The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1869-09-04
WHAT Is. AND WHAT OUGHT
TO BE DONE.

upon the Treasury without stint. If
he does SO, and there Is not doubt
but that he does, he ignores Section
10 of Chapter | of the general laws.
Clause : of that section empowers him
''to examine and determine the claims
of all persons against the State, an
cases ,chere provisions for he payment
thereof shall hare been made By lac, and
to endorse upon the same the amount
due and allowed thereon, and from
what fund the same is to be paid, aud
dra,e a ,carrant upon he Treasurer for
the same. +"
The parts of the above quotation
which we have italicised particularly
indicate the officers duty in reference
to warrants. He is only authorized to
draw them Ia cases trhere prorision for
tte payment thereof shall hare been made
by lac. The accounts of the State
Printer may be excepted from the OPP
erations of this clause by virtue of II
special enactment, by which the Sec
retary may issue certificate of the
amounts for the printing done and on
his own certificate, "by virtue of his
Office as Secretary of State, shall issue
his warrant on the Treasurer for the
amount thereof" He certainly can in
no other case draw q warrant unless
an appropriation has been made.
But in Oregon at present the law
seems to have no restraining influence,
and in fact not much operating force
upon State officers. 4 conspiracy. in
stigated, or ut least promoted. by the
executive, defeated the appropriations
and left the State ut the mercy of any
one whose position gave opportunities
of peculation. The odium into which
the conspirators have fallen is no COM
pensation for the injury they did the
public. The thing to bring most ben
eft to those who planned the disrup-
ton of the assembly was the issuing of
Treasury warrants. Had the Secreta-
ry steadily refused to draw warrants
where no appropriation had been
made, disgraceful system of specula-
ton by the occupants of the State de-
partment could not have followed
The unaudited claims of State credit
ors would have hardly offered the in
ducements or opportunities for those
operations that have grown out of the
issue of warrants. If the Secretary
had refused to issue these drafts the
probable object of the conspiracy would
have failed. As it is, he supplied the
inducemeat for refusing to issue writs
OF election to fill the existing Yacan-
cies. These warrants have been sell
ing as low as 65 cents, and as conse-
quepce the State, since its only means
of purchase was this deprecated paper,
has to buy its supplies at increased
prices. The ordinary expenses of the
State for two years are about 500, 600
coin. Say that one-half of this is paid
where the compensation has been fixed
and hence cannot be increased, it will
require s154, 900 dollars of warrants to
realize the otherhaH. This makes $254, :
000upon which We pay interestat 10per
cent. for say one year upon the whole
amount, and we have $279, 400, $40,
400 of which is chargeable to mal-ad.
ministration.
Take another view of this matter.
If the Secretary may issue warrants al
all without an appropriation. he may
issue them in unlimited numbers. Il
instead of issuing 1854 900 of warrants
he issues double that amount and they
pass into the hands of innocent pur.
-chasers, the State is as liable to pay
the whole as part. The ten thou.
sand dollar bond of the officer would
be very slight indemnity against
such gigantic operations.
What security have the people o.
IrOregon that this will not be DONE.
not being done? The people have
very limited knowledge of the transac
| tons of that State department. They
are entitled to have statement of the
business of the Treasury once in 81,
months. They get it only once in two
years. 1t is enveloped in mystery
during this long interval. The record
of its acts is a sealed book, that i!
opened biennially. There is not
State of the 81 so destitute of safe
guards, SO entirely at the mercy of un
principled men. The fault is not il
the law, but in the men who execute
the law. In last December the writel
pointed out, through the editorial col
umns of the Herald, plain and ade
quate remedy for the existing evil-b,
Indictment and conviction of the exec
utive for delinquency in Office, undei
Sec. 19 of Article of the Constitu
ton of the State. At the next session
of the Circuit Court for Marion Count,
the Grand Jury took the matter int
consideration, but having invited tn.