Year: 1873

From the Charleston Courier.


The Wheeling lrtslligsncsr under
takes 10 say that the Legislature last
winter "shirked decision OF the chsrg-


ss against the Public Printer" "On


the contrary, quite the reverse" The


House Of Delegates decided that ii


would not entertain the charges Of Gov.
ernor Jacob, but that he was at liberty
to prosecute them il he thought the exc
pertinent would pay. He was trying
to extract all the glory out of the pros
ecution and he must bear all the respon-
sibility OF a failure. The House saw
nothing in the charges to warrant it in
pushing them, and it therefore threw
back upon his Excellency the RESPONSE
bility for false accusation. He wasn't I
satisfied. He wanted more emphatic
decision. He caused his mouth-piece
TO renew the charges in the Sens
ate. And then after investigation o
unanimous committee reported and g
unanimous Senate decided that the
charges were false, and directed the
payment OF the money TO the Printer,
which it had been the aim OF the Gov
ernor and his gang to cause them to
withhold. There WAS no "shirking
about it. Governor Jacob accepted it
as decided he wanted no more OF it.
He feared and still fears to 60 to the
court with his case. He never had the
manhood to push it. Beyond cold
blooded capacity for speculating in de-
famatioD, he has evinced no quality in
the transaction which can exempt from
the contempt which even his late
auxiliaries are expressing for him.


The excuses of his organs for the fail
ure 10 prosecute are abject to excess.
They profess to believe with the Intel
Hgsncer, that the Courts and Attorney
General, like the Legislature, are COM
bined with the Printer to shield him.
To save the Executive from ridicule, to
avoid admitting that he is a defamer,
they throw reproach on all the other
depsrtments-they denounce as villains
the State officers, the Legislature and
the Courts. The Governor knows full
well, that whenever he chooses TO order
a prosecution the officers Of the
law are ready to obey his order. He has
taken pains 10 inform himself on this
point. He has been disappointed to
find that the proper authorities are
ready to do their duty whenever
he shall so direct. The In
tslligeacsr affects a want OF fconfdence in
Acknowledgement Mathews, which it
don't feel. The Executive is at liberty
to choose his own representative. He
can hire his own lawyers, and plunder
the Treasury to pay them, as be did
when he tried to hold the Penitentiary
in violation Of law; rs he did when he
invoked the Courts to help Allen Simp.
son and the bogus Hospital Directory
transfer ten thousand dollars OF State
money from the Treasury to their own
pockets. Jacob can find an abundance
of means to carry on suits in
which he has faith. But he is
the last man in the world to
find a path he don't want to travel.
We have believed that public opinion
ought to compel him to start that pros
ecution, His cowardice in the matter
ought not to be tolerated. We know
he would rather have hornets nest in
his hair than the verdict OF a jury in
his case against the Printer. He don't
want all the facts disclosed. He don't
want it shown that if Jacob had been
nominated at Psrkersburg, his report
might have worn face az fair and
sweet as q summer morning. He don't
want to prosecute, but he will probably
live to wish he had never started an
accusation which could not be sustain
oil