The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-07-24
A Cloudy affair.

5uOl VI OlOllCI OllO COlloJlIuIlOn VI OHC III
sage which has prevailed since the g,
cllege has been in operation. On il
h 18th of July, 1888, the board of di- O
ectors of the A. and NJ. college met I
nd passed resolution making de- C
nand for $4,000 of the appropriation
n bulk. In the face of the con- d
titutional provision which de- e
:lares that this money should only a
,e drawn out, upon vouchers covering 7
services performed or estimates made
or the purchase of implements or
services rendered it cannot be used for i
buildings, etc. The governor of Texas [
approved the requisition and $4,000
Of the peoples money was taken out
Of the treasury, away from the GUS
tody of the legal, responsible and
bonded custodian, where it was closely
guarded night and day, and placed in
a village bank at Bryan, in the hands
of a man who was under no bond and
from whom it could not have been
made had disaster overtaken the bank.
Twenty thousand dollars at oneswoop
and to cover all manner of expendi-
lures, including, of course, those !
originally contemplated by the |
cousi tuition ~ there also mentioned |
III the act making the appr OPERATION.
Was ever recklessness and unbusiness-
riSl- with thnsa con NM 4
in the shape they are in now, who
is responsible! Not the governor,
he is under no bond; not the attorney
general who gave the opinion that it
might be so drawn in bulk to suit the
convenience of the directors; not the
directors who are, it appears, direct
ing officers, but they are under no
bond which would render safe any
such sum as this, should their own
selection of a fiscal agent prove a
bad one. Twenty Thousand dollars
is a pretty fair sum to run bank
with Did and does the Bryan
bank pay interest on it? If so, to
whom does it pay such sum? Does
it pay it to the directors? If so,
does such interest show up on the
books of the institution? Was ever
wilder recklessness exhibited? Was
ever public money so drawn, so ham
died and so paid out before in all the
history of this or any other state
Governor Ireland was fully aware of
the fact that there were no approved
vouchers in, covering any such sum
as this. There were no estimates con-
templating such an expenditure, for
the immediate and pressing needs of
the college. Then why, in Gods
name, was this vast sum taken away
from the treasury where it was
safe and placed in bank
at Bryan subject to all
the vicissitudes of private money
7 and which had the bank broken the
} state would have lost beyond the
shadow of doubt or the help of an.
gels. One hardly knows who to
blame most. The reckless executive
: of the state who toys in this schoo
boy manner with a vast sum of the
peoples money, or the attorney-gen
D eral who could read and construe thu
q law as intending any such reckless anC
, unsafe use of the public money. II
the credit of the latter, however, be i
said, he had the grace in the closing
q sentences of his most remarkabl
: opinion, a copy of which is before u
/? as we write, to use this remarkable Ian
guage: at may be that such requisi
tions should be rarely made. 1t doe
= not appear that an i'll use is to b
:" made of the money" st. If he ha'
said acquisitions should NEVER b
made, and the power or opportunit
g should never be given to make I'll
O use'' OF the public money, he hat
q been nearer right. AS it is, he an,
the governor are both wrong, an,
wrong to the extent of putting tn
money of the state, the money applies
u to the sustenance of one of our mos
important educational interests to tn
. plain hazard of ordinary Commercial
business. Suppose an "ill use' ha,
: been contemplated, does the governo
+ or attorney general either, suppos
= for moment that the directors woul,
n have appraised them, or either of then
of such intent?
n 1t may be said that this was a mat
e ter between the comptroller and tn
q attorney-general, and that Ireland hat
T nothing to do with it. Not so, els
the governor would be the merest O.
: mere figure-heads in the state govern
i ment. 1t was his duty to examine il
Y through his encouragement in its lie
g gal aspects, and it was further his
bounden duty as the executive of the
state, as the faithful guardian of al
D its interests, to look deeply into the
polite considerations, to understand
if it was safe, a lawful or desirable
thing to do.
This whole matter looked into care
fully, makes plain two things
One, that Ireland is toe
reckless, takes too many risks
with the public money and has toe
little judgment as to how it ought to
be appreciated with the care of the
political interests, and that the present
encouragement, if he is a profound
lawyer, in any sense, is liable to travel
a long way out of the law in render
ing legal opinion to cover a case
such as this.
This is right pretty nut for the
thick and thins to crack, and we trust
they will get at the work promptly as
we have others of the same sort for
them, and the time until the Houston
convention sits, is rapidly fitting
away.
illusory Hygiene.