Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-09-07

The State Auditor in his Report
for 1863. speaking OF the School Fund
bonds, says:
Il do not consider these bonds as
State Indebtedness in the common ac-
ceptation Of the term. he interest,"
oniy is to be paid-not the prlnclpal,
for the School Fund belongs To the
State as much as the Revenue fund
does"
And so these bonds are universally
understood and regarded.
You will observe that all losses to
this Fund resulting from the deialea-
ton, Encouragement or fraud OF o.
fcers controlling and managing Inc
same, were absolutely required to De
audited and funded By the State,
which it could only do by issuing
bonds therefor. This was intended
to meet the Democratic emDeZZlement
of this money under Eads, and losses
by the mismanagement Of County
officials. Accordingly, under an Act
Of the Legislature, we issued bonds
to the school Fund amounting TO
SI22, $3.50, bearing interest at 5 per
cent. We also, in pursuance OF an
other law, invested Sll2,2o2.-t OF TINS
money which had come in rom the
Counties, in aiding US TO pay OH Inc
old State debt which came due Jan:
/. 1868. This sum WAS also funded
| in the form of State bonds drawing
S per cent. These different Issues OF
bonds amount in the aggregate, as
before stated, 10 1925, 506.0l, and were
all placed in the Office Of the State
Treasurer, where they must always
remain. On these bonds interest is
now being paid semi-annuaiiy TO the
! Schools OF the State, exactly as 1t was
before. and always must be. Issuing
| these bonds has not changed the Ia
biiities OF the State in any respect
whatever. az every man VIII per
ceive. They do not constitute debt
against the State in any sense OF
| the term, as the Constitution ex-
pressly SO declares, because the State
will ever have only the interest TO pay,
lust the same as if no bonds had been
issued at all. Anticipating install
ments Of interest on these bonds ITO
become due" and delinquent inter
est due on County loans, the LegiSla-
ture. at the sessions Of 1868 and 1870,
made the required appropriations, as
it also did for interest on the War
and Defence bonds. And now we
arrive at the mode by which this
Democratic orator figures up our
State Indebtedness. He doubles up
these two appropriations for four
wears, or eight u1tdue installments OF
interest on the same debt, or set OF
bonds. which will make an aggregate
interest of slG8, S65.4S, and then as
certains how much principal this
amount would represent at sac per
cent. interest for four years, which
would be, according to his reckon
ing. seven hundred thousand dollars!
By this method Of computation he
reaches the astounding conclusion
that our State indebtedness is "three
qporters Of q milton collars" And
this, as we are advised, is the Kind OF
stuff that is to be dealt out to the
Marion County Democracy during
the impending canvass.
SWAMP LAND.
; No Democratic speech in Iowa
: would be characteristic or complete,
without a reference to the Swamp
Land deficit. The fact that over
$50, 900 of Swamp Land Indemnity
Funds, allowed by the General Land
Office at Washington, and by draft
to this State, was diverted from its
legitimate channel and Improperly
used, is matter which every man
in Iowa has known for years. This
occurred during my first gubernato-
rial term, but the Republican party
/. il in no manner whatever RESPONSE
bic for it. No man regretted this
affair more than / did; and 10 man
could have used greater exertions to
have the affair fully investigated
and the State saved from ultimate
loss. A thorough Legislative inves-
tigation, by Democrats and Republi-
crns, and trials before the Courts OF
the State, have determined, decided,
and decreed wI0 got the money and
hO1C it was obtained. No rOspons-
ible and honorable man will, after
all this, accuse me, or my associate
State officers Ocany conplicityin this
wrong. These Democrats amuse
themselves by saying this money
was stolen. So be it. There was q
great deal Of stealing done during
these four years, for which neither
the Republican party nor myself
were responsible, and which these
: blatant Democrats knew more about
than any one else. They also say
that no one has been punished for
this alleged ENLIGHTENMENT. That is
true, and / am sorry for it. Why
was not some one punished for the
500, 10000 stolen from the Schools
by Democratic hands? No Republi-
can took any Of that money. The
Democracy had it all to themselves,
and could have punished the guilty
ones. The people of this County
have not forgotten that between
thirty and .fOrty thousand dollars of
their hard taxes, while under Demo
cratic control, took wings and fled
forever in a single night. Not one
dollar Of this money has been recov-
cred, and no one has been punished
for it. Why not? Let Democrats
answer.