North Park union., 1901-07-19
STATE

10 tnc recent puyueuts VI TcV'ooV ".
warrants drawn on the revenues OF
1889. about which so much has been
said In the way OF criticism. The full
text of the communication IL as fol-
lows:
Denver, Colo, July 10, 1901.
"Jnmes Il. Ormnn, Governor.
Dear Sir:-AlthOugh there is neither
rule nor law requiring me, as state
treasurer. to report to you my actions
In the daily transactions of business OF
my office. yet volunteered In letter
to you of July LIST, as chief executive
OF the state. to furnish you full and
complete statement OF my authority
for paying and cnncelling certain war
rants drawn for the salaries OF the
state officers. and the members OF the
Legislature and their employees for the
year 1889. l now ut the earliest pos
sible moment take pleasure In submtt-
ting for your examination the follow
ing:
NO 1. Letter 10 your excellenry.
NO. >. Communication by myself
to Attorney General Post
NO ,. Opinions by Attorney Gen
NO. l. Opinions by Calvin L,
NJ. 1 olhuou oy L. a. aANhAA
son, Esq.
no Il Opinion by Byron l.. Carr.
No. Z. Letter to ID. ii. Moffat. Esq.
NO. s. Copy OF Twelfth General As
sembly resolution
No. q List OF warrants paid.
II call your special attention to these
legal opinions, Tor upon examination
You will find, that not only do they ad-
wise me to pay aid warrants. but nlso
stnte TINT ii is my duty under the law
TO make said payment. and that Tor
me TO refuse makes myself and my
bandslnen liable under the statute. AS
YOU Will see, tfD. conclusions TO the
opinions are, in part. as follows:
Attorney General Post.--rhe pri-
mary purpose then, is to pay the valid
warrants drawn on the revenue for the
year 1889. but ut the same time. hav-
ing In view the order of preference
given by law under the decisions Of
our courts to the order Of payment,
you should select those issued In pay
ment of the expenses of the three de
partments of state. tO-wit: the legisla-
tive. executive and judicial. While It
Is your duty to investigate the legal
lty of every warrant before payment,
Yet the presumInjnn is that a warrant
which is valid upon Its face. drawn
upon the s;ate treasurer by tlre auditor
of state, was lawfully issued.
Calvin L. Reed.-You are advised
that II is your duty to apply that pOr-
tion of said $S9.OOO now held by You,
to the payment of the 1889 warrants,
and In doing so. You are further MI
vised that /; IL your duty 80 pay the
said warrants In the order af their reg
istration. omitting. however. all de-
fered. or non-preferred warrants which
cannot be paid. II there are sufficient
number of registered preferred war;
rants of that year ITO exhaust the
money In your hands. The statutes of
this state expressly provide that Ii the
state treasurer shall refuse or neglect
TO pay any warrant In the order in
which the same ought TO be paid. he
shall he deemed guilty Of n misde-
meunor ana liable to fine, imprisOn-
ment ana removal from office.
He further says: 1t requires no ar
gument no convince any person of the
necessity from II business standpoint
of paying this money out. II possible.
nnd stopping the loss to the st;rte tn in
terest, amounting mt the present time
to more than $1,000 annually. and
which amounted to more than $4,000
annually from 1889 to 1sNi'
"a. +. RicllartlSon.-lt Is my opinion
that 1t is your duty rs the treasurer
OF the state to forthwith dishursc the
funds In your hands.
''Extr,ict from opinion of Byron l..
Carr: Warrants were issued for SER
vices rendered. They are now first in
order for payment out of the revenues
for the year 1884 There is -- dol
lars appropriated md collected for the
very purpose of paying these war
rants: there is no reason why payment
should he longer delayed. the services
being performed by reason of the legal
appointment. the warrants being Is
sued in strict conformity to the law,
they became valid charges against the
said funds. and should be paid out of
the money appropriated and collected
for that special purpose. We concede
no reason for any other position being
taken by the officers of this state. and
we respectfully submit that such pay
mcnt would not In any wise icopardiZe
the state treasurcr or any of those re-
sponsible for his acts
"The attached list OF warrants paid
contains the number of each warrant.
Its date, to whom issued. for what pul-
pose. to whom assigned, amount and in
terest. If you will examine the list you
will find that they all belong to the
preferred class. being for the salaries
OF the executive. Legislative and judic-
ial departments of this state to-wit:
"Alva Adams, governor; Beck, Helm
and Elliott. Supreme Court Judges: De-
France, Rising and Stnllcup. Supreme
Court commissioners: Yeaman. Decker.
Goddard. st al.. District Court Judges;
Hurlbut, Rhodes, Elwell, ct al. district
attorneys: and for james A. McCnnd-
less. Il. w. McCreary. Sam v. Newell.
John III. Poole. Adair Wilson. NJ b.
Carpenter. Casimiro Bareln. William
ii. Adams and others. stnte senators;
III. ii. Eddy. w. II. Ebbert, l. W. Chat
field. T.. L. CarlIle T. w. U'Brien. r. L..
Wooton, Webster Bnllinger. +. NJ. My
rick, Il. NJ. Cranston. Philip FeldhaMser
members OF the House of Representa-
tives; e. a. Hawkins. Joseph Hutchin-
son. w. Il. Tebbets. Barnard UConnell.
Il. II. Bloom. A. =. Smithers. B. l.. Pol
lock, w. Il. Phelps and others. employ
es OF the Seventh General Assembly.
And I submit that II the warrants
drawn for the salaries of the gentle
men have named were illegal. then
your warrant and mine and nll the
present state officers, and those drawn
for the members and employees of the
last General Assembly are likewise H.
legal, MS the state can make no distinc-
tion between Its legally elected officers
and employees of one year as against an
,pfhpr