758 



WEST VIKGINIA. 



executed ; and the members of the orchestra 

 on the occasion were all blind. 



The State Penitentiary appears to be under 

 good management and discipline. The number 

 of convicts detained in it, on September 30, 

 1875, was 105. During the year ending that 

 day, 31 convicts were discharged for expiration 

 of sentence, two pardoned, and two died. 



In consequence of the increased value of 

 convicts' labor, the cost to the State for their 

 support is gradually diminishing ; and it is 

 estimated that when the penitentiary shall bo 

 provided with suitable workshops and ma- 

 chinery, so that all the labor of convicts can 

 be hired to contractors, it will then become 

 self-supporting. 



The aggregate expenditures of the peniten- 

 tiary during the last fiscal year amounted to 

 $43,426.99. Of this sum $10,104.98 were 

 expended for the support of the convicts; 

 $9,364.98 for the payment of their guards; 

 $20,457.03 for construction ; the rest for the 

 salaries of the superintendent, commissary, and 

 clerk. 



Tha improvement of the Kanawha Eiver, 

 for which the Federal Congress has made an 

 appropriation, is progressing satisfactorily; a 

 system of locks and dams having been devised 

 for that purpose, and the work upon some of 

 the locks commenced. From the accomplish- 

 ment of the intended works on this river much 

 greater benefits are anticipated for "West Vir- 

 ginia than from any other internal improve- 

 ment in the State. 



The most noteworthy event of the session, 

 reopened on the 10th of November, 1875, seems 

 to be the action taken by the Legislature for 

 the impeachment of the Treasurer and the 

 Auditor of the State, and the actual commence- 

 ment of the trials. By a resolution adopted 

 by the House of Delegates at the previous ses- 

 sion, a special committee of seven was ap- 

 pointed " to investigate and report the condi- 

 tion of the State's finances ; " the principal 

 object of the investigation being to inquire 

 into the acts of the above-mentioned officers, 

 who were alleged, among other things, to 

 have, by favor and improper agreement, de- 

 posited the State funds with certain banks in 

 larger amounts than allowed by law, the fa- 

 vored banks paying them money therefor. 



The committee attended to the duty assigned 

 them, and made a report on the result of their 

 labor, concluding with affirming the truth of 

 the improper transactions alleged against those 

 two officers, and recommending their impeach- 

 ment. A resolution to this effect was adopted 

 by the House on the 24th of February, 1875. 



On October 20th the committee resumed 

 the work of their investigation at Wheeling, 

 and on the llth of November, the second day 

 of the reopened session, the chairman submit- 

 ted to the House a supplemental report, signed 

 by himself and three others among his col- 

 leagues, in which, after briefly referring to the 

 previous report, and reaffirming the conclu- 



sions and recommendations therein contained, 

 they presented to the House the evidence col- 

 lected during the investigation made on the 

 subject since the 20th of October. 



A minority report, signed by two members 

 of the same committee, was also submitted to 

 the House, setting forth the reasons of their 

 dissent from the majority, and maintaining 

 that, from the oral and written evidence col- 

 lected during the whole investigation, no case 

 of impeachment against those officers could 

 possibly be entertained before the law of the 

 State, in that the date of the improper acts 

 charged belongs, not to the present, but to a 

 former term of their respective offices; and 

 that their truth is far from being legally proved. 

 They aver, moreover, that, even if the alleged 

 transactions had occurred during the present 

 term, and were legally proved, they could not 

 constitute any sufficient ground for impeach- 

 ment, because the public funds deposited 

 through those transactions have been entirely 

 safe to the State, as both the principal and the 

 interest accrued on it during the time of such 

 deposits had been punctually paid into her 

 Treasury by the banks concerned ; and chiefly 

 because the law of West Virginia does not 

 recognize her Treasurer and Auditor in these 

 operations as acting in the capacity of State 

 officers, but considers and allows them to act 

 only in their individual capacity as private 

 persons. The authors of the minority report 

 seem to insinuate that, if any impropriety or 

 blame can be attached to the acts of those offi- 

 cers in the matter under consideration, it must 

 be attributed to the defect or want of law 

 regulating their action in reference to the cus- 

 tody and safety of the State money, saying 

 "that there ought to be appropriate legislation 

 to prevent any possible speculation with or 

 profiting by the use of the public funds, in any 

 way, directly or indirectly, by any of the State 

 officers, there can be no doubt." 



They conclude the report with proposing 

 and recommending the adoption of the follow- 

 ing resolutions : 



Resolved, That the resolution of this House passed 

 on the 24th day of February, 1875, in so far as the 

 same directs the impeachment of E. A. Bennett, 

 present Auditor of this State, be and the same is 

 hereby rescinded. 



Besolved, That the resolution of this House passed 

 on the 24th day of February, 1875, in so far as the 

 same directs the impeachment of John S. Burdett, 

 the present State Treasurer, be and the same is 

 hereby rescinded. 



Both reports were ordered to be printed. 

 Upon the proposition to adopt the majority 

 report, and, chiefly upon the motion to indefi- 

 nitely postpone the articles of impeachment 

 against the Treasurer and the Auditor of the 

 State, there were long and frequently-repeated 

 debates. On November 27th the motion of 

 indefinite postponement was put to the vote 

 by the Speaker, and lost yeas 28, nays 36. 



At the same sitting, the chairman of the 

 Committee on Investigation read the articles 



