St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-10-20
THE CAPITOL COMMISSION
Fund Was Not Paid Into the
Treasury, as the Law REQUIRES.

treasury. as the Law f1eQ lures.
But let Us look a little further. and
into another important piece of business
that was transacted by this wonderful
auStOr. By chapter l04, of the laws of
1888. what was known as the capitol
commission was created. and under and
by virtue OF that act, certain lands
which were donated TO the territory for
capitol purposes were TO be sold by the
capitol commission. and used for the
purpose OF building the capitol. Sec
ton of said act provides ''all moneys
received BY the commissioners for sale
of lots. shall be forthwith deposited by
them in the
TERRITORIAL TREASURY
and said money shall be held by the
treasurer as a territorial building fund,
and shall be kept by him separate from
other funds and separately accounted
for. Here. under and by virtue OF this
section of the statute. all money re-
ceiYed by this capitol commission was
required to be deposited with the terri
tOrial treasurer as 4 territorial building
fund. and the records Of the Office OF the
territorial treasurer show that the pro-
visions of the act were never complied
with, and there never was or has been
pdlu DN tic tdillOi cOuuLulSSiOu 81 ~ TIC
territorial treasurer.
Section 9 provides as TO the cOmpensa-
ton of the commissioners and provides
that the auditor OF the territory by his
warrants. draw upon the territorial
building fund upon the certificate of
said commissioners. Section "A OF said
act provides that the commissioners
shall report TO the next legislature all of
its dOings. and provides for an account
ing generally.
Section = provides for penalty in
ease of the violation Of the provision of
section IA. Yet. in the face and eyes of
the provision of this statute, in face of
the fact that there had never been one
dollar paid into the territorial treasury
as section 8 Of this act provides. we find
that during the years 50 and o Mr..
Caldwell issues warrants. as follows:
Warrants for the construction OF the
capitol building, sd. 973.6S: cOmpenSa-
ton of commissioners, S9,6S7.49: other
expenses. $l6. S39.43. These warrants
were issued by Mr.. Caldwell
WHEN he KNEW
or must have known. or should have
known that the law mad not been COM
piled with as far as paying into the ter
TitOriai treasury the moneys cOntem-
plated by section 9 of the act. and here,
in view OF this. issues warrants to the
amount of So. 500, the effect of which
was to allow this large amount of war
rants to 90 forth against the territory,
and which are outstanding to-day, and
which will either in time have TO be
provided for or the territory will have
to suffer the consequences OF having its
credit impaired. by the charge that
they have repudiated their public debt
to that extent. in case they refuse to
make some provision therefor. The
issuance Of these warrants gave rise to
a claim which was presented to the ter
ritOry. On the last day of the last ses-
sion of the legislature a bill was passed
providing for the payment Of these war
rants out OF the general fund and the
governor refused to sign the bill. And
vet these gentlemen informed in
these matters undertake to lay at the
governors doors the gTaveSt kind OF
charges. and not only as TO derellctiOn
as 10 the discharge of the duties OF the
Office. but likewise, in reference TO his
personal integrity. There has been con-
siderable talk. as before referred to, in
reference TO extravaganza. There have
been suggestions thrown broadcast
through tue territory that the coming
legislature should investigate the ter
TlIOrldi administration. l1E al means
hold an investigation. but let the gentle
men who are talking OF such things for
effect. remember there may be an Op-
pOrtunity to face matter of this kind
whether they like itOT not, and perhaps
TIE HULLABULLOO
that is being made about the territory
now. about controlling the legislature
against the governor, is created by
certain class OF individuals who fear
that the territorial government may ask
for an investigation in some quarters.
and they put up this cry in the nature
of stop thief" thereby paving the way
TO get their satellites into the legisla-
tive halls and protect themselves from
exposure. There is gentleman now at
Fargo who talks a great deal in refer
ence to matters of this kind and it
might be we'll. among other matters. to
Investigate the enumeratOr' bill. under
which this gentleman. on his own per-
sOnal vouchers. has drawn to himself
upwards OF $4,000. Does he want in
vestigatiOn? Does the gentleman in
the late New Orleans commission trip
want investigation? Do these matters
OF deficiencies need investigation? Do
these matters OF unlawful issuance OF
warrants need investigation?
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