The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-01-18
The following message. was sent to the
House of Delegates on Tuesday
COMMONWEALTH OF IRGlNIA, J
GovERNoR's OFFICE, ;
D,cu,,ox-n 1efb Jonr1orv 1877 \

+. .s--a -
- GOVERNORS OFFICE,
RICHMOND, 10th January, 1877.
To the Honorable House Of Delegates:
A resolution of the House OF Delegates,
dated the 10th instant, requests the Cover
nor, the Treasurer, the Auditor Of Public
Accounts, and the Second Auditor, to state
the particular duties assigned to and per-
formed by each clerk in their respective
offices, the number of hours during which
each clerk is daily employed, the salary
which each receives, and whether in any
case the duties now performed by two or
more clerks can be combined and performed
by one without detriment to the public SER
vice.
The resolution classifies alike all the offices
referred to, and it seems to be based on the
supposition that the Executive, like the
Treasurer and the Auditors, employs sep
arate corps Of clerks VINO receive stated
salaries and have prescribed hours for off,
cial labor. II such be the import OF the in
uuiry, rs regards this Office, it is founded on
a misapprehension, which I proceed to
rectify.
CLERICAL SERVICE.
Shortly after my induction into Office the
clerical assistance OF the Executive was re-
arranged and simplified. and its expenses
were retrenched, by the Legislature, at my
special recommendation and request. For
a number OF years heretofore the Gov
ernor's chief clerical assistant was COM
missioned aid-de-camp, with the rank and
pay Of colonel OF cavalry by brevet. The
employment and attendance OF military
officer, titled and paid as an aid-de-camp,
and performing clerical service for civil
magistrate in time Of peace, impressed me
as incongruous, and the arrangement was
repugnant to my own taste. 1t was at my
instance, therefore, and by special amend
ment of the Code, drawn by my own hand,
that the Legislature abolished the salaried
Office of aide-de-ca camp, for all periods ofpeace,
and substituted therefor q different form of
clerical service, materially curtailed in eX-
pense. By this legislation the Governor
was authorized thereafter to- employ such
clerical assistance in his Office as he might
deem necessary, but at an expense which,
il the aggregate, in any one year, should
never exceed $4,000. Prior to this change
the Governor had been authorized to en-
ploy an aid-de-camp at the annual pay Of
So, 100, and an additional clerk cat salary
not exceeding the rate OF $1,000 year,"
making the aggregate sum OF S3,loo
which was placed by law at the disposal
of the Governor, to be expended in each
year at his discretion, in paying the clerical
force Of his office. BY the action, had at my
instance nearly three years ago, the possible
clerical expenses of the Executive office
were cut down by about one third in
amount; and the accompanying statement
of the Auditor Of Public Accounts, giving
the itemized expenses under this head for
number of years past, shows that the actual
1:,h,, 70 Gov ho al
Executive have been reduced in approx
mately the same proportion. .....
r.: THE MODIFIED LAW. ...
It will be observed that this action Gre
ated no new Office or employment, for it
merely changed the name, simplified the
character. and reduced the expense OF the
clerical assistance previously provided by
law for the Executive. It but amended and
reenaeted particular provisions OF the Code,
and it left unaltered that clause OF the for
mer law which authorized such compll-
mentary' commissions for aids-de-camp, un-
paid, unemployed, and located in different
sections Of the State, rs Governors Of Vir-
rinia had issued almost from time immemo-
rial. ,....,. j. -.
In. asking for this modification OF the law
it was by no means assumed or implied that
any OF my predecessors had incurred un-
necessary expenditure in the matter OF
clerical work; nor was the change con-
ceiyed in such an idea as that OF finding
fault either with the designation or the
compensation Of any one OF the assistants
they saw fit to employ. 1t is no more than
Justice to them all to assume that they en-
ployed no official help but such as the eXi-
gencies OF executive business called for at
the time; and such Of them as may have
preferred OF acquiesced in military desig-
nation for an office employs in time Of
peace, but exercised lawful discretion
concerning which no question is now
relevant. hold that every chief
executive officer, representing as he
does one of the three coequal and lnde-
pendent departments into which the gov
ernment is divided, is bound to control, ac-
cording to his best judgment, the details
and the modes OF conducting the business
of his Office, and in so doing his discretion
is restrained only by such limitations as are
imposed by the Constitution and laws of
the Commonwealth. Did he renounce any
function or discretion rightfully pertaining
to his Office, did he consent to surrender Its
authority or its dignity, he would endanger
the euuipoise between the separate parts Of
the government. and he would impair the
vitality OF the Constitution not less than ii
he attempted to encroach upon q different
department and to usurp ungranted powers.
TIE DUTIES OF PRIVATE SECRETARY:
AS the law stands, the Executive may en-
ploy such clerical assistance as he deems
ecessary-whether the same be rendered
by one or more clerks; provided that all
disbursements on this account shall in no
year exceed the reduced sum now appro-
priated for the purpose. The accompanying
statement of the Auditor shows that in no
year of my official term has the appropria-
ton been exceeded, while generally a less
sum has been expended. The clerical duties
Of this Office have been performed, for the
most part, by single clerk, who is COM
monty known and designated as the Gov
ernor's private secretary; yet + have not