The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-02-03
Where the Money Goes.

Where the Money Goes.
In looking over the report of the Au-
d!tor Of West Virginia, We observe some
items Of pnblic expenditure which are
of sufficient interest TO justify special
reference.
Among the disbursements is M item
OF So - for registration of voters.
The registration law went into operation
in 1866, and the first registration was
then made. The above sum was expen-
dsd not for registering voters, but main
Is for striking them from the lists, that
having been the chief business of the
Boards for the past year. The Radical
party is kept in power by swindle,
the first cost of which was merely the
irsi instalnrnt of the outlay required.
The people are 10 pay sirteeH thousand
dollars aaApdlly To make the swiRdle ef-
frc;ual
The Civil Contingent Fnnd,"
SS,9l~ o., is another pOnderous item
whose very mystery suggests villainy.
What is bought with this money!
WHAT public benefit arises from its out
lay We know that it passes under
the Governors control in the first in
stance, but beyond this We know moth
lug, although the circumstances justly
the people in suspecting anything. 1t
is certainly not paid ont for ordinary
contingent expenses. The offices of the
Auditor, Quartermaster General, Secre-
tary Of State, Treasurer, and Adjutant
General, have special contingent appro-
priations So have the Courts. The
Boards of Claims aud State Commits
sisuers are also specially provided for.
The Constitution requires the Governor
to make a report of his disposition of
this money. He has been expendiBg
similar Funds" for several years. He
has laid ont more than forty thousand
dollars The people want toknOw what
he has done with their money.
Farther on in the report we end an
allowance Of $3.50 90 to election officers
ior costs in defending suits. Suits for
whats For rejecting legal votes 7
Then let them pay their own
costs. A sweet state of affairs. when
the people are TO be disfranchised by
dishonest officials and then required to
shield those officials from the conse-
quences Of their owa dishonesty.
The "Rent Of Executive Mansion"
amounts to $3.50 90. Can anybody tell
rs from whom this Mansion" is rentedf
Can the lease be found in the Auditors
office Or does the rent go into the
breeches pockets of the Governor And
if so, what becomes Of that clause of
the Constitution which declares that in
addition to his salary Of $1,000, he shall
receive no other snolument from this or
any other Government"
We find from the same report that on
account of the Soldiers Medals there
was paid 'ast year SIS, Ais 81. The Gov
ernor's Message states that eleven thou
sand (nearly hal0 Of those medals re-
main undistributed. Whyf Because
the Soldiers, like most other people, re-
gard the whole business as piece Of
folly, and refuse to countenance the.ex-
iravsgance by having anything to do
with the scheme. The Medals are Of
no earthly use, save to waste money
and nobody denies it. The same amount
would have formed an Educational
Fund for Soldiers children that might
have done much good. Even to have
saved that amount TO the Treasury
wonld not have offended the tax. payers
very much. But to lay it out for these
unsightly and useless medals was about
equivalent to throwing il into the fire,
SO far as the general interest was con-
cerned.
A thorough overhsuling of the Audi
itor's report will reveal many similar
evidences of stupidity, extravaganza,
and corruption. We will shortly lay
more of them before the public.