Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-10-11


not be under the supervision and
espionage Of some fellow down there
at Charleston You can't pay bill
without asking someone down at Char
lesion about it,
How about the economic administra-
ton? What did they do with this s4,-
100000 they piled up? They employ
unnecessary officers at unreasonable
salaries and / take one or two ex-
tracts if you bear with me few mo
meuts.
Let us take the attorney generals
Office. You remember the long list
Of able lawyers that have filled that
position. We paid them $500 a year,
a clerk 81 1900. The total cost Of your
attorney generals Office never exceed
ed $4,000 a year until 1896. What have
You today? You have a attorney gen
err at $4,000 a year and two assistants
at $500, each Then there is an ap-
preparation OF $4,000 or $4,000 con-
tingent fund to pay clerks and stem
ographers, etc, so that the total cost
VI tldt Oiitt ~ HlstNVV VI PIos''' VI
somewhere in that neighborhood.
That wouldn't be 50 bad if they
would attend to your business. There
hasn't been an important piece of lit
igation in this State that we haven't
had to go outside Of the attorney gen
erals Office to hire us a lawyer to
attend to it, so that from 1907 to 1912,
inclusive, you have paid ont to outside
counsel in addition to the $4,000 Of
your attorney generals Office the enor-
nous sum of $1S75O0. Think of it,
my friends, $450OO a year extra to
get lawyers to conduct the litigation
of the State!
Just one moment; In 1880 this
State started a suit against the Ches-
apeake and Ohio Railroad Company
to compel that company to pay into
the treasury taxes which the company
said it didn't owe Attorney General
c. c. Watts prosecuted that suit I'M
iii it was finally settled in the Su-
preme Court of the United States, and
he compelled that railroad to pay hun
uItuS Vi uOlldlS llltD NOhl DNettt tICho
ury. 1t never entered his mind to
present a bill to the legislature for
services. Any lawyer will tell you
that the question raised in the Virgin
la debt suit were not any more tech
meal than the questions which were
raised by the attorneys for the Ches-
apeake and Ohio Railroad Company
in 1880 and yet Watts never asked
for more than his $1,000. No Democra
tic officer ever thought of asking for
any such thing But we have, in the
last five years, paid out S1S7,500 to
get outside help, and the attorney gen
eral today of your State instead OF
looking after the two-cent rate bill
and the Virginia debt is over here try
ing to get $500 job He wants to go
to Congress instead of Junior Brown.
Now, then, htei administration has
not been economic their laws are not
satisfactory. How about the person
mel of their ticket Is that OF such a
high character that it will commend
itself to the people of this State? Now,
NY lIlGuhSs dSdItloN Iht NAAAii "ttNi "
any gentlemen upon that ticket !
haven't a word TO say. | don't know
ANYTHING myself. and ! wouldn't say
anything if ! knew it. That is not
the way to campaign The Democra-
tic party in this campaign doesn't de-
pend upon that, nor does it ask any
thing of that sort. Your ticket that
has been nominated expects to win
this election upon the principles of
the Democratic party, upon the char
acter and cleanliness Of its candi-
dates and not upon anybody else's I'M
cleanliness.
But some gentlemen upon that tick
ct have occupied public positions.
They have been the servants of the
people and as public officers in this
State their records are open to in
spection and we have a right to look
at that and we have a right to criti-
else them and if they don't like it we
can't help it, but we propose to make
them stand by the record they have
made.
Now. let us start with Mr., Long,
the present treasurer and candidate
for reelection and what do we see?
We don't know how many of these
public officers have stock in the var
ous banks OF the State, but FORUM
ately for us a bank over here in Blue
field broke a little over year ago
and all its records are in the court
and open to public inspection, and
what do we find? CAN the lawyers
know this The law requires the
board of public works, Mr. Long your
treasurer, being one of them, shall re-
quire a bond of every bank that is
made a public depository and that
they shall examine that bond every
three months to see that it is solvent;
the bond NAV be deposited in that
the law further requires that not more
than three-fourths of the amount of
the bond may be deposited in that
bank.
Now what do we fnd2 We find the