Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-10-08
ANOTHER CHAPTER
REPUBLICANS, AT CHARLES
TON, IN 1897.
THE BILL TO SETTLE CLAIMS
FOR MILITARY SERVICES RENDER
ED DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
Fhe Act was a Peculiar enc Com
tanning No Provision for bond by
the Disturbing Agent, or When
He should Make a Final Report,
The Matter Thoroughly Reviewed.

Special 10 the Register.
CHARLESrC4., w. Va. October r.
1t will be remembered by those that
keep posted as to State affairs, that at
the session of 1897 the Republican Leg
islature appropriated 10000 odd dollars
to pay certain claims for military SER
vices rendered in the State during the
civil war. These claims had been vir-
tually rejected as far back as 1871. by
a large vote in a Legislature with a Re-
publican Senate and a Democratic
House. When the action Of the Legs
lature Of 1891 became known Il rece:y-
ed the strong condemnation OF nearly
ali classes OF people, but as iI was TOO
late 10 do anything OF prevent the ap-
preparation OF this large sum of o
ey, public inquiry was naturally turned
upon the manner in which il would be
disbursed. Considerable curiosity was
felt as to what proportion OF the orig
lnal claimants would be benefited by
the appropriation, how much Of their
original claims would reach them, what
disposition would be made of unclaimed
items, and what amount Of the whole
appropriation would be divorced under
the name Of fees to the agent of the
claimants. This latter was a prOmi-
nent Republican politician who had the
matter in hand a great many years,
and it was generally supposed that the
appropriation was due to his
Management and Political Influence
rather than any intrinsic merits in the
claims themselves.
The act of 1897 provided that the
Governor should appoint a suitable
person Or persons to receive and dis
burse the money appropriated, that ne
should cause the claims to be copied,
ana that the disbursing agent should
take duplicate receipts from the claim
ants, and that the rolls with the re-
ceipts should be filed in the office OF
Secretary of State. There is no pro-
vision in the act that the disbursing
agent shan give bond. No provision
is made as to when he shall make a
final report, mol Is any time fixed with
in which unclaimed amounts shall be
returned into the State treasury. Moth
ing is said as to the compensation to be
received by the disbursing agent, nor
as to where the money shall remain
during the period of liquidation.
The following clipping from an ar
ticle in the Charleston Gazette OF Oc-
tober 6, 1898, shows what was done
after the act went into effect; and is
also an evidence of the public interest
then taken in the matter.
A Financial Transaction.
But to come to the rest of the trans
action. The Governor appointed l.. e.
McWhorter, son of Judge j. M. Nc
Wnorter. counsel for the claimants, as
G.sourslng agent.
The bill was passed February 18th,
1897, and became a law ninety days
thereafter, or May 10Th, 1897. 1t ap-
propriated the sum OF $19,159.6S. The
money was IN the State repositories
craving interest for the State at The
rate OF lhree per cent. On May LIST, the
Governor gave to Mr.. McWhorter a
document which was, in. effect, a COM
mission and an order on the Auditor
for the money. No n did the Dill
become a law than Mr.. McWhorter went
to work to draw from the treasury in
a lump sum this S19, 1885, which was
bringing back to the State In interest
$574.l9 a year. The Auditor, after some
hesitation, gave Mr.. McWhorter on
May 22nd, 1897, a warrant for the mon
ey. Forthwith Mr.. McWhorter crossed
over and exchanged his warrant for
Checks. On the same day the Treasurer
turned over to him several checks, two
on the Kanawha Valley Bank, n for
s1,519.6S, and the other for 5000; one
on the Commercial Savings Bank, for
$1,000; one on the Kanawha National
Bank for $4,000; two on the Citizens
National and n on the Charleston
National, each for $1,000.
Having obtained his checks Nh. Nc
Nhorter lost no time in passing them
in. The two checks drawn on the Ka-
nawha Valley Bank were cashed the
same day they were drawn, May End.
The Kanawha National and Charleston
National paid theirs on May 9th, and
the others the following day.
The money thus appropriated be-
longed to the people. Even If the Leg
islature failed to make provision for
any report on the disbursement of the
money, the people have a perfect right
to respectfully inquire of Mr.. McWhort-
er how he has fulfilled his duties to
them. 1t is a plain, every day business
proposition, and the questions may be
asked with propriety and without Of
tense.
Pertinent Questions.
"Mr. McWhorter, will you tell the
people how you have disbursed their
money?
"Wil you tell why this money was
drawn with such remarkable haste from
the State repositories?
Wal you tell why the State was
not permitted TO reap the benefit of
re interest on that money until it was
uisoursed?
will you tell where that money
was deposited after it was withdrawn
from the State repositories and ceased
to draw interest for the State?
Twill you tell how much interest,
If any, it drew after that event, and
into whose pockets this interest went?
will you tell how much or how little
OF this money has been disbursed?
will you tell how much Of it re-
mains not disbursed and not claimed,
and does this remainder draw interest,
and, if so, into whose pockets is this
interest going?'
Inquiries of this character were pref
ty generally circulated during the po-
l!tical campaign Of 1898, but failed to
elicit
Any Public Response
from the disbursing agent. When the