Year: 1863

tlement hereafter to be made with thi
State: provided that NO such property


stocks aud credits shall have been obtain
ed since the reorganization of the Stat
government.


g. It shall be the duty of the Auditor oi
J Ipublic accounts, the Secretary of State
the Treasurer, and the Adjutant Genera


of this Commonwealth % procure fit aut
: proper blank books for the purpose, and
) cause to be transcribed therein true copiel
OF all such records, oflicial acts, orders


minutes and memoranda, and like copies
, of original papers upon which any sucl
official action was based, which from IL
locality or general State interest apper-


tsins to and will be ussfil and advantage.
Gus to the State Of West Virginia; and the
! officers aforesaid shall seyerally certify


to the Governor of this Commonwealth


the correctness Of, their respective copies;


and itBhall Be the duty of the GoVeFn0f ID
4 certify to all whom it may concern, the of.
4 feiat character of such ot1cers so certifying


under the great seal ofthis Commonwealth,


and deliver all such copies to the Governor


Of West Virginia, when his election is Of
6ceally declared, for the use of said State


of West Virginia.


Z. This act shall take effect when the


proposed State Of West Virginia shall be-
COul6 Ou6 OF Lu6 states.


1t will be seen that the first, second and


third sections of this act transferred to the


State of West Virginia, when she shall have


been admitted as one of the States of the


Union, all the property of every kind, as


well as all the uncollected arrearages of


taxes, together with all forfeitures, fines,


judgments and DEGREES that belong to the


State of Virginia, in any of the counties of


the proposed State of West Virginia, when


ever the State of West Virginia should


become one of the States of the Union.-


There can be no Misunderstanding these


sections; they are clear, nnequivocal and
without reservation, and it seems to me


clear proposition that, if she was entitled


to the property and taxes due the State of
Virginia, under this act, she was equally
to the possession of the books and papers
that were evidence of the indebteduess-
The books aud papers of the late Auditors
Office are the the only evidence of indebt-
edness by individuals to the State of Vir-
ginia, and without these books and papers
the State of West Virginia cannot legally
collect one cent under this act.


But the sixth section, it is charged, as
tho late Auditor of the State of Virginia, |
failed to obey, and for which disobedlence |
it became necessary to surrender all the |
books and papers Of the late Auditors Of |
fee to Governor Peirpoint. Let us.see how |
far this charge is well founded. In |
In the first place it is no where stated in
this section OF in the act itself that the |
right of the State of West Virginia to the |
possession of these books and papers de-
pended upon the Auditors copying them,
and this sixth section is merely directory |
to the Auditor, and is in no way binding |
upon hin. BE may OF may not. No PEN |
atty Is liked if heaGid mot obey it; and
last butsnot least, the General Assembly |
that passed this act made NO appropriation |
of money to carry this section into effect. |


But the 7th or last section of the act is |
conclusive as to the duty of the Auditor. |
1t is not directory as is the 9th section but |
1t emphatically declares that |
the act (the whole act) should not be a law |
until after the State of West Virginia 4
should have become one of the states of
Union. What then was the Auditor to do |
He could not comply with both sections, |
one of them must be neglected. Was he |
to obey the one that was merely directory |
to him and helpless for the want of money,
or to obey the one that declared in the most /
positive language that nothing should be |
done under the act until the State of West |
Virginia should be admitted as one of the /
states of the Union. Who is to blame for |
this conflict in the law Not the Auditor.
Certainly he did not make the law and If
the law makers failed to make the law
plain, so that the Auditor might execute
the law, that is their fault and not his. l
know it has been said that it was the clear
of the Legislature when they |
passed the law, that the books Rndt hpers |
in the Auditors Office should be copied and |
ready for delivery when the election of the |
Governor of the State of West Virginia |
should have been officially declaued. This
might have been their intention; but /
it is not for me to know what they |
intended in any other way than
by what they said. It is not the business
of the Auditor to look after the intention
of the Legislature in the passage of law,
unless that Intention is manifest from the
language of the law itself The Auditor
in his Office never acts upon the intention
of the law makers, but executes the Law
as near as he can by what they Eave
said, and the law presumes the Auditor
capable of understanding all laws that are
passed by the Legislature regulating the
duties of his office. Aud after a careful
of each section of this act,
the Auditor became we'll satisfied that he
could not reconcile the 9Th aud 7th sec
tions of this act in any other way than by
giving to the Tth section controlling |
power over the whole act, aud this course
he felt was eminently proper, as no in
justice would or could be done to either
the old or the new State by allowing the
act to remain to be executed by his succesN
sor in Office. The old State would have no
right to complain, for she was not entitled
to receive one cent of the outstanding
debts due the State of Virginia In
any county of the proposed StateOf West
Vir0inia and the hooka and DaDerg that L
related to counties outside of the State Of
West Virginia were ready to be delivered
TO the proper officers of the old State at
any time. Butthis would not satisfy Gov.
Peirpoint; it had been fore ordained that
Gov. Peirpoin shouldt have these books
aud papers, no matter what injustice it
done the State Of West Virginia. And by |
a movement that cannot understand he
did get the possession of these books and |