The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-02-05
Systematic Carelessness.

The Richmond Wing of the I'd. furnishes
the following suggestive article, which
ought to make the people turn their at
tention to thinking. Recently we noticed
that several 81 900 bonds had been pre-
sented for funding which had been funded
| before, and to what extent this may exist it
| is impossible tOascertain. The Wing says!!:
| The irregularities now being investi-
gated in the First Auditors office are but
a small portion of the results which have
naturally flowed from what may well be
called the systematic carelessness with
which our finances have been administered
since the war. Such irregularities, involv.
| ing loss to the State, are no new things.
| They have occurred in the Second Audi
| tors office, in the Treasurer's office, and
| in the bureaus of the Sinking Fund and
Board of Public Works. Investigation
after investigation has been made but
none have been thorough. and none re-
medal and retormatory. Legislatures and
legislative committees have actually dealt
with affairs in the basement of the Capitol
as If they dared not find ont the whole
truth, and the whole loss to which the
State has been subjected. Every inquiry
has paused on the threshold and asked 10
be relieved from the duty. Enough has
only been found out to brighten inYestiga-
tors from further research.
The fact is that while millions of dollars
i'll the old bonds of the State have been
paid in to settle the demands of the State,
nobody knows how many of these have
been purloined and put upon the market
again, or used for funding. 1t is the same
with the bonds and coupons of the Funding
bill OF 1871 nobody knows how many Of
these are illegally out for there complete
even to SignatureS) they lay for years ex-
posed in the basement, while the plates
from which they were printed were for
years in New York, wholly out of the Gus
tody OF the State, and subject to fraudu-
lent use. Nor does anybody know how
many OF the bonds and coupons that have
been funded under the various bills have
been stolen. Enough is known. however,
to make it certain that the State has been
despoiled and defrauded in all these WAYS
to amounts that have never been ascer
tained, and are perhaps unascertainable,
The Riddleberger bill finds the lust debt
of the State to be between $2l 900 900 and
w, OoO, o00 but If the findings even under
that Dill go.on unchecked, it may happen
that we shall have tG issue oyer $50 ,O0O,- |
900, in Riddleberger bonds to cover the |
stolen bonds and coupons of various kinds
now out. This is no mere fancy. Inves-
tlgatlon has shown that all the leaks we
have referred to land others) have existed, |
and that for years ; and nohody knows, or
can estimate, how great the aggregate }
leakage may have heen. The so-called |
coupon:killefs, chiefly intended. it is true |
to regain for the State control Of heY taxa |
tion-her revenues-have heen Sayagely |
assaulted as false, particularly in their alle- !
cations of frauduleRt, counterfeit and M
authorized bonds and coupons Of the State
in circulation but these allegations are !
too grieYousN true and they call for much
fuller legislati9,a and other action to defend
the State and our tax payers than are uro,
vided by the eoupon-killers. Steps sha,,id
be taken to discover, as near as possible, !
how many of the various haGtls and con.
pons of the State that Qeght TO be in Off.
cial keeping, or aes0afiied for, are actually
missing aAa anacconhuIu Tor. The search !
sh9Vld go back to all our old evidences of
public Indebtedness and be se,lulously pur-
sued to date. 1t may cost us thousands
but it may save us millions. AS it is. we
are working in the dark. .