The herald., 1893-02-01
VERY EXPENSIVE FORESTERS,
Good Reasons for AbOlishing
the State Board.
Some Strong Statements from Chief
Allen Kelly.
He Charges That Most of the Looting
of the Appropriation Was Done
by Employees in the City
of Los Angeles.

day contains an exposure of the lootine
OF its appropriation by the state board OF
forestry, based on statement from
Chief Forester Allen Kelly, from which
the following extracts are taken. The
chairman of the board is Walter s.
Moore of this city.
The article states that Member Frank
j. Motif of the commission asked him
on September 2S, 1892, to make report
showing where expenses could be cur
tailed, to which he replied at length
making an estimate, and among other
matters mentioning the following:
"No provision is made in this estimate
for the continuance of the Los Angeles
Office for the reason that the business of
the board does not require that there
shall be two offices. The San Francisco
Office is sufficient, and as matter of
fact all the business of the board, ex-
cept such as is connected directly with
the experimental stations, is trans
acted here. If any business were done
in the Los Angeles Office it would only
complicate accounts and make unneces-
sary work. The employment of clerk
in Los Angeles is unnecessary, and his
services are of no benefit to the state."
Being asked to explain the references
to Los Angeles office. clerk, fire agents,
etc., the forester said:
1.-THE board paid $50 month to the
Lanfranco estate, which means virtually
Mr.. Moore, for an alleged office in Los
Angeles. The board never used the
office; no clerk or other employe of the
board ever could be found there, and the
room was actually occupied by the
agent of an insurance company. The
clerk, drawing salary of $75 month,
kept cigar stand in Los Angeles, and,
to the best of my knowledge and belief,
never made a scratch of a pen for the
board of forestry. l presume that he
did the work of drawing his salary regu-
larly, but the money was usually sent to
Chairman Moore, and whenever that
rule was forgotten and the money paid
directly to the clerk the chairman made
fuss, and insisted that the coin should
be sent to him."
what were the fire agents who, you
say, did nothing, supposed to do for
their salaries, and how were they ap-
pointed?"
$50 far as know they were supposed
to do political wire-pulling for the COM
missoners, and nothing else. l know
they do no work for the state. Nineteen
of them were appointed at the begin
ming of the last campaign, and their sal
aries amounted to $950'a month. Then
Mr.. Moore of his own motion appointed
one J. A. Thomas attorney of the board
at Los Angeles at salary of $100 per
month. The board had no litigation,
needed no legal advice and had no more
use for an attorney In Los Angeles than
cat has for two tails. Moreover, the
board already had salaried attorney in
this city. The appropriation for the
board would permit the expenditure of
$l250 per month, but these political ap-
pointees alone consumed $l050 of that
amount, and the few employees who
actually did sny work for the state didn't
get their pay"
"You speak in your letter OF persons
who did not even nominally render any
service for their salaries. To what does
that refer?"
sit will apply to the whole gang OF
them as we'll, but more particularly to
certain peculiar case. For five months
name was carried on the Los Angeles
payroll at salary of $75 per month
and the money was sent to Mr.. Moore
Presumably the man who owned the
name was rendering some service and
receiving his pay. But there is reason
to believe that the man was not even in
the United States during that time.
He wrote to this office, after five
months, asking us to inform him when
his name was placed on the payroll and
how long it had been there. / think
his name was taken off at his own re-
quest"
"Did any reform follow your state
ment to the board concerning ex-
penses?"
"Yes, in some measure, but only in
such directions as the board of exami-
ners insisted upon. The fire agents
were fired. The campaign was over and
they we're needed no longer. 1 was no.
titled that my list Of employees had been
adopted and would be adhered to
strictly, but it wasn't. / was also told
that was appointed auditing officer of
the board, and that no bills should be
signed unless certified to their correct.
ness. 1 asked if was expected to u.
X. the bills of the Los Angeles end o.
the institution, and was told that such
was the programme. l fatty refused to
put my 0. X. to any bill sent up from
that Office unless should be given op-
portunlty to investigate fully, and as
there were no funds to pay my travelling
expenses to Los Angeles, and l was
tired of paying expenses and receiving
no salary, declined to act as auditing
officer"
did you have any special reason for
declining to 0. K. ordinary routine bills
from Los Angeles? ?"
THE LOOT THAT FAILED.
"Plenty of reasons. l wouldn't bet q
cent on the legitimacy Of any single
item of expense OF that end. When I
was appointed to this place the board
instructed me to confer with the worlds
fair commission about forestry exhibit.
The botanist of the board, who was my
predecessor as forester, took me aside
and told me that he had already begun
arrangements with the worlds fair peo-
pie and had submitted to them an esti-
mate OF the cost of an exhibit. His es.
innate was something over $17 900, and
ne said that would leave a profit of
$4,000 or $4,000 for us. l asked him
where our profit was to come in, and he
replied that he had estimated the cost of
a map, for example, at $4,000, but ne could
get it made for about half that sum.
lie also figured ON getting a salary from
the worlds fair commission for bossing
the job. | went Immediately to the
worlds fair commissioners and notified
them that they were not to regard that
estimate as a communication from the
board OF forestry. Later put in an es-
| tjmata of ahn,1t eR0O0 hat uothiuO avar