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

HceT OF the SCate nor the SuperIn-
tendent of Public Instructions has
discovered or reported the fact.
But the Sentlnel, in its issue of
August a, 1870, says that no person
expected that the school fund ever
would De increased by the receipt of
any OF the proceeds Of these lands.
This IS Its language:
IL Is true that not a dollar ever
reached the common school fund
from the sale of swamp lands. and il
Is equally true that no one acquainted
with the condition of these lands ever
for a moment expected that the pro-
ceeds arising from their sales would
more than reclaim them and paw the
necessary expenses incident to that
desirable end"
In answer TO this, I quote from the
second section of the With Article
OF the Constitution, which declares
that. the Common School Fund shall
consist, among other things. of 'aII
lands that have been or NAV hereafter
De granted to the State, where no spe-
clnc purpose Is expressed in the grant,
ana the proceeds of the sale thereof,
lnciuolng the proceeds of the sales of
swamp lands granted to the State of
Indiana BY act of Congress of the
18Th OF September, 1850, after de-
duetl9g the expense of selecting and
draining the same"
Again: Governor Wright in his
regular message, delivered in Janua-
~, 1888, after informing the Legisla-
ture tnas selections of swamp lands
made by the State had been approved
Dy the proper officers Of the general
government to the amount of 1,0I8,-
S00 acres, and that there would be
added to this about 10000 acres in
the VIncennes District, the selections
In that District not then having been
examlned-continued in the following
language: The fund to be derived
from this source. solemnly set apart
by our Constitution to the cause of
education, will if properly husbanded,
WITHIN lew years amount to not less
than one million of dollars after de-
fraylng all proper expenses for selec-
ton and drainage. Doubts are Sc
rlously entertained whether the effect
OF the law of last session will not be
to fritter away this fund without ben
eft to any one but the host of officers
to be created under it. The subject
should be examined in all its bearings
and the proper remedy applied"
Here was an honest warning from
an honest, faithful Executive, who,
although a Democrat, never was, to
his honor be it spoken. a member of
the inner Democratic financial circle;
but the thing he warned against was
the very thing the fnaneiers desired,
and, of course, the warning was un-
needed.
The convention that framed the
constitution, by specially mentioning
these lands in that Instrument, showed
that its members believed that there
would be large surplus after paying
the expenses of selecting and ditch
ing; and Governor Wright explicitly
says that the fund, if properly hus-
banded. would amount to not less
than 81, 900. 900, after paying all prop
er expenses Of selection and drain
age. Will you bslieve the Conven-
ton and Governor Wright, or will
you believe the Sentinel?
The appointment Of Jacob Merkle
as Swamp Land Commissioners of Jas
per County, by Governor Willard, at
time when be was a defaulter to the
Swamp Land Fund, OF the State
as the late Treasurer of the
same county, In the sum of $127.-
go so, was one of those astute
pieces of financial strategy which
would have never been visible to the
naked eye of any human, except the
Democratic human.
l have no time to tell you about the
Beaver Lake lands, the Georgia
lands and divers other pet financial
operations of the Indiana Democracy,
which are embalmed in the pages of
our political literature.
DEMOCRATIC GENIUS FOR FINANCE.
l have given you some specimens
tending to show that the Democratic
genius naturally runs to finance; that
finance is its forte, its vital breath, its
native air.
Hence, in view of the past, it is
quite reasonable that the people of
Indiana should turn over their inan-
cial affairs to the Confederate Democ-
racy.
If there is anything that MARK
Twain" does understand 1t is how to
run an agricultural journal. He ad-
vises the farmers when they wish to
gather their turnips, to send boy up
the tree to shake them off. If there
is any thing the Indiana Democracy
does understand, it is how to pay off
the State debt and run the State gov
eminent economically; as witness
their sale of redeemed Stocks of the
State at two thirds of their par value,
to put them in funds Wherewith to pay
their own salaries!
The Democracy has also risen with
the emergency when called upon to
manage the finances of the nation, as
is proven by the success of Buchanan,
Floyd, Tbs mpson and Toucy, In de-
pleting our own Treasury to the re-
plenishment Of that of the Democratic
Confederacy, over which the late Mr..
Davis presided with such distinguish
ed Democratic financial success.
The administration of that most
Democratic of all Democrats, An
drew johnson, was another PROOF OF
the adaptation of the Democratic
mind to the conception and execution
of the most wonderful financial poll
cies that the world has ever witnessed.
His genius perfected the machinery
for the collection of the internal rev
enue of the country so as to make IL
yield the largest possible sum to the
Whisky Ring consistent with the re-
tention Of the allegiance of his subor-
dinates to that Democratic lnstltu-
ton; and if there is one thing for
which General Grant ought to be con-
demned by Democrats more than for
any other, it is that he smashed TINS
Whisky Ring as bad as he smashed
the reb sllion.
Ii any Indiana Republican wants
an excuse for joining the Confederate
Democracy, trust that he will do 1t
on the ground that its war record Is
n II r;nht md thnt nf The Ram hiIcan