The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-02-22

ready and willing to answer the question
propoundcd to him. He was according
~ again brought before the Committee
and, having answered fully, was dischsrg
ed from custody.
The investigations of the COMMITTEES
are conducted in secrecy, but, Of course
the result leaks out. In this way /,
has come to be generally known
that Mr.. Cabell said that several years
ago, before the adoption Of the present
Constitution and the present laws relst-
ing to the deposit of public funds, he did,
upon one occasion, pay Treasurer Bur
dett, one thousand dollars in consldera-
Of his permitting $4,000 to remain in
the Merchants Bank for some months
unchecked upon. He also said that upon
another occasion he paid Auditor Ben
nett two hundred dollars to secure
certain deposits, but that, speaking OF the
matter afterwards to Captain Burdett, this
5000 was charged TO and paid by Burdett
himself This Is | believe the whole
story, in all its pretended enormity.
To understand the transaction fully,
and do Justice to the officers who are as
sailed, it is necessary to examine the
provisions of the law relating to the pay
ment of moneys into the treasury. 1t
is found in the Code, Chap. II
section =. The officer or other person
who wishes to pay money into the Treas
nry of the State, must first deposit in
some one of the designated depositorlcs
of public funds, and receive therefore a
certificate of deposit This certificate ho
sends TO the Auditor who endorses upon
il the particular fund TO which the
money is to be charged and hands
i over to the Treaurer, who
issues duplicate receipts therefor,
one of which is filed i'll the Auditors
office and the other Is sent to the person
paving the money. 1t will be seen there
fore that the Auditor does not receive or
handle a single dollar Of public funds
when paid into the Treasury in the onl y
manner prescribed by law. 1t sometimes
happens, however, that persons remote
from any designated depository scrd
money for the payment Of taxes or for
other public purposes directly to
the Auditor or Treasurer with
a request that 1t be turned into the treas
ury. This was more Frequently the
case in former years when there were
fewer repositories and the people were less
familiar with the laws relating to the
matter than now.
When money was received in this way,
tho Auditor, Treasurer, or other person
receiving it became merely the personal
agent of the person sending the funds
and the act WAS one of
mere accommodation and not of
official duty. The money
was taken to the bank; certificate of
deposit was procured and then it took
the course prescribed by law. If the
Auditor or other person received fee
for extra official and personal services Of
this kind, either from the person sending
the money or from the bank in which
he might choose to deposit the funds,
it was purely private and Legitimate
transaction involving neither moral
turpitudc nor official malfcasancc.
| believe that the oilcnSe which
it is alleged the Auditor has COM
mitted hath this extent; no more The
Republican members of the invcstigat-
ing committee who anticipated from Mr..
Cabelrs reticcncc the revelation OF II
stupcndous mountain of fraud, are much
disappointed by the mole hill to which
his answer has reduced the affair.
As regards the Treasurer, this is his
defense. The sole power of paying out
the public funds is placed in
his hands. He may draw
checks upon any of the repositories, and
hence may leave the funds in some ofthe
banks untouched for months, until the
pnblic claims demand thcpayment Of the
money, and until the deposit in other
banks is exhausted. There is 30 law
prescribing in what proportion the mon
cv shall be drawn from the several banks;
all that is left entirely to the discretion
of the Treasurer. If therefore bank,
in consideration Of retaining deposit
untouched for certain length
of time, in addition to the
interest stipulated in its bond and paid
into the treasury pays also to the Treas
urer fee for his torbcarance, it cannot
be said that the public interests have
suffered or that the State has been de-
fraudcd thereby. The fee paid to the
Treasurer is money that the State would
not have received in any event; it is
money upon which the State has no legal
claim; and no law has been violated by
the Treasurer in the transaction.
But my letter has already grown 10
such length, and it is nearly train time,
that | must close somewhat abruptly.
| will cndcavor in future letter to fur
nish whatever items of news may be-
living around loose. There i Il grand
exodus taking place this Thursday
morning. The Ioyists and the politi-
elan. and the Senatorial aspirants are all
on the wing. l..