The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-06-18
A Chance for Kellogg.
The Embezzlement of School
Funds.
Butler and Mahoney Impli-
Gated.
Will They be Removed i!

Will They be Removed!
Tie parish of Plaquemines has been the
scene of all sorts of disturbances, political
and social. It is one Of the strongholds Of
the Repu blican party, and its parish gov
ernment is administered almost entirely by
negroes. Hence riot, rascality, stealing and
murder are the order of the day. A short
victed and sentenced to the Penitentiary
for eml,ezzlement.
Now we have the Senator Butler and the
Representative Mahoney, both negroes and
the controlling members Of the School
Board, appointed by Kellogg, charged by
the Superintendent of Public Education
with using "their position as a means of
political advancement and expanding n large
portion Of the school funds for private and
partisan purposes" The Treasurer Of the
Board is charged with being defaulter in
the sum of fire thousand eight hundred and
.ffty:fre dollars.
The Superintendent then closes his report
by saying: ~ charge the then Treasurer
of the Board with embezzlement, aided and
abetted by the then President, and the par
ish Judge, who was also member of the
Board, and am prepared to establish this be-
fore any competent tribunal"
These charges were made some time ago
but we have never heard of Kellogg taking
any steps to punish the offenders, or remove
them from Office Will he make good now
his promise to remove dishonest officials |!
If SO. let him take that pair of Senegam-
bian law makers, Butler and Mahoney, send
them to the Penitentiary, where he boosted
of having sent Courcelle for spending the
States money in the Greeley campaign.
But we commend to our readers the fol-
lowing extract from Browns report upon
the affairs of Plaquemine parish. 1t is an
excellent commentary upon the conduct Of
Republican officials:
would gladly refrain from commenting
upon the present and past management OF
school affairs in Plaquemines parish, did my
duty allow. But when gross Irregularities,
to use no harsher term, became known to
me, should be derelict to duty did l not
thus publicly expose them.
controlling portion Of the school board
could not resist the temptation to use their
position as means of political advancement,
and large portion of the school funds was
expended for private and partisan purposes.
Furnished with ample funds from the State
Treasury, which were literally increased by
local taxation, the money has been squan-
dered or expended without even ordinary
Judgment
Access to the books and papers pertaining
to the Office Of the treasurer was denied me
from time to time upon frivolous preteXts,
and, finally, peremptOrly and insultingly
refused. Obstacles of every possible charac-
ter We're thrown in my way to prevent me
from obtaining reliable information, the
treasurer even attempting my imprisonment
on the charge of larceny. The
result of somewhat prOtracted investiga-
ton can be summed up in Il lew words. The
accounts, as they appear in the remarkable
document before alluded to, are, in many
cases. falsiied by being raised" fictitious
claims are allowed and paid to fictitious
persOnages; unworthy, incompetent and dis
sipated teachers have, in some instances,
been employed to perform political services
of questionable honesty, and the public
money expended to the last cent, leaving a
heavy load of debt. The report of the
school board covers q period of time from
December, 1871, to January, 1873. During
this time, the treasurer received from his
predecessor in Office and the State the sum
Of ten thousand four hundred and ten dol
lars and seventy-five cents, and has legiti
mately expended no more than six Thousand
two hundred and eleven dollars and fifty
cents, leaving a balance OF four thousand
ore hundred and ninty-nine dollars and
twenty-five cents nnaccOunted for.
l can not state with exactness the amount
received from the tax collector, but enough
is known to justify me in stating that it WAS
sufficiently large to cover all contingent eX-
penses and leave a respectable margin to
supplement the teachers fund. Taking their
own statement of contingent funds received
as correct, l find the treasurer to be a de-
faulter for the sum of five thousand eight
hundred and fifty-tive dollars. Knowing as
/ do the details Of this most disgraceful
matter, l charge the then treasurer of the
board with embezzlement, aided and allotted
by the then president, and the parish Judge
who also was q member of the board, and
am prepared TO establish this before any
competent tribunal.
To verify these assertions, ] have prepared
the following statement, which, while 1t ex-
hibits but . fraction of the frauds commit
ted, and amounts embezzied, reveals con-
dition of affairs disgracefnl in the superla-
tive degree to all concerned, and Of the cor
rectness of this statement have the most
indisputable proofs.
The following exhibit, compiled from re-
port of the Parish Board of School Directors
Of the parish of Flaquemines, La, and from
several supplemental reports of the Trea-
surer Of said parish board, shows the amount
of embezzlement Of the funds received for
the public schools:
Amount
No. of For what purpose Report Actual Embez