National Republican., 1874-06-01
MR.. STANTON'S ARGUMENT
CLEAR ExfosIrIoN OF THE DIS
rRICT DEBT.

CLEAR ExF0gIrIoN OF THE DIS
rRICT DEBT.
THE GovERNOR's ANSWER NO THE IN
QUIRIEs OF THE CosIMITrEE THAT
ANSWER sUsrAINRD BY THE EvIDEsCE
ANDTHE PAPERS, VOUCHERS, AcCoBNTs,
&c-FAITHFUL ExERCIsE OF POWERS
LEGALLY CossERRED. y
Mr. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE
JOINT COMMITTEE: At the outset of this in
EsstigatiOu, in ooediencs 70 your requirements,
all the, original contracts, vouchers, and many
other documsntsof the Board ofPublic Works,
together with its estimates and measurements,
we're brought within the custody Of the CON-
mittee. Carefully prepared, searching, and
comprehensive inquiries having been pro-
pounded to the Governor by you, he submitted
an answer. comprising Q printed volume Of
more than 500 pages, responding fully and pre-
cisefy to every interrogatory, and furnishing,
In addition to other information, an exhibit OF
every warrant drawn on the treasury, and OF
the receipt and expenditure Of money during
the three years Of the existence of the District
government. The Board of Public Works be-
ing, IN the language Of tho counsel for the
memorialists, "put on trialn by them, in course
of the vigorous prosecution thus set on foot,
and in the progress Of thorough Investigation
by the COMPUTES Itself, other archives of the
District have, at the pleasure Of the committee,
been brought within Its custody; and submitted
to its inspection and that of the inemorialists.
The power OF calling for the production OF
records and documents has not been sparingly
exercised In taxing oral testimony three
months of almost daily session have been con-
sumed, and record of evidence covering
twenty-four hundred printed pages is now
spread before you. The prosecution conducted
in behalf Of the memorialists by able and emin-
ent counsel, and the inquiry by the committee
| have not been directed to q few acts of alleged
improyidence or alleged violation of the law.
They have comprehended the transactions OF
three years, in which vast operations have been
conducted. They have not been limited to the
Office of the principle authorities OF the Dis
trict. They have extended into the supposed
misdeeds of those whom the memorialists term
''underiings;" and the conduct of well-nigh
every subordinate, and the business of we'll
nigh every contractor have been scrutinized
and probed. When were the affairs of any
municipality so searching and thoroughly in
vestigatedl What municipal officers were ever
'put on trial' so severely, in respect of all the
transactions of three years, the acts Of strang-
ers, and of almost every subordinate.
10 And now, after prosecution so vigorous, an
inquisition so extended, so thorough, so search
ing, according to what standard Is the commit
| tee asked, by counsel for the memorialists, TO
pass Judgment upon the manner in which the
District authorities have borne themselves in
| office Is the committee to consider and ap-
| prove the achievement of public benefits
! accomplished by body of resolute and ener-
getic oficialsi Is 1t requested to condemn only
acts Of corruption and wilful abuse of author
Eityl Not 50. That no act of selfshly corrupt
or criminal misconduct has been successfully
imputed to the District authorities is a conclu
sion so manifest from this unexampled trial
and inquisition that the committee is now
asked by counsel, IN their argument, to estab-
hsh a sterner standard; 10 deny to public Off
GERS the immunities Of private persons in
respect to "the legal presumption of inno-
-cence," and to convict them OF malversat!on
In office, unless they shall have "made it to
appear sfflrmativeiy that they have fulfilled
the expectations under which trust and power
were conferred upon themS' What new re
| quirement Is this which denies to an officer the
benefit OF honest intentions or diligent efforts
for the beneft-of the public service, holds him
up to the fafflfment Of auticipations, with
| draws from him the protection Of those legal
presumptions hedging about. even criminals on
trial, and eompels him to establish by sffirma-
tive proof the realization of every expectation!
To demand condemnation upon such principles
Is not Just impeachment but vindictive pursuit
of public officers. II diligent, Intelligent, hon
est effort for the public service accomplishment
of great public benefits. and absence Of corrupt
and criminal misconduct be held to be fulfill
ment-not of every expectation, however cap
tious or impracticable, but of the reasonable
expectations with which public officer Is IN
trusted with authority--then at the close of
this long trial the District authorities need not
demand the protection to which they are enti-
| tled-of presumption of rectitude, until the
| contrary shall be made TO appear. Their hon.
est, single, successful endeayors for the public
benefit are afirmstively manifested as the con-
clusion from this volume Of evidence.
II is fair to infer that the diligence and intel
| ligence of counsel, animated by ardent and
persistent desire to put the officers of the Dis
trict in the wrong, stimulated by the active
animosity of many of the memorialists, have
availed to indicate the Snatters wherein the
conduct Of the authorities is the most open to
criticism. Therefore, to the argument for the
memorialists Il Is safe TO refer for catalogue
Of alleged misconduct. Acquitted of wrong
doing as to the matters of complaint there, II
is reasonable conclusion that the District
officers, after this long, severe trial, are enti-
! tied to be justified by the committee In respect
of their Intentions, their efforts, and the results
of their arduous administration.
AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS.
In the argument of counsel for the memo
rialists 1t is charged, as the first fatal vice,
visible in every stage of the administration OF
the last three years, that the organic act estab-
fishing the District government was wrested,
through false constructions, into the establish
ment Of distinct coordinate, and practically
independent powers within the Territory, and
that the Board of Public Works, instead Of
acting only as q subordinate agency at the bid
ding Of the local Legislature, asserted para
mount authority over certain subject.
| The organic act has been construed by the
| Supreme Court Of the District Of Columbia, q
/ tribunal organized In 1853, no member Of
which has been appointed to the bench since
| the formation Of the present District govern
ment. Not through any unwillingness tc
meddie with quasi poiiticaf questions, alleged
in the argument OF counsel, but, acting within
its competent Jurisdiction, upon proper cases
repeatedly brought to tie bar, this court has
simply given effect to the plain words Of the
| organic act, which creates municipal body
corporate, by the name Of the District Of
| Columbia, with limited and expressed powers
and creates, also, not as subordinate agency
| Board of Public Works, which tshaH have
the entire control Of, and make all regulations
which they shall deem necessary for keeping in
repair the streets, avenues, alleys, and sewers
of the city, and all other works which may be
intrusted to their charge by the Legislative
Assembly And such special assessments a
have been levied by the Board of Public Works
for particular improvements have been i'm.
posed under express authority ofthe Legislative
Assembly, and not Independently OF Legislative
authority. The authority exercised by the
board has not been usurped, but was given by
Congress in the organic act, supplemented, As
that act provides, BY subsequent laws enacted
by the Legislative Assembly. The board has
grasped no 'unbestowed authority. The con-
| structIon of the act, denounced IN the argu-
ment Of counsel, has for It's sanction repeated
| judgments of court of the United States.
| THE SCHOOL FUND. .rr
Still more unjust, because 1t imputes greater
moral delinquency, Is the accusation, coucbed in
l harsh language ,thatthe District government has
perverted from its legitimate objects, and spent
| upon greedy contractors and time-serving fay-
orites, the revenue dedicated TO the education
of children and the maintenance Of school
teachers. This charge had before the present
Investigation been made freely, but without
| justifcation; and the full deyelopment Of the
facts In the course ofthis inquiry refuted Il 90
Il clearly that at an early stare. counsel for the