Year: 1873

In his speech at Osceola, on tn
j 18th inst, G. G. Wright, U. s., Sens
j tor from Iowa, made his record o
the black pay steal" very much clear


er than some of the two. o.penny politi


clans who have been howling abou
him will like to see. After rehears


ing his constant opposition to the bill


on the floor of the Senate, which is


matter Of history and need not be re


peatcd here, he referred as follows tt


his subsequent course in relation te


the money made due him by the pas


sage Of the bill:


"A week or ten days after this


called upon the financial clerk of the


Senate, who is our disbursing officer,


for some money. He inquired if ]


would take my back pay | told


him no, that l should never touch
that He says all right, but / have


the amount coming to you figured out;


It is some thi.ty-four or thirty FIVE


hundred dollars, and if you will sig,,
this receipt you can have it, said,
no, never. | want 800 on my sala-
ry for March, and that is ALL This
got and left. At this time, allow me
to say in passing, as much has been
said about rich men opposing increase
of salaries and poor men favoring
them, and not as magnifying my own
self-dcnial, that at this time, this
$500 was equal to all the property
| had, Of every kind, aside from my
homestead; but l did not take it. /
returned home, was sick for some
time prior to leaving for Colorado, on
the I'd OF June Before leaving l
found that sosbe question was being
made as to the 'back-pay'-whether
it would or would not be covered in
to the treasury on the 30th of June!
and similar questions. wrote to the
financial clerk, most excellent and
intelligent officer, telling him l pro-
posed to let it be covered in by act Of
law, without noise or parade on my
part, for l wanted no cheap or clap
trap notorieiy on the subject; but
that if it would not thus revert, or if
could do it without publicity, would
at once make the order. He answer
ed assuring me that it would revert
at the end Of the year, and said that
in order to pay it back it would have
to go through dozen or more hands,
and therefore determined to adhere
to my original resolution. For you
must bear in mind that there is
general statute which provides that
all unexpended balances of appropri-
ations remaining at the close of each
fiscal year shall be covered into the
Treasury. Before this the balances
were carried over from year to year,
and the accounting officers were una
BILE to adjust, finally, their books and
accounts.


And now, my fellow citizens, you
will see thus far, that | coted, spoke
and aoorked against the back-pay-
that determined nerer to touch It
t.aat I conferred with those aetipg
and agreeing with me, and we all de-
termined what to do-that / refused
it schen altered me. | have at all
times declared that | would not touch
a dollar of it. l took steps to be re-
assured that it would certainly go to
the treasury at the close of the year.
| never have directly or indirectly ta-
ken it. And it is for you and the
people of the State to determine
whether have acted improperly in
any sense in this connection; whether
my conduct has been infamous or
whether have SO violated the spirit
of the 9th resolution of our State
platform, or that my appointments
should be withdrawn.


81 propose to add little more. ]
returned from Colorado on the 10th of
July. After this lagain learned from
the papers that a question was being
made, whether this money would 60
into the Treasury, and involving a
construction of the general law for
covering in unexpended balances. 1t
was also announced that some of the
Senators with whom l had conferred,
as before stated. had drawn and paid
in their back pay Not understand
ing this, and desiring to be right if
possible, addressed letter to my
good friend, and that best and purest
of officers, General Spinner, asking
what, if any rulings had been made.
and stating again my view that the
money would revert under the gene
raj law. There was published in the
press, within the last two weeks,
letter written by the General to an
other member on the same subject, in
which he SAYS he cannot better answer
him than by giving an extract from a
letter written to another, and he then
proceeds to copy word for word what
he had written to me. From this
learned that the first Comptroller and
Secretary ofthe Treasury had ruled
that this appropriation was an mdef-
uite one, that balances remaining
Hereunder would not be covered into
the treasury; but would remain for
all time subject to the order of Sena-
tors or members. He adds that Sen
ator Sherman, who drew the law for
covering unexpended balances into
the treasury, constituting it as did,
had determined to let his sback-p
revert by operation Of laws but in
Difference to the decisions Of the ac-
counting officers, he had ordered the
amount coming to him paid into the
treasury. The very hour got this
letter wrote to the treasurer and
financial clerk of the Senate, to at
once thus dispose Of mine. But for
this ruling Inever should have chang
ed my course, and ! made the order,
not because 1 feared 1 should erer
touch the money, but because it was
eminently proper that this money, in
stead of remaining in the hands of
the clerk, year after year, indefinitely,
should be covered in, that he and all
the officers might close and adjust
their accounts.


81 only add that l have word from
the clerk that my order has been
complied with-the money is now
and forever beyond my control-and
| hope those who have been troubled
over my infamous course, will rest
easy