The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-08-05
Letter from Hon. Ralph Leete to GOV
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The Governors speech reviewed. =
l,a SIZE :, The extraordinary speech de-
| livered by yourself before the Repub-
lican State Convection, upon your re-
nomination for Governor seems to de-
mand something more than o passing
notice. Had the charges made by.
yourself against the transactions of
the Fifty1eighth General Assembly of
the State BEEN made by some eager
and aspiring politician, in the excite
ment incidental an impromptu speech
before q large convention, they might
not have deserved the treatment /
propose to bestow upon them. s54
The respect entertained for your
private character, the reputation you
had earned in the late war as brave
soldier and skillful commander of
forces-independent of your exalted
position as chief magistrate of great
State-all combine to give force and
credit to your statements of fact and
declarations of opinion upon public
affairsaHa l9EaaIiE. 9sf 5,stlajy 5.i g.,
You have arraigned the legislative
branch of the State government for a
reckless expenditure of public money.
and for acting in bad faith generally
towards the people. e5..Ie
|, As one, Of the members Of the Fifty
l'eighth General Assembly, having my
share q, responsibility for its acts, l
feel called upon to repel your attacks
upon that body, and to compare some
of your principal charges against the
Legislature with your own official
recommendation : ~,
You state that "they Ghe General
Assembly created between thirty and
forty new offices, at cost to the peo-
pie for salaries, fees, and expenses, of
at least $4,000 per annum." They did
not create dey such Number of Offices
as you state, nor at any such cost
j They did create FIVE new judgeships,
three of which were in Republican
and two in Democratic Districts
They also provided for an inspector
of steam boilers, whose salary should
be $4,000. CAP -s,,e' : '5'.=.,'. = :
In your last annual message find
the following recommendation ~ az
submit to your consideration the inn
portance of providing for a thorough
and comprehensive geological survey
of the State. Many years ago a par
tial survey was, prosecuted, under
many difficulties and embafrassrnents,
which was fruitful of valuable results.
It IS beyond doubt that such work
as is now practicable to carry out, will
by making known the mining, manu-
featuring and agricultural resources
of the State, lead to their develop
ment to an extent which Will in few
years amply reimburse the, State for
Its cost" LII =. = -
Pursuant to this recommendation,
Mr.! Lee. of Delaware, introduced a
bill providing for a; geological survey
| of the State. 1t authorizes the ap-
pofa4HeEt by the Governor of one
4 principal geologist and three assist
ANITA. This bill passed, and is the law
/ of the State, and you have made the
appointments under it. The annual
cost of this surveyswiH be $500, un-
Hess the Legislature shall modify the
law. / know of no other Offices Gre
ated by the Fifty eighth General As
sembly than those above mentioned,
unless you intended to include the ad-
4 ditional trustees for the Miami Uni
versity, aud the trustees ofthe Reform
School for girls, all of whom serve
without pay. ',.asn t.,25s .sas, a7tir-s7,.,'
Permit me further to call your at
tantipn to another.recommendation in
yonr message, which is as follows:
"The interests5 Of eommap school
education, in my opinion, win be pro-
NOTED by the early adoption of county
superintendency, as provided in bill
! on that subject now pending in one
branch Of tbs General Assembly.
therefore earnestly, recemmepd the
4 consideration and passage of the bill
r Had this bill been passed in pursu-
anees OF your ililendation, 1t
would havea crested !eighty- nine new
offices, at a yearly cost of not less
than s., 600 for each uperintendeht.-
The bin was fully considered, but the
General Assembly did not deem it ex-
pedient to pass 1t. - s..,
When you state that g sixty or sew
enty different. acts were passed au-
thorizing debts to be contracted
amounting in the aggregate to more
than 100000, *f* and that they
passed serefty, or eighty acts by which
additional taxes were authorized to
the,amoantlef of oyer $l00o0,0 ,00O,n dc
not know what you meaH, fgP no s4el
number of acts as you specify 10 to be
found in the statutes of 1869. You
. seem to be as careless in fixing. tn,
! amount Of local levies provided for al
r In the number of acts passed, neithel
). of which bears any, specific rotation tt
to the actual facts, Not less thai
three-fourths of all the special leyie
: authorized were for the large eities.--
The leyies authorized for the city O
. Cincinnati alone exceeds all other lev
5 ies.l That city and Hamilton count,
n were represented by eleven Republi
Il can melnbers, all of whom united il
! tho passage of the bill of which yor
= complain, The. emily opposition, the,
,r encountered was from Democrats,
~ Special Legislation is, as a geneva
rule, expensive and vicious. The pres
= entconstitation was Intended to pro
hiblt all legislation of that character
In 1856 the Know Nothing Republi
can, Legisture commenced restrictin
II the authority of counties, township
II and cities to make levies for ordinar
purposes. These restrictions, upde
the Legislature Of 1862, were carrie
to such am extremity that improve
Ineifts of every kind weie prohibited
- and it was with extreme difficulty tlit
sufficient money could be received b
taxation for current expenses. Il III
4 court house, Jail, infirinary or unio