The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1872-01-06
The State Warrant Business.

hcSSfS. w llllan Baker ana N. u.
Snethen. appointed by the Judge
of the Eigth District Court in the
case of the State versus James
Graham, Auditor, to investigate
and report the number of war
rants issued by the Warrant Clerk
of the Legislature for mileage
and per diem, and as to the
vouchers upon which these war
rants were issued, the object of
the investigation being to ascer-
tain whether any of the vouchers
or warrants were fraudulent and
the extent thereof.
The developments made by this
report can scarcely be character
lied as startling, although they
make it to be very plain that the
business of issuing warrants has
not only been very loosely con-
Quoted, but that enormous frauds
have been practised upon the
State by parties handling these
paper evidences of Indebtedness
after they have been put in cir
culation. These frauds only show
how wide q door has been opened
to fraud by the practice of issuing
these paper obligations of the
State, and the truth of the maxim
of John Randolph who defined
the philosophers stone to be "pay
as you CO." If the State paid her
debts in cash these frauds could
not have been committed.
It appears from the report that
the warrant clerk of the General
Assembly has issued warra nts for
the mileage, per diem and contin-
gent expenses of the last session
of the Legislature (session of
1919 to the amount of seven
hundred and twelve thousand dol
lars (S712,OOO), and that there are
now outstanding in addition
thereto, vouchers for $45,O0O.-
But this does not include the
whole of the session, for these ex-
pcrts report n sum greatly in eX-
cess of that above named. They
declare that the expense of the
last session of the Legislature
is in the neighborhood of one
million of dollars!
One of tho important facts
brought to light by this investi-
CATION is that a regular system of
forgery has been carried on by
parties dealing in State warrants,
this forgery consisting i'll the al
| teration of the figures written by
warrant clerk to larger sums-in
some instances figures represent
ing two thousand being altered
to five thousand dollars. 1t was
found also that the signatures of
the officers of the State engaged
in issuing these warrants, had
been placed on u large number OF
them by unauthorized persons,
that is to say = the signatures
were forged.
To particularize: three warrants
issued by J. Pinckney Smith, war
rant clerk, to Mr.. j. w. Madden:
for stationery, each for two thuo-
sand dollars, had been altered
after they left Mr.. Madden's
hands, to five thousand dollars
each. Who committed the forge
Try is unknown, but the Inference
must be that it was done by some
speculator i'll State securities
The experts say that these three
altered warrants were in th'
hands of Mr.. Merle, q broker, earl!
in August last, and that about th'
middle of that month Mr.. Merl
commenced suit for their pay
mcnt against the Auditor of tn
State. When Mr.. Merle ascer
tanned that the forgery had beer
discovered, he withdrew the wal
rants from the files of the court
and has not since presented then
to the Auditor.
The experts also report tha
warrants TO Il large amount haV
been issued by persons not at
O thorized by law. They particU
Q Iarize warrants amounting t
the sum of S24O,OOO in access {
; appropriations made by the Gel
c eral Assembly. And in additio
Il to this they find that vouchers c
warrants representing 81 considC
u rable sum have been issued fc
extra services, being for a purpOs
l. expressly forbidden by law. I'll
i experts name the sum of S22, ,OC
:. oS ,nprnSnntinU this isSua for