The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-08-30

OF Sunday EohOol literature nave CIV
en- him a notoriety continental IN It's
proportions. His labors in that de-
partment of the Democratic vineyard
made it inconvenient for him to be at
Indianapolis at the session of the
Legislature commencing In January,
1865, and hence we have no report of
his official proceedings as Agent of
State. All We know about him is de-
rived from the statements of his Re-
publican successor, Judge Buskirk,
made in his report OF Nov. 1, 1866
Documentary Journal, 1867, part l,
page f. Judge Buskirk, after saying
that he took possession of the Agen-
cy on the 21st day of February. 1860,
uses this language: Colonel John
G. Walker, my predecessor, was not
present in person to deliver TO me the
possession of the Office, but was rep
resented By his brother, Mr.. James
Walker, who paid over to me the
sum of $11, 1872 76. This he repre-
sented as the amount due to the
State from Colonel Walker after de-
Quoting ten thousand dollars for two
years salary and the expenses of the
Agency. As l had no means at the
time of ascertaining the true condi-
ton of Colonel Walkers liabilities
to the State, / declined to give re-
ceipt in full, bat receipted for the
amount paid over"
This exhibits a new Democratic
short hand system of book keeping
as far removed from everything like
red tape as it is possible for such
transaction to be. Instead of draw
ing his salary and expenses through
| the accounting officers of the State,
he dispenses with all such old fogy
formalities and audits his own ac-
counts, and retains, out of the funds
placed In his hands foran entire
ly different purpose, his salary and
what he himself decides to be right
for expenses. This system of &C.
counting has this advantage, that
there is no room for dispute over any
particular item, there being but one
item In the account, Wig; SIC, 600 for
salary and expenses. / think it prob
able the Marion County Reformers
had Colonel John G. Walkers i'm
proved system of book keeping and
accounting in view when they adopted
the exceedingly sagacious plan of re-
plenishing the county treasury by re-
1 uUlIluE
the county all of their fees that they
shall not need themselves. If Walk
er was here, have no doubt he
would be a reformer and support the
ticket. In 1841 an old gentleman,
a member of the Legislature, who was
anxious to relieve the people of the
State OF the pecuniary pressure which
then rested upon them, introduced
bill in the House of Representatives
proposing to issue to the people
sufficient quantity of State Script 10
enable all the people to pay oil their
debts, and every man was to have just
as much as be needed and no more,
and if any one took more than he
needed it was to be penitentiary Of
Tense. The Reformers, when they are
elected, are to pay over to the Court
House fund all the fees which they
do not need, and if they keep more
than they need they are to be visited
with the displeasure of the Democrat
ic party.
/ have glanced at the official fidelity
of the last three Democratic Agents
of state, and l invite the Democracy
to search the record of the Repubh-
cans who have held the same Office
| for any similar instances of malfeas-
ance In Office. Col. Hudson, Judge
Buskirk, Judge Gresham, and Judge
| Slaughter have held the position, and
| it is only by comparing official action
that just judgment can be formed.
CLOSING OF BENEVOLENT INsTITU-
TIoNs.
Some of you may, perhaps, have
forgotten another transaction In the
history of the last Democratic ad-
ministration, which not only mani
tested an utter disregard of the fnan-
cial interests of the State, but also
involved crime against large num-
Der of the unfortunate classes of her
people. I allude. of course, to the
closing up, in 1857, of the Hospital
for the Insane, the Institution for the
Education of the Deaf and Dumb,
and that for the Education of the
Blind. No appropriations were made
by the General Assembly for the sup
port of these institutions; and, under
the pretense that, for lack of such
appropriations, they could not be con-
tinued in operation-their inmates
were dismissed and thrown back
upon the counties and families
rum WhiSu tHSg OatASs ~ W
ter disregard of the anguish
a policy. This, be it remembered,
was done in April, 1857; and, as if to
demonstrate the folly and wickedness
of the course pursued, and to give
the lie to the pretext under which the
enormity was perpetrated without any
intervening session of the Legislature,
\ a, ~ a. re
tons Which.existed when the Iustitu
tons were closed, their inmates were
invited back; and In September, 1857,
the Institutions were again opened
and continued IN operationl
INSTRUMENTATION OF SCHOOL FUNDS.
Again, look at your school funds
under the control of w. III. Talbot,
ESQ.,, late Chairman of the Democrat
ic State Central Committee, aud late
President of the Board Of Sinking fund
Commissioners. These funds were,
by the constitution, sacredly dedicated
to the cause Of common school educa
ton, and Mr.. Talbot had no more
right to take them to the city of New
York than be had to take them to
China. He did, however, transmit
them to New York city to be used in
gold gambling during the war. Your
school funds. to the amount of $133,
PSI IA. were. used in betting on the
success of the rebellion, for that is just
what operating in gold meant during
the dark days of the war But Grant
pummeled the life out of the rebel ar
my, and the Confederacy went up, and
your School Funds went up with it.
After five years of effort on the part
of the Auditor of State to collect
portion of the claim out of collater-
ais assigned for that purpose, and by
prosecuting divers law suits the
amount, including principal and in