Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-08-21

for the support of prisoners.
The moneys for such support
: placed In ;he hands of the Warden t,
Q be by him expended. The manne
G In which this is done Is shown in sec
tons ALAG, 47S5, 4786 and 47S7 of th
Code Of 1873. The lasc does not re
: qnire that the rouchers taken 5y tn
: Warden for the support gf prisoner
!, shall be returned TO The Auditor, no,
= hare they in fact been so returned.
. They are sent to the Governor O,
' retained by the Warden of the prisor
I Tor the examination Of the Governor
or OF such persons as the Governor
may send to examine the prison &C.
counts from time to time. The Audi.
Tor has no more to do v 18th them thar
has any other State officer.
The duplicate receipts required by
section 47S2, Code Of 1874, are moi
copies of bills of purchases, but COP.
les Of receipts for moneys paid to diff.
ferent parties referring to the bills OF
purchases retained by the Warden.
j, AS | understand the charges OF
@crookedness' made against Warden
! Craig even If copies of his bills OF
goods purchased had been returned
10 the Auditor, (Which was not done, J
tnere was nothing on tho face of the
Dllls to excite suspicion OF mistrus.
on the part of the Auditor or any one
else who might have examined them.
4 During my administration l sent to
Fort Madison to examine the books.
accounts, vouchers, &c, of Warden
Craig the following gentlemen: ].
| w. Cattell, Jno. Pattee and VIM. H.
Flenling, who in the discharge of
their duty doubtless examined all
these bills which it is alleged contain
evidence of the Warden's frauds, and
neither of these gentlemen made the
discovery that fraud had been COM
mitted, and yet these gentlemen are
certainly honest and capable men,
There 10 nothing strange in this W hen
We understand the manner in which
the frauds are alleged to have been
committed. The Warden made his
purchases of supplies from merchants
and others who dealt in the articles
he required, and took from them
itemized bills for the purchases made.
showing the different articles pur-
chased and the prices paid for each.
The persons with whom he dealt
were reputable persons and firms so
far % have any knowledge or be-
lief, 30 that there was not anything
on the face OF the bills rendered or in
the character of the parties from
whom the purchases were0made to
excite suspicion. The alleged frauds,
II committed, were committed by COL
fusion between the Warden and some
OF the parties with whom he dealt by
making out bills for larger amounts
OF goods than were actually purchas-
ed, and the charges of fraud, il true,
involved not only the Warden, but
the persons and firms with whom he
dealt, who, il the charges be true,
combined with him to plunder the
State. If = judicial investigation
shall show the truth of the charges
made, it is to be hoped that not only
the guilty Warden, but those who
conspired with him to defraud the
State msy be severely punished.
The charge that you should have
refused to issue warrants on the
Treasury upon the requisition of the
Warden. approved by the Governor,
is equally unfonnded. MY UNDER
standing is and always has been that
you had not any discretion in the mat
ter. Under sections 4785, 4786 and
47S7, above referred to, the Warden
made monthly acquisitions for the
support Of prisoners, showing the
number of prisoners to be supported,
the sum necessary for their support
at the price fixed by law ($S. S.33k per
head, and the amount of money, if
any, received from contractors for
the month and asked q warrant for
whatever balance was not covered by
the money received from contrac-
tors.
During my administration, I think,
In every instance, the Warden certi-
fed that nothing had been received
from contractors, and explanations
were given by him accounting for the
non-collection of the money due from
them. His statement that nothing
had been received from month to
month was made to me by him off,
cially in writing, the prisoners had
to be supported, and in each case /
approved his requisition and directed
you as Auditor to issue the necessary
sodrrdnts upon the State Treasurer for
the amount Jfred By lasc for the sup.
port OF the prisoners in cases arhere no
money had been received from con-
tractors.
Vthere be any Jdult. for the issuance
OF these warrants, that fault is mine
and not y0uys. When I had ap-
proved the acquisitions made by the
Warden and directed You to issue
corresponding warrants, gou had not,
as then believed and noW believe, the
slightest discretionary po,Oer in the
matter, and If you had refused to is
sue the ,carrants ,chen so directed /
should certainly haze endeavored to
tnd some means to compel you to do
achdt I then conceived and nop con-
cefre TO be your plain duty.
1t may be that accepted too read
lily the excuses offered by the War
den for the non-collection of the
money from contractors. / know
that on different occasions COM
planned to him that he was too lenient
in that regard and urged him to
greater diligence, but had not the
statements were untrue.
During the session of 1876 law
was passed reducing the price of
prison labor. This made necessary
the making Of new labor contracts.
After these new contracts were made,
no money was payable by the con-
tractors for three months from the
dates of the new contracts, aud after
the three months had expired it was
represented from month to month
that, in consequence OF the hard times,
the contractors could not make pay
ments, and that to push collections
would seriously embarrass them and
cause them to throw up their con-
tracts.
repeat that l at different times
complained to the Warden that l
thought he was too lenient with the
contractors, and urged greater dill
gence in that regard, but at that time
|, like all others, had full confidence
in the Warden's faithfulnese, and did
not think his failure to push cOllec-
tions in way that in his Judgment
would endanger the interest of the
State, sufficient cause for me to exer-
else the extreme powe. of suspension
or removal
But be that a. it may, the fault, /
repeat, If any, acas mine not yours, and
do not sc1sh you to suffer for my
shortcomings, If have come short in
the discharge of my duty, which I do
not believe. During our official con.
n~ction l found you to be faithful,
accurate, honest, and capable, and il
would be alwaysa source of great re-
grct to mo If any act for which l am
properly responsible should bring
upon you any discredit.
You are at liberty to make such use
OF this letter as in your judgment
may best tend to your vindication.
Very respectfully,
| s. j. KIRKwooD.
GOV. CARPENTERS LETTER.
DEs MONIES, H., Aug. 10, 1873.
Hon. buren, r. SHERMAN, Des
4 M0ines, Ioava--Dear Sir: | have
read the foregoing letter Of ex-Gov-
ernor Kirkwood in respect to the
/ r.,