Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1882-03-25
T1F MARTINsBJJRG HERALD SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1882
The School Fund---How 1t Has been
Manipulated by Democratic Statesmen.

Manipulated by Democratic otasesnlS1'
There is a long forgotten provision
Of the Constitution of West Virgin
ia which reads on this wise. pee
Sec. 3, Art. X:
aNo money shall be drawn from the
Treasury but in pursuance OF an ap-
propriation made by law, and on q
warrant issued thereon by the Audi
tor: nor shall any money, or funo, pc
taken for any other purpose than that
for which it has been, or may be, APP
propriated or provided. A complete
and detailed statement of the receipts
and expenditures of the public moneys
shall be published annually"
This provision of the Constitution
was framed in the year 1872. i'll the
city OF Charlestown, W. Va,by a lot
of Democratic statesmen calling
themselves Strict CoGstructionlsts,
after having in the previous year, IN
the Legislature, made an investlga'
ton of the finances of the State with
reference to ascertaining whether
any portion of the moneys belonging
to the School fund of West Virginia
had been diverted or used by the Re
publicans for any other purpose than
the support of the school ofthe State.
No less a person than the Hon. IL.
G. Davis, now q. S. Senator, then a
State Senator, assisted by James nj.
jackson, drew up a report on the sub
| jcct, in which they used the follow
ing language:
" The school fund which is MAIN
tanned by taxation and in the income
from investments, should always at
the end of each fiscal year be set apart
for its own purposes, and should never
be estimated with the funds of the
general treasury which are subject to
legislative appropriations. Each fund
should beapplied to its own legitimate
purposes, and should never be used to
supply a deficiency in any other de-
partment, which has heretofore been
the case.o
This report was drawn up, and
signed and submitted on the 10th
day of February, 1871, about one
year prior to the convention that
met in Charlestown to give us a new
Constitution, which convention was
overwhelmingly composed of Demo
cratic statesmen of the strict con
struction school. To these gentlemen
the Constitution Of a State, or even
the United States, is as a Bible.
Nothing is to be added thereto or
taken therefrom. Their motto is
anathema maranatha" to all who
tamper with Constitutions.
So these Democratic statesmen
made constitution, and for fear the
Republicans might possibly come in
to power some day, and might, as
they had charged, use some of the
school money, even if only for a month
to meet general appropriations, they
wrote in the new constitution, and
sealed it with their seals, that no
money cor fund shall be taken for
any other purpose than that for
which it has been OF may be appro-
priated or provided"
This was done to express their
great sensitiveness as to the sanctity
and inviolability Of the school fund.
They felt that they we're little I'M
der suspicion on the subject of schools
and therefore it was policy ON their
part, after having reflected on the
Republicans the year previous, to put
sort of a divine tablet in the Ark
Of the Covenant guaranteeing it's
sacredness and inviolability forever.
And thus they tied up the school
funds in the constitution.
But, alas for the weakness of Dem
ocratic human nature! The record
shows that the very next year after
the constitution was adopted these
strict construction statesmen, who
were SO very indignant in 1871, and
who were SO religiously bent III 1872
on making the school fund sacred
and inviolable fell 10 tampering with
that same fund. By turning to the
Auditors report it will be seen that
they modestly got away with the
sum of $1,000 in 1873. Nobody
having discovered that performance
outside Of the Auditors Office, or
at least nobody having made a fuss
about it, these same strict construe
ton gentlemen gathered courage for
a new raid on the fund, and conclud-
ing that they might as well be hung
for a sheep as a lamb, pounced on the
fund to the extent Of $4,000 in 1878.
Still, not hearing any cutlery from
the public on this subject, and see
ing that it was pleasant process
for getting cheap money, as it avoid
ed the otherwise unpleasant neces-
sity Of raising the taxes, they went
in On the fund again in 1877 to the
extent of SO, 541.4S, making up to
that time S78,511.4S which they had
raided out of the fund. And still
they were undiscovered, or at least
unexposed. They said to each other,
we have struck gold mine. Lots
of money and nothing to pay for it.
Not even q cent of interest. Let us
go in again. So they scooped down
on it again, and this time got away
with $4,000 more, making a total of
S127,51l.4S, not counting interest, of
which they had not paid a cent since
they began raiding the fund in 1878.
"The deer that goes often to the
brook meets the hunter at last says
the proverb. And so at last these
depredations on the school fund at
tracted attention. There was an in
dignant outburSt from the public on
the subject through the Republican
press Of the State. The depreciation
was denounced in severe terms, and
the Democratic statesmen becoming
alarmed thereat made an appropri-