The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-12-25
By Comptroller TraceweII in Support
Of His Contention.
AUDITOR CERTIFIED ACCOUNT
And the Payments Made Were on the
Governors Warrant-The Governor
Requests i'm His Letters the
"Amount Due the state of
NTginia"-Scc'y. Bout
wells Statement.

! WASHINGTON, December 2l-Specjal.
! Comptroller OF the Treasury Tracevell
! has replied TO the letter Of Governor
! Tyler OF December ON. relating TO the
| Wilnhoiding of payment OF the amount
que the state I'm settlement OF the claim
/ Tor reimbursement for expenditures for
! cl0thlng, &c, on account of the fndebt-
| edness Of the state TO the government.
The Comptroller quotes Governor Tv-
lers letter, in which ne said that the
position of the Comptroller was untoua-
/ Die because OF the peculiar nature OK the
case under consideration. He recitcd az
some length the reasons for the pur-
chases' that promised supplies were not
on hand when the troops were modified
in Richmond. The needs of ...e soldiers
Hhaiiy became so great and The necessity
Tor prompt action so urgent that the
president requested him 20 see that the
wants Of the men were attended H. and
that he would see that the bills were
paid. The Governor then SAYS when the
need became so urgent as TO admit Of no
further delay he instructed a member
OF his staff 90 ascertain the amount OF
supplies needed ana purchase the same
in open market in Richmond. few
hours later Lieutenant Price received or
ders 10 buy these things. and he accepted
the purchases made by the Governors
order The accounts Were made ont
against the government Of the United
States and the merchants expected 10
get their money from the United States.
although, of course, they held the Cow
crnor responsible The United States
government would not pay the accounts
To- individuals. and required that they
should be paid by the Governor and re-
cepted for these receipts to be the gov
ornments vouchers.
FROM CONTINGENT FUND.
"Out of a very limited private contin-
gent fund placed i'm my hands TO meet
incidental expenses. / paid these ac-
counts says the Governor.
Ia a concluding paragraph Governor
iylor protested against converting a pri- |
vato claim into a public one
I'm support OF his contention that the |
money was paid from public funds ana !
thus became q dcDt of the government |
90 the State of Virginia. the COMPTROLLER |
quotes the receipts which specify that |
payment Vas made by Governors war |
rant and quotes a letter transmitting |
the account, under date Of July %. lS9S. |
In which the Governor says: "l have the |
honor to forward herewith an account |
for $2f5II I'm favor of the state Of Vir-
ginia against the United States"
Another letter, dated September 10TH |
urging the payment Of the account is
quoted by the Comptroller. I'm which the |
Governor asks payment Of The amount
"due the State OF Virginia by the United
States, S2.g5lM, for that sum paid for
Shoes &c.
Another letter from the Governor TO
the Auditor for the War Department.
date1 October 7th. is quoted, I'm which
the Governor said:
so MONEY AVAILABLE
"The embarrassment 90 me, as / have
explained. is that there is no fund availa-
BILE in this State out OF which such bills
can be paid. and / have been obliged,
because you require receiptcd bills, 10
divert another fund to pay them
ON these statements the Comptroller
bases his assertion that "the supplies
were purchased and furnished by the
State, paid for with the funds of the
State and that reimbursement OF the
state was requested He says.
"The account was also rendered in the
name of the STATE. and SO certified by
the Auditor
The Governor called attention 10 moneys
loaned by the State of Virginia 20 the
government in the war Of 1872. and says:
"These loans have been repeatedly re-
cognizcd by each branch of Congress at
different times ana Mr Boutwell,. eX-
OF the Treasury IS ON record as
stating that I'm "a fair and equitable set
Element OF accounts between Virginia
and the United states government that
The latter would De indebted 10 c1e
former 10 tho extent of at least one
million doliare.'
MIR. BOUrW ELI'S STATEMENT
The Comptroller briefly states the his
Tory of that claim. which, by coinci-
icncc. appears in this issue Of The Times
n another column with more detail. lIc
says he has made a careful search Tor
he statement which the Governor refers
10 as having been made by Secretary |
Boutwell,. but up 90 the present time IT
laa not been found. Tie is under the
however, that any statement
IF that nature was founded upon hypo-
hcucal conditions.
"lt thus appears that under existing
avs there is no Indebtedness from tho
United states 10 the State Of Virginia
,n account Of expenditures made by the
state In the war of 1Ni2"
FOR 4 FIREMAN
The Civil Service Commission desires
% establish AN eligible register from
which a selection may bc made to fill an
CONTINUED on Second Page)