsa-
quence of the rebellion, we have hnt f.1,z
banks in the State, and none of them Lar
ones. 1t is quite likely some Of them nav
have borrowed from the little Memphis
Bank, or from one of Mr.. Bakers two
banks. If so. what then? Does net moral
worth and intelligence sometimes borrow
money? is it matter for obloquy and re-
proach2 Certainly not.
THE ATHENS BRANCH.
In this connection charge is preferred
against the Governor, founded upon an al
legged transaction with Mr. Cleage, the
Cashier of the Athens Branch of the
Bank of Tennessee. This is the substance
of ID: Mr. Cleage held, so it is alleged, fifty
Thousand dollars of sterling exchange be-
longing to the Bank Of Tennessee. g This
sterling exchange Mr.. Cleage offered, on
three different occasions, to pay to Govern
or Brownlow, who as often declined to re-
ceiye and receipt him for it = but accepted
from Mr.. Galloway, $50, 600 in currency, in
lieu of the exchange, on which the latter
gentleman realized q profit of $4,000, and
that somebody, other than Mr.. Galloway,
shared in this profit. IF such were the
facts, the Bank of Tennessee would have
only to sue Mr.. Galloway, gentleman of
large wealth, and examine Mr.. Baxter as a
witness, to recover the S26,0 600. The fact,
however, as / am erediblv informed, is that
no sterling exchange 1CaS ever offered 10 Cor
erR0r BroeRloa0, or placed lCithiR his control.
On the other hand, the Cashier fed from
the State, and the Governor took what he
could get and all he could get. 1.-THE Cow
ernor has been " overreaehed,a there is an
easy remedy at law.
THE PENITENTIARY.
Mr.. Baxter, it appears, has been to the
Penitentiary after political information, and
has discovered that the Directors of that
institution have hired out the convict labor
at forty three cents per day, when they
were offered and might have obtained sixty
three and sixty-fve cents, and thereby a
heavy burden is thrown upon the Treasury.
He appends to his speech bill in ehancery
filed by Mr. Rees W. Porter as the proof of
his assertion. In this, as in the other
charges, the facts happen to be against him.
He has been Z" overreached by misinfor-
nation. The moral worth and intelli-
gence of that great reformatory estab-
lishment have misled him. Had he gone
to the records of the court he would have
found, so hear, that Mr.. Porters case had
been decided adversely by the Chancellor
and his bill dismissed Ny information is
that Mr.. Porter's proposal was accepted by
the Directors but, himself insolvent and
utterly failing to furnish the required secu-
rity, though waited upon nearly week,
they were compelled to receive and did re-
ceive the next highest bid that this is
more than is paid for convict labor in any
other Penitentiary in the United States
and that so far from being charge upon
our Treasury, the prison, under the present
management, is self-sustaining.
ExTRAvAGANT EXPENDITURE.
We come to another count in this null
hilarious bill, which seems to have been
framed upon the principle of charging
roundly, so that if one does not stick, an
other will-the reckless expenditures of the
State Government. g The current expenses
of the State have been doubled" we are
told. Let us see the official documents. l
have in my hand the ComptrolIers Report
for 1860 and that for 1866-the last year
and the last before the war; refer, of
course to the fiscal year, which begins on
the first of October,-say from October LIST,
1859, to October LIST, 1860, and from Octo-=
Der 1st 1865, to October 1st 1866.
Of this, the interest the dcbt..a,,... 2o71Ol 10
Current expenses of 1860 ............ $684,sI3 10
Entire expenses of 1865 ..........s1 1880 81
Interest on State debt....... 604,SH IL
Current expenses for IS66............. $542142 rs
Expenses of 1860 over 1S66,,.,,., .,, S160,77O IS
This shows the current expenses to have
been very sensibly diminished, say more
than twenty per cent. The annual interest
to be paid on the State debt has largely in
creased The debt itself has largely in
creased; fully one-fourth by the accumu-
lation Of interest during the war, besides
the additional aid to the railroads. The
failure of certain roads to meet their inter
est has added heavily TO the payments re
quired from the State All this is the re-
suit Of the war, and is in no degree charge
able upon the Governor Or the legislature.
Again, " the present Legislature has cost
the people more than double the amount of
any preceding General Assembly," even
the Legislature which held four sessions
in 1859 and 1860. The expense of the
present Legislature Mr. Baxter puts at
$4,000; "and of this $4,000 is illegal
pay voted by the members Before the
war, members were paid 81 q day in gold
or its equivalent The members Of the
present Legislature are paid in precisely |
the same way. This reckoned in currency |
is the Sol 1000 of illegal pay !" and de- |
Quoted from s195, 900, leaves the expenses,
when reduced to the standard before the
war, s131 900 The expenses Of the Legis- |
ature of 1859 and 1860 were s137 ,211 81 !
being s6,211 81 more than the expenses of
the present Legislature, estimated in gold
or It's equivalent When we reflect that
owing to the condition of the country, the
present Legislature has been obliged to sit
much longer than any previous Legislature,
and prices for everything have quite
doubled, labor, food and clothing, the
charge of extravaganza against this i'll
paid body of public servants is quite un-
founded, not to say heartless and cruel.--
Once more, Z" the Governors staf-~a luxury
not heretofore indulged in-has cost yoa
S28,8 500 49," The ComptroIler's Report
shows that for 1866 the aExpenses of Gov
ernor's staff were So, 965--less than one
third the sum stated. Whether GIuxuryY
or not, Governors staff is nothing new.
II is provided by law as belonging to the
Office, and every former Governor of the
State has had a staff They are paid only
when actually employed At the time of
Governor Brownlows election, Tennessee
had thousands of soldiers in the field, whom |
the State government could in no wise neg
lect Still again, the property OF the