The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-03-04

ton erected the semblance OF q mon
strous mass Of fraud.
After painful and protracted labor
the mountain brought forth and pre-
scented before the Legislature a very
ridiculous and harmless mouse in the
shape of a specific charge that, for
printing nineteen legislative bills during
the early parsof the session just closed,
Mr.. WALKER had charged and received
from the State treasury the enormous
sum of sl29.4O more than JOHN s.
MERRILL thought he was entitled to!
Having assumed this tangible shape,
the matter was referred to the Judiciary
committee Of the House Of Delegates
for investigation. Authority was given
the committee to send for persons and
papers; numerous Witnesses called by
the prosecutors and two for the defense
were examined; and the result was q
most disastrous failure 10 show that for
the printing of the nineteen legislative
bills which had been made the basis Of
the specific charge under investigation
there bad been any payment in violation
of law, or that the public printer had
received one dollar more than was his
legal due.
In dismay at the complete breaking
down of their finely wrought scheme,
Mr.. SruRoIs, OF Monongalia, Radical
member OF the committee, attempted to
give the investigation wider range
than was contemplated by the resolu-
ton of the House, and sought to intro
duce matter not contained in any sworn
charge or specification yet presented.
The remaining members Of the COM
mittee, knowing that there would not be
sufficient time during the session to
conduct such a desultory, hap-hazard
investigation as Mr.. SrURGIs proposed,
and believing that they had no power
without further instructions from the
House to consider matters irrelevant to
the specific charges before them, re-
fused to comply with Mr.. SrURGIs' de-
mand, and presented a report which
was adopted by the House OF Delegates,
entirely exouerating Mr.. WALKER from
any culpability in respect to the nine
teen legislative bills upon which MER-
RILL's charges were based. Mr.. SrUP.
GIs presented a minority report, made
up of CT parts statements and rumors
gathered here and there, which had not
been before the committee at all, nor
made the subject of any investigation
whatever. The House refused to adopt
this one sided version Of irregular COM
plants as a substitute for the majority
report, but, at the instance Of the ma
jority, and with desire to shed the full
light Of day upon all matters connected
with the public printing from the time
of the formation Of the State, new
committee was raised with full authority
to INQUIRE into the whole subject. 1t
was directed to investigate Mr.. FREws
accounts as we'll as Mr.. WALKER 3, be-
cause it was asserted that one is as
liable as the other to the charges set
forth by Mr.. SrURGIs against the pres
ent printer, AMI, in fact, one OF the
attorney engaged in the prosecution
declared that he was able to show that
both were guilty Of making exorbitant
charges for work done for the State.
We believe that the investigation
will fail to establish anything to the
dscredit of either Mr.. WALKER or Mr..
FREw. A full and candid examination
Of the accounts will probably result in
the entire breaking down Of the prose-
cullop, as has already been the case
with relation to the charges that have
been. examined and reported upon, and
the public ought, in justice to the gen.
tlemen concerned, to receive with many
grains Of allowance the er parte and
highly colored statements in regard to
these matters that will probably find
their way into the public prints.
These facts should be borne in mind.
The prosecution of the public printer
upon the charges already presented has
been conducted with bitterness born
of political auimosity and personal
hate. All the definite charges brought
forth have been completely and salts
factorily refuted No other charges
have yetbeen presented in proper FORM
and there has been no duly authentica-
ted specification Of any kind Of malfeas-
auce on the part of the public printer
vet produced that has not been fairly
disposed of. When other charges are
properly preferred they will be carefully
and impartialy considered by the COM
mittee appointed for that purpose and
until that committee presents its report
the popular judgment is liable to be
misinformed and to some extent erro-
neous.
We make the foregoing statement,
every item of which is literally true, in
the interest of justice and fair play.
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