The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-09-03

or, at any rate, greatly lnnuenceu Dy
this new power; and to this source may
be traced most, if not all, the deplora.
BILE errors and departures that have oc-
CURED since. Still, by its indiscrimi.
nate blows, it did some good as well as
evil, though without merit, as has since
proved. 1t attempted to divert lands
vested in the State from the channel
the Constitution had prescribed and
given to the school fund, &c.,-and give
them to squatters. Here, again, it was
whispered that as Old Virginia had an
Executive Mansion" in which heI
! Governor was permitted to live free OF
rent, the new State ought to have like
high sounding place for her Governor and
thereupOn made made an appropriation
/ in these words: "For Governor for rent
of Executive mansion, $3.50 About the
same time, and probably connected with
it, and when the rebellion was about
collapsiug-the grand military opera
tiOns, which | have before described,
were planned and set on foot by our
| State authorities, and board of mill
| tary claims was at the same time eStab-
/ lished to audit the claims for services
| that had or should arise; and at the
same time Congress and the President
were advised of what was about to he
undertaken and accomplished, and the
former asked to make suitable appro-
priation for reimhursing the State. The
appropriation for contingent expenses"
made 10y this body, was Sl9,l75.
We will now glance fora moment ut
the appropriations made at the last Leg
islature. The Governor had gotten the
year before $3.50 for rent of the "Execu-
tive Mansion and no objection had
been made-then came the question, if
the Governor can have his house rent
paid over and above his salary,
why cannot the other Exec
utive officers have theirs also
No one being able to draw distinction,
appropriations were made as follows,
after appropriating their fired salaries,
viz: For the Governor for rent of EX-
ecutive Mansion $3.50" "For Auditor
for rent ofhouse 5000" 'For Secretary
of State for rent of house S400.' "FOr
Treasurer for rent of house $500" 'FOr
Adiutant General for rent of house
$780," making 2,l5O The estimate"
for the present year reads thus; SAL
aries of Executive officers and house
rent so, O,S50,r which includes the salar-
les of all the Executive officers, inclu-
ding the Attorney General $1,000, the
Adiutant General $500, and the same
amounts for house rent as We're appro-
priated by the last Legislature, viz:
$3.50, There was also appropriated by
the last Legislature in the form of econ
tingent expenses" 500, $50, and for the
ianitor and guard of Executive offices
$1,000 as before stated. 1t will be OBJ
served that for the years lS64-5-6 there
was appropriated in the form of con
tingent expenses" siXty.one thousand
five hundred and thirty-three dollars,
and there is estimated for the present
year nineteen thousand six hundred dol
lars. To show how these have been and
are to be distributed, | copy the items
as they appear in the estimate for the
present year.
Contingent expenses of Courts
$500" | have shown that the State
paws no incidental expenses of courts,
except for use of Court house and other
necessary attendants on the Court of
Appeals, which holds two sessions a
wear OF two or three weeks each. Will
these cost $500 7 The next is as fol-
lows, "the civil contingent fund SlO,-
| 0O0"-Still as large as it was in the
midst of the war. This is for the Gov
ernor, to he used on the happening of
unforeseen emergencies to the State !
| What emergencies Of that kind can
West Virginia now expect to justify
the peoples letting $4,000 lay i'll the
I ~ l,, Tifh l,ys nf inn
But il seems it does not lay there, for a
new supply of that amount has been
called for and granted every year. Nor
does it 90 for the expenses of the other
Executive Offices. For each of these
has its own appropriations as fol-
lows: contingent expenses of Audi
tors Office $4,000" Is this amount re-
ouired to pay for the fuel lights and
stationery of his office, and the Asses
sor's books. which | think constitute
about all Next, contingent eX-
penses" of Secretary of State, including
Clerk hire, $1,000" Why not put the
Clerks hire separate so we can see what
that is! Next, contingent expenses OF
Treasurer's office. $780," Next, econ
tiugent expenses of Adjutant-Gencral
and Quartermaster-Ge S25O9.' |
see in "a, in the midst of the war. the
amount appropriated for contingent
expenses for that year was only $1,000
for both offices. Ii seems the further
we become removed from the war, the
greater the contingent expenses" of
these offices become. Salary of Adju-
tant-General, Sl5OO, house rent 500,
and contingent expenses, $500: in all
1920. and the militia to be kept EN-
rolled" merely, which work the asses
sors of the counties mainly do. These
contingent expenses. compared with the
amounts expressly provided by the Con-
stitution, remind one of NaSby's
charges for Refreshments" during his re-
cent tour to North Carolina; and the
result of the whole IS not very djSSimi-
lar.
Now for what has this sol ,533 been
expended? Who has expended it? To
whom has any such "detdiled stdtcmcHt'
as the Constitution requires, been given
aid why has not such statement been
published. so the people may see: The
Constitution on this point, Art. {. Sec. /,
reads thus: NO money shall be drawn
from the Treasury but in pursuance of
appropriations made in pursuance of
law; and an accurate and detailed
statement of the receipts and eXpendi-
lures of the public money shall be
published annually We all know what
the word accurate" means, and Web
ster defines the word detailed" thus {:
ITO relate, report or narrate particu-
lars to recite the particulars of to par
ticularize to relate minutely and dis
tinctly: as. he detailed all the facts. =
Such is the statement of all money
drawn from the Treasury, no matter
by whom drawn or under what form
of apprepriation-which the Con-
stition requires to be published annu-
ally. When and where has such state
ment been published and if not pub
| lished, Wby has it not been! Think
agents of private establishments like
\. T. Stewards or any other, would dare
! TO render such accounts of money drawn
as our officers give u.s. 1t would be
! their last ones if they should, and can
our public servants expect us to be less
strict, when we expressly require it in
the Constitution, which they have SOL
emnly sworn to support aud observe
/ Our Legislature should at once, ii seems
( to me, require this statement of all our