GEORGIA. 



343 



State maturing prior to 1872 had been paid 

 in 1873 and 1874, and the statement of ex- 

 Governor Bullock was quoted as evidence that 

 " all the bonds of the State- that fell due as 

 per report of the Treasurer prior to January 

 1, 1872, have been paid." The committee as- 

 sumed that these bonds had been paid twice. 

 With regard to the management of the Treas- 

 ury they said: 



The examination made of theTreasury Department 

 has satisfied your committee that a thorough revis- 

 ion and change in the manner of its administration 

 should be made. The business of the department 

 is loosely and inaccurately conducted, and there ap- 

 pears a want of system and arrangement, which, 

 with the absence of important and necessary debit 

 and credit entries, renders it difficult, if indeed 

 possible, to determine promptly and definitely the 

 exact status of the affairs of this department. In 

 essential particulars the law has not been complied 

 with. The code of Georgia provides " that the 

 Treasurer shall keep a book in which he shall re- 

 cord a description of all bonds heretofore and here- 

 after issued by the State, and in said book he shall 

 note all bonds paid, date of payment, and all cou- 

 pons paid on each, and the date of payment." This 

 wise and salutary provision of the law has, in some 

 degree, been complied with, but in some points has 

 been wholly disregarded. There is no accurate rec- 

 ord of the bonded debt of the State of Georgia, and 

 the discrepancies existing between the reports of 

 the Treasurers during the past ten years clearly show 

 that this department cannot furnish reliable and ac- 

 curate information thereon. The provision of law 

 requiring the date of payment to be noted on the 

 bonds, also of the coupons, seems to have been 

 disregarded, and the present manner of entering in 

 pencil-mark the letter "P." as indicating the pay- 

 ment of coupons, is no indication of the date of its 

 payment, and effaceable as to the fact, and is, in all 

 respects, unsatisfactory as a record of value. The 

 want of system employed by this department, in 

 its dealings with the many banking institutions, is 

 apparent. No accounts are kept in the department 

 of its deposits and its checks, by which the Treas- 

 urer can tell, without inquiry of the bank, the state 

 of his account with each, and no exhibit exists of the 

 amounts charged his department by them, by which 

 the Legislature may know what amounts are paid for 

 interest on overdrafts, premiums on exchanges, or 

 commissions of any kind, if any are charged by 

 them. Whatever these may be, enter into an ac- 

 count with the Treasurer as an individual, and are 

 consolidated by him in charge to a general account 

 in an aggregate item. In conducting so large a busi- 

 ness as pertains to the management of the fiscal 

 affairs of this State, more detail and accuracy is de- 

 manded for the public interest. The distribution 

 of the funds of the State among a large number of 

 banking institutions seems to your committee to 

 be both unwise in policy and unsafe in practice. 

 And the loss sustained by the Treasurer in 1873 (re- 

 ported by your committee) indicates the danger 

 here but suggested. 



In conclusion, the committee suggested the 

 following remedies : 



1. That the Treasurer be requested to resign his 

 trust, and 



2. That the Legislature provide for the appoint- 

 ment of a financial agent. 



Your committee are content to recommend to the 

 General Assembly that the Treasurer be requested to 

 resign his trust, and in the event of his failure so to 

 do, that the Governor be directed to appoint a com- 

 petent financial agent to take charge of the depart- 

 ment. They therefore recommended the adoption 

 of the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That it is the sense of this General As- 

 sembly that the present Treasurer should resign his 

 said trust, and he is herewith respectfully requested 

 so to do. 



Resolved, That in the event that the present Treas- 

 urer does not at once resign as recommended by the 

 General Assembly, that this General Assembly, in 

 view of the facts presented by the report of the 

 Finance Committee, respecting the management of 

 the State Treasury, by the present incumbent, that 

 the Governor of the State be, and is hereby, author- 

 ized and required to take whatever measures may be 

 necessary and proper to secure the State from loss 

 and preserve the credit of the State, and to appoint 

 a financial agent of the State until the present de- 

 rangements in the Treasury are removed, and its op- 

 eration brought under the rules and regulations re- 

 quired by existing laws and the custom of business, 

 to take entire charge of the finances of the State, of 

 receipts and disbursements said agent being re- 

 quired to give good bond and security for the faith- 

 ful discharge of his duties ; and be it further 



Resolved, That the Governor of the State and At- 

 torney-General, and a suitable person to be selected 

 by them, be, and they are hereby, authorized to in- 

 vestigate fully and thoroughly, in all places, the true 

 condition of the public debt, and report the same 

 to the next General Assembly for its action. 



A supplementary report was made, in which 

 it was shown that, after all proper allowances 

 had been made, the balance against the Treas- 

 urer on cash account was $5,140.82. They say 

 in this report : 



Your committee desire to be distinctly understood 

 as not charging the Treasurer with dishonesty or the 

 misappropriation of the public funds, and in the bal- 

 ance-sheet herewith submitted there may have been 

 errors committed by the committee in the count of 

 so large a number of coupons, and the Treasurer may 

 be able hereafter to present vouchers for any balance 

 now appearing against him. Giving the Treasurer, 

 however, full credit for honesty and integrity, your 

 committee are compelled to reiterate their previous 

 report that the business of the department is loosely 

 and inaccurately conducted, that there is want of 

 system and arrangement in the office, absence of im- 

 portant and necessary books, and non-complianoe 

 with the provisions of the code in important and es- 

 sential particulars. 



They also acknowledge that the discrepancy 

 of $299,500 between the Treasurer's report and 

 the summary of maturing obligations may be 

 explained on the ground that the item reported 

 as $3,900,000 bonds issued by Governor Jen- 

 kins and mortgage on the Western & Atlantic 

 Eailroad should be $3,600,000. A warm de- 

 bate arose on the resolutions submitted by the 

 committee, but they were adopted by a deci- 

 sive majority in both Houses. Protests were 

 entered against this action, signed by several 

 members of the Senate and House. The pro- 

 test in the House of Eepresentatives declared 

 that the action taken was " too summary and 

 unsatisfactory;" that, if the facts reported 

 were correct, the Treasurer should be -im- 

 peached, and, if they were not correct, he should 

 have an opportunity to vindicate himself. Mr. 

 Jones, the Treasurer, himself demanded a trial 

 by impeachment. After the adjournment of 

 the Legislature, which occurred immediately 

 after the adoption of the resolutions, he made 

 a statement addressed to the citizens of the 

 State, and embodying another intended for 



