Evening journal., 1890-07-26
WHERE THE FUNDS WENT
The Flood Finance Committee
!. at Johnstown Criticised.
AUDITING HIS OWN ACCOUNTS.

A New York Newspaper Says That OF the
$3.50. 8e1.27 Assistance Money Received
Only sI5s.65O Went Directly 70 the
Relief os the Flood Sufferers
New YORK, July 8A special TO The
New York Herald from Johnstown, Pa,
says ] spent several hours Friday exam
ining the books and accounts Of the Johns
town food finance committee, and the fig
ures here presented are the first that have
ever been printed Of the receipts and ex-
pendAtures OF this COMMITTEES. The finance
committees was organized on the morning
following the food and the first contribu-
tions for the sufferers were received by it.
AS at first constituted 1t consisted Of seven
men connected with the banking institu-
tions Of the town, but Il was afterward
learned thnt several OF the most prominent
bankers were drowned. When James
Scott wns made dictator he changed th
complexion OF the whole committee an /
made James Mcmillan and Cyrus Elder,
two leading Cambria Iron company men,
president and secretary, respectively.
Funds howed into this committee freely
FOR few days, but on the organization OF
the state nood commission most Of the
money was sent there.
| The Amounts Received and Paid Out.
An told this committee has received
$3.50 S21gZ. OF this sl5S,060 was paid out
| in Che $50 head distri BUTTON and this Is
the only part Of the fund that was applied
directly 20 the relief OF the people. OF the
semainder about 100000 was expended by
the various committees, clerk hire and in
cidental expenses, including $40, ,S6s 05 paid
~ the fire department and s2s, sos. II paid
| in the first few days for removing the de-
bris and dead bodies, and which was after
ward charged 70 the state, but no settle
ment Of this account by the state has been
made and the prospects are not good that
i " viii ever lie. There is vet in the hands
Of the COMMITTEES about 100000, most Of
which the COMMITTEES intends to apply to
building bridges.
why the Committee Is Criticised.
The estion Of this committee in using so
much Of this money for the fire depart
ment, and especially for building bridges,
has been severely criticised, the claim
which Is seemingly well founded-beina
made that It does not 80 to the relief Of the
needy, but, instead, lie adding to tha
wealth Of the property holders aud men e4
means BY relieving them Of taxes, the
benefit Of which they will solely enjoy
This COMMITTEES has also been much criti-
cised because no statement of its work was
ever given 70 the public il only being In
general way that the people were informed
that much OF the money was being APP
plied 10 building bridges and the like.
Auditing His own Accounts.
The appointment by the committee OF
l I'll yht rtyna in THAR uas
one a three members Of committees to
audit their accounts, Is also looked upon
with distrust by many.
Storrs, as chairman OF a subcommittee,
had charge OF the "S10 n head dlstribu-
tiou,s I'm which nearly $4,000 was paid
ont, and it Is not considered exactly proper
that he should audit his own accounts.
Just how much or how little this auditing
committee will find out is hard to tell, but
with the mass Of figures presented TO them
it is doubtful If they will discover, as
did. that a prominent citizen has drawn
big pay for several weeks from two COM
mittees covering the same time
The Largest Contributors.
Az 30 the receipts, money has been re-
ceived from every state in the Union and
from nearly every country in the world.
Pennsylvania leads with &sl, ,502.88 Ohio
l rNbA NoushAostA NtH 4uTh lDlloWH WlUn
So, 90 and New Jersey with S41 ,46S. SO.
OF New Yorks share, however, S4l ,303 "a
is credited to the city. OF The Herald's
$50 S03 "A fund over half of it was received
within week after the food, and the last
remittance Of q, ,l2462 was received from
the London bureau on Sept IL
Contributions from the Dead.
Among other receipts s. 1850 was hand
Cd over by the morgue authorities Friday
morning, having been taken from the
bodies Of the unidentified dead Among
the anonymous contributions was one Of
Ss21 found ia bag OF beans In a super
fetal examination Of these accounts it is
observed that all received pay for their
work and that but little work was done
that was not paid for even the citizens
who assisted IN carrying their own dead in
The first days sending In bill. An audit
ing of the accounts Of this committee is
promised soon, and perhaps full state
nsent will then be published.