The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-01-18

It is full Of interest, and ] commend it
to your careful examination.
The school Fund
amounted, September 80, 1871. to
$3.50, 2s5.44, Of which $275, lOl had
been invested in bank stock and u. s.
Bouds. It is q mistake, therefore, to
suppose that this money is in the
Treasury. Included in this SUM are
stocks and bonds which are the pro.
ceeds of Bank Stock that stood in the
name of the Commonwealth of Vir.
ginis, and of the Internal Improve
ment Fund. The provision of the
Constitution is as follows: "The Legs.
lsture may at any time direct sale of
the stocks owned by the State in banks
and other corporations. but the pro-
ceeds OF such sale shall be applied to
the liquidation OF the public deb"
Under an order made by the Board OF
the School Fund, in February last, l63
shares or SIG, 800 Of stock in the First
National Bank of Wellsburg belonging
to the Internal Improvement Fund, were
exchanged for U. s. Bonds, which were
then converted into U. s. Bonds payable
to said School Board. The constitlon-
atty OF this action is at least question
able. The State still holds lSS shares
of stock in this Bank, it has gone into
liquidation and is winding up its affairs,
and some action on your part VIII be
| necessary, indicating what disposition
is to be made of the dividends thereof
I invite your especial attention to this
subject OF stocks and bonds standing
in the name of the School Board, that
it may be clearly ascertained how much
thereof properly belongs to the School
Fund, and how much is applicable to
the liquidation of the public debt.
Delinquent Lands.
Our laws on the subject Of delin-
quent lands are intricate and not well
understood by the mass of the people !;
in fact, few lawyers in the State are
we'll versed in them. The lists Of these
lands returned by the sheriffs are often
incorrect; lands have been returned de-
linouent iu cases where the taxes hav e
been paid, and even when redeemed
before sale, sheriffs have failed to re-
port the fact to the Auditor. These
causes have necessarily produced errors
in the records Of the Auditors office,
and subjected landholders to expense,
annoyance and great Inconvenience.
Were it not that a Convention is about
to assemble to propose alterations IN
our Constitution, would recommend
the appointment Of a committee or
commission to revise and modify the
laws on this subject, and to report their
proceedings to the next session OF the
Legislature. These laws are calculated
to deter strangers from purchasing
lands among us. and this tends to check
immigration. Inasmuch as cases OF
individual hardship are known to exist,
allow me to suggest that you authorize
the Auditor, upon proper evidence, to
strike out from his record Of delinquent
lands all tracts on which taxes have
been paid. Also, when it appears that
the lands have been redeemed before
sale, that he be authorized to enter this
fact on record, and in either case to
charge the sheriff with the amount for
which he has thus Improperly obtained
credit. If the lands in such cases
have been sold to innocent persons, the
money should be refunded by the State
the sheriff being the agent Of the State
in making the sale. L! parties injured
were to enforce the penalties for these
false returns, there would be less danger
from them in future.
The school Fund.
The act passed March 2, 1870, en-
titled IAN act to provide that sheritfs
shall collect all public taxes except
municipal taxes" seems to have pro
duced results and to be attended with
inconvenience, not provided for, or an
ticipated. The office Of township treas
urer was wisely abolished, and the
evident intention was to impose his
duties upon the sheriff. But unfortu'
nately, the act failed to provide in
direct terms that the State school fund,
distributable among the several town.
ships OF q county, should be paid to the
sheriff thereof, upon the requisitlon OF
the county superintendent OF schools.
The effect OF this omission is that the
law does not declare in precise terms
what officer shall be the receiver OF the
State school fund, when distributed
among the several counties Of the State.
This lapse in the law was the source Of
serious embarrassment to the Auditor;
| if on the one hand he had refused to
pay out the school fund, the schools
throughout the State for the present
year would have been either interrupted
| or curtailed in their operations If on
the other hand he should proceed with
the disbursement Of the school fund by
paying to the sheriffs the quotas OF the
townships Of their respective counties,
his action would be without direct au-
thority of law. The latter alternative,
however, was adopted by the Auditor,
az the less evil. | invite your imme-
date attention to this subject, with the
hope that you will provide a suitable
remedy by appropriate legislation.
WORK on the hO6us.
Again, when the office OF township
treasurer was abolished, no remedy
seems to have been provided for the
collection OF fines, for which persons are
liable, who fail to work upon the public
roads when properly summoned. To
enforce the payment of these fines was
one of the duties OF the township
treasurer, and since this Office has
ceased to exist, no other officer has
been Entrusted with this duty. There
fore labor on the roads has been prac.
tically a voluntary service, and it is a
marked example Of the conservative
and law abiding character OF our people,
that this service should have been so
long performed without compulsion.