Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-08-23
More About the Filching of the
Relief umd from the SOidfers.-


Sinking Hqnd, we have few words addi-
tonal to tn many we have written to i'm
press upon our readers:
s. 1. If there We're really INDECENT SOL
diers and families of those whe fell in de-
fence OF the Union during the war, or who
have since died of wounds, disease or exs
posure while. in the army, the taking, OF
eivbt hundred dollars, nearly the whole Of
this Fund, Tor any purpose whatsoever, ex-
Rceptr that for which it was Intended, viz !:
the relief of these sufferers, was dishonest,
disbonorable, cruel aud heartless.
a,eT'bat there were such INDECENT soldiers,
widows and orphans, we have the evidence
of the Auditor of State, in his annual re-
ported, given by counties, six hundred
and seyen6y-two as the former, and five
thousand three hundred and thirty of the
latter nineteen counties falling to make
returns. This settles tae fact that there are
thousands of such families, and each and
every one of them is put down in the list as
''necessitous." s7 Esi-1s-ssfF
+ q This being proven by one who was g
party to the crimesof taking this fund from
these widows and orphans and manned SOL
diers, there is no escape from the charge thai
1t was a wrong act, and that its commits
sion not only swindled the tax payers, who
cheerfully paid these taxes for that pur-
pose, but it robbed the widow and the or
phan, and left them to starve or beg, be-
cause this money, justly their own, was
taken from them.
2. Each and every man who holds an of
flee under the laws of Ohio, State, County
Township or Borough, before he can enter
upon fits duties, takes solumn oath to sup
port the Constitution of Ohio. The Audit
or of State and the Attorney General, as
State officials, took this oath, and so did
each and every member of the Legislature
The Constitution says that ''every law inn
posing tax shall state, distinctly, the OBJ
ject of the same, and that said tax shall
under no circumstances, be devoted to, OF
used for any other purpose. =.
This eight hundred thousand dollars
filched from the money raised by taxes fol
the relief of the INDECENT soldiers and fol
the necessitous families CT those who fell
in battle, or died during the war, went
through all the forms of the Constitution
up to the time when was taken from mthoss
for whose support it was intended. Upon
the face of the law which levied the tax
the object, being to provide for the necessi-
ties of the families of the soldiers, was dis
tinctly stated, and, under the Constitution
to that purpose and to that alone, "only il
snail apply" but the Negro Suffrage ma.
jority, who authorized it to be taken from
those poor sufferers, the Attorney Gen.
eral, the sworn legal adviser OF the Legis-
lature and of the State officers and the
Auditor of State, the sworn watch dog o.
the Treasury, feel themselves above anG
beyond the Constitution, and the MAORI.
ty of the Legislature voted to filch it
and the Auditor of State and the Attor.
ney General seized it and the INDECENT
soldiers and the half-starved families o.
the dead patriots were dispossessed o.
that which as much in law and in justice
was.tteirs own, as if it were in their OWE
possession.
If the Constitution says that money thus
raised.by taxation shall not be used for any
other purpose than that expressed on itl
face, and we have shown that it does, ant
If the members of the Legislature who
voted for the law to take $S0O,OO0 of the
Relief Fund, and the Auditor and Attor-
ney General who counselled it, each and
all of them took assGlemn oath to support
the Constitution, and we have shown that
they could not enter npon the duties o.
their office until they did so, they violated
the very Constitution they solemnly swore
to support. And this they did to rob-tfe
soldiers, the widows and the orphans o.
the money justly due them, SO necessary
for their support.
The bill which consummated) this out
rage was passed by the House of Repre-:
sentatives on the 1st day OF March, 1859
by the following vote: = u st-S. Il
YEAs-Messrs. Alexander, Barrett, Ban
ming, Bronson, Bruff, Chase, Clark of Har-
rison. Coan, Cochran, Coulter. Curtis
Dsngler. Davey, Deford, Encell. Fox, Fur
mas, Gaddis. Gallup, Gardner, Glover, Han
son, Hare, Hastings, Hitchcock, Houston
Hoover, Howard, Kessler, Kerr, Kibbee
Kramer, Lawrence, Lockwood, Masters
Myers, Nixon. Northway, Oberkline, Oren
Patton, Phillips, Plat, Rhodes, Sawyer
Schneider. Shipley, Stanton. Stedman. Ia
fel, Wilcox, Wiles, Williams, Wood
Wright and Young-56. tAn Repabli-
cans. t2H
NAYs.-Messrs. Ault, Dresbach, Erskine
Esteu, Ferneau, Fitch, CASTOR, Gordon
Heller, Hibbs, Hill, Hughes, johnson
Larwill. LeFever, Marshall, McMarrell
Parks, Perrill, Putnam. Reed, Rosecrans
Rutter, Swain, Thornhill and Worth-27
+ All Democrats but Johnson.J
The bill passed the Senate on the 7th Of
March, 1866, by the following vote:
YEAs-Messrs. Bateman, Brooks, Brad
bury, Brown, Cummins, GriswOld, Hall
Harris, HAYDEN. Hollister, Irion,i Jones
Kellogg. Knowles, Martin, Mcfarland
Sadler. Tibbals, Williams and Williamson
30. All Republicans
NAYs-Messrs. Berry, Burt. COLE. Dowd-
ney, Godfrey,-Golden, Hurd, Linn, May,
Savage, Wailing and WEST : II. fall
Democrats but Cole and West.] +
We do not know what excuse these
State officers make for their part in this
most inhuman of acts. As yet they have
made no defense. Not one word have
they written in defense of their conduct
Not one word has single paper, except
the Ohio State Journal, published to
save them from the indignant feeling o.
an incensed and an outraged people, who
were swindled when they paid their taxes
tor a noble and charitable purpose, an6
found it used to pay debts contracted
by these Fund Commissioners for what
purposes, they, and they alone know.
The defense offered by the Journa
claimed that this robbery "saved" money
to the State. In the same manner the THE
that picks pocket, the burglar that robs
a house in the dark hours of the night, OF
the pirate on the high seas 6 saved" all th'
money he secured by rapine and by muir.
der. sj& ar75