Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-08-16
A WORD ABOUT THE TREASURY
MATTER.

A WORD ABOUT THE TREASURY
MATTER.
i The house of representatives at JET
ferson City, last winter, in voting against
the impeachment of Treasurer Gates
did not indorse either him or his admin
istration. 1t merely failed to find an In
dictment against him for high crimes
and misdemeanors-quite another thing.
Their belief was, as ours is, that the
really guilty parties in the business
were the bankers who. had practiced
upon Col. Gates an immense confidence
game, to his disgrace and to the cost OF
the state. Could these bankers be placed
in the %penitentiary, we think they would
only have their just reward, but in spite
of his many weak and foolish acts. we
do not believe Col. Gates to have been
guilty of any intentional violation OF
law, or betrayal of trust. He was tried
on these charges by a jury in Jackson
county, and acquitted.
As all his predecessors had
done, he deposited the money en-
trusted to him, in banks which he
thought 10 be sound, just as our county
t%reasurers do to-day. One of these
banks failed-criminally perhaps but no
creditable evidence has yet. nor do we
think can be, adduced to show thatGates
| was in collision with that bank to ben
| eft by the failure, or that he was in col
fusion with the other bank, which is
still sound so far as the public knows, to
reap one dollars advantage because of
his deposits. Under the statute his duty
was two-fold; i. e.. to keep the moneys
of the state. and pay them out on war
rants drawn by the auditor. He kept
the moneys in the way sanctioned by
law and uninterrupted usage,and he has
never yet failed to pay a warrant drawn
upon the fund to which the amount lock-
cd up in the Mastin bank belongs. Who
knows that he willp Who can say that
he will be short one dollar when the
| time comes for him to turn his Office owe
to his successor? Many persons. for
political reasons. would rejoice at his in
ability to do SO. They may be disap-
pointed. ...
The law which permitted treasurers
to deposit state moneys as they
chose was a very loose one,
The last legislature passed a better
one-locking the stable door after the
horse was gone, probably, but at all
events locking it, as should have been
done by the previous general assembly.
1t also passed a very severe law regu-
lating the taking of bonds. aud giving
the governor power to annul them, or
bring suit on them when he may think
the interests of the state require, some
thing he could not do before.
The Intelligencer has as little conf
dence as a we'll be imagined in the
Burnses, none whatever in the Mastins,
but a good deal of sympathy for the
man whom they have ~irretrievably ruin
ed. 1t is to be credited to the Burnses
that they offered to mortgage their real
estate to the state to secure the sum
still in jeepardy-enough to the
amount, it was said. Senator Vest ad-
vised the state to accept this offer. and
the house passed a bill to enable it to
be done, but the senate rejected it.
There is as much truth in the charge
that there Is nov a treasury ring, as in
the charge that there is a Vest ring to
beat Cockrell. Vest is as much the
leader of one as of the other. and in
| truth he is concerned in neither. The
treasury bill passed by the thirtieth
general assembly has put an end to
treasury rings.
The malicious iteration which would
mark Elijah Gates down as a thief should
cease. 1t is neither fair, nor decent.
No one really believes him to be so, and
the cry has ceased to make political cap
ital for any one. He is still treasurer,
and capitalists who know all about the
affairs of the state continue to pay a
premium for Missouri bonds, even short
time Missouri skies selling at 81 Fer
cent. premium. If these men thought
Gates dishonest they would be very
clear from paying a premium for the
chance of meeting with delay and diff
Guilty IN getting their interest.
While not taking that matter into con-
sideration at all in the debate on the
question, it is fortunate for the state
that the house failed to vote the articles
of impeachment. as there is nothing
more certain than that the senate would
have acquitted the treasurer. when an
additional bill of forty or fifty thousand
dollars would have been added to the
cost of an already unavoidably expen-
sive session.
The democracy did not indorse Gates
by failing to indict him they might do
so by offering to r~e-elect him, as the re-
publicans did by Robson, but who ex-
poets any such thing? No ne. The
democratic party not only requires clean
hands, but it also requires a degree Of
competency which will preclude all pos.
sibility of sharp practice against the
state by confidence operators.
CERTAINLY.
There is a deficiency of 1910. 900 reported in the
Maine treasury. Without knowing who is tc
blame, how would it do to call it a republican
steal ?-lLeXlngton Intelligencer.
L L rinur nf tho fnaf Lhnt AIoino Ia nnlan fh6