Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-10-27
TERSE PRESENTATIONS OF VITAL STATE ISSUES.

ed to strike out the clause allowing
Messrs. Rucker, Keller and Hamill
1850 for services as counsel in be-
half of the State against saloon keep
ers of Ohio county.
"Mr. Cole entered a vigorous protest
against this allowance, reading from the
constitution the section providing for
the pay of the Attorney-General. Mr..
Cole protested that 1t was unjust %
the taxpayer of the State to allow this
claim. He was followed by Mr.. " hit
aker.
"Mr. Whitaker read the section Of
the constitution which provided that
the Attorney General should be paid a
salary OF 81, 300 and that nothing more
should be received by him, either as
salary or fees. He said ne was sur
prised that the Attorney-General
should have the audacity and monu-
mental cheek to come into the Senate
and ask for 81, 500. For what is ne to
be paid this amount Of money!? Mr..
Whitaker asked. The Acknowledgement
rendered but little or no services and
his appearance in crurt ut Wheeling
was without solicitation by the State
attorneys who had the liquor cases in
charge. Are you going to permit this
bare-faced, scandalous violation OF the
constitution by allowing the Attorney
General this amount? The State did
not receive one iota of benefit from the
acknowledgements appearance. He
was there, it seemed, as only an orna-
ment. 1t was a costly ornament to the
State. He would better be carved out
in marble and be kept as a monument
of cheap audacity. There was no rea-
son, justice, law nor honor in the prop
osition to allow this claim. He had
never seen such an outrageous il in
decent proposition presented to the Sen
ate. This thing stinks in the noStrijs
of society, and l shall try to show you
the audacity and knavery of the thing.
| am a Republican, but if that is he
standard of Republicanism, l will be
no longer a Republican. If the oppo-
site is Democracy, | will be a Demo-
GRAFT
Notwithstanding these strong pro-
tests the Senate refused to cut the az
preparation"
1t is TO be said in justice to the At
torney-General, however, that he claims
to be entitled to extra compensation IN
cases of this kind both by law and
precedent. The Constitutional rfovis-
ion referred to by Senators Co'e aid
Whitaker is as follows: The Secre'
tary of State shall receive one thous-
and; = = = and the Attorney-Gsn-
eral thirteen hundred dollars
per annum: and no addl-
~ --.ol,1aoo@ n ~ allowance pyceDt
as herein otherwise provided. shall pc
paid or made out of the treasury or the
State to any of the foregoing executive
officers. on any account.
The Attorney General certainly ought
to know the law, but if his view be
correct the ordinary citizen cannot re-
frain from wondering why the above
prohibition was ever put in the Con-
stitution.
If the cause of
The Universal Extravaganza
that now Families through the State adj
ministration be sought for, it will prob
ably be found to be that the Keynote
of the dominant party has been since
1896 to run things entirely on the wide
open principle. The phenomenal TIL
umphs of that year, both national and
State. completely turned the heads OF
the leaders. They mistook a victory
due to temporary causes for the as
sured beginning of an unlimited lease
of Office, and cast all prudence, econ
omy and decorum to the winds. They
no longer tried to stem the clamoring
of the rank and file OF the machine for
financial recognition of their services
during the long period of exile from
the flesh pots, All visible political as
sets were at once m~arshalled for dis
tribution. and these falling far short OF
the demand, ~favorite henchmen were
told to hunt up more, with the assur-
ance that some method would be de-
vised of reaching anything that wasn't
nailed down. Under a stimulus OF this
kind new offices were created, new
boards appointed and new duties found
necessary 10 be performed. 1t goes
without saying that all these things
had to be paid for. and that the effects
of schemes of this KIND were 0 0
bound to appear in the annual expen-
ditures or appropriations. The subor-
dinate officials in control Of the various
State institutions. noting the expansive
liberality of the heads of the admins
~tration, naturally were not disposed
to pursue a rigid course Of economy
and thrift in their immediate charges,
and the result is perceivable in the
largely increased appropriations now
necessary to carry on these institutions.
If the heads of the present administra-
ton should now conscientiously en-
deavor to restore a prudent thrift in
the management of the financial affairs
of the State it is hardly TO be doubted
that there efforts would result in a sig
nal failure. The tide has set so power
fully in the opposite direction that 1t
would be extremely difficult for any ad-
ministration to stem it for awhile. The
only reasonable and feasible method of
checking it would seem to be a change
in the political complexion of the pow
ers that be at the first opportunity. the
next campaign, and when this change
is made it will still be a very difficult
task, for as a noted artist said OF sing
ing, it is an easy matter to go up, but
to come down. successfully, requires
genius of a high order.
The Responsibility
for the great bulk Of these expenditures
rests chiefly on the executive depart
ments, though the Legislature was
guilty of a culpable neglect OF the tax
payers interests in allowing the appro-
priations to be as large as it did in
many instances As the had