The herald., 1897-11-20
Damning Affidavts Against Director Adams and
Superintendent Axtell
THE SCHOOL BOARD SCANDAL COMES TO HEAD
SPECIAL MEETING TO INVESTIGATE
THE
Speak subec-A
Lost Her Position Because She Refused Pungle Up-In
esing Developments Expected Today

With commendable promptness the
president of the city board of education
has ordered a thorough investigation of
the scandal in which one of it's members
and one Of its employees are. or appear
to be, involved. For the purpose Of
knowing at once how much there is Of
truth in the charges that have been
made against Director Adams and Su-
perintendent of School Buildings AK
tell, the board will hold an extra session
this morning. beginning at II o'clock. In
event that it is proved that the charges
are false the persons under suspicion
will be exonerated, but If the charges
are sustained some of the other members
Of the board will be among the first to
insist upon the prosecution of the
guilty persons. That there will be an
interesting session is certain. Both
Adams and Axtell will be represented
by counsel and the persons who have
made the charges have been summoned
to appear before the board, where they
will be required to swear to the facts in
the matter.
A NEGLECTED RULE
Why this investigation has not been
ordered sooner is question that some
of the members Of the board might an
swer. More than one of them has ad-
mitted that he knew something of the
charges weeks ago, but until the matter
was made public yesterday morning no
cognizance Of 1t was taken. Some of
them have. it is true, been quietly at
work for some time to secure the indict-
ment of the guilty persons, whoever they
may be. by the grand jury. One Of the
strangest circumstances attending the
whole matter is that the alleged acts
upon which the charges are based are
said to have been committed in June,
and now, five months later, the board
takes the matter up as the result of
what has been published about the scan
dal.
There Is a rule in force in the board,
numbered "a in it's code, that provides
that whenever any teacher or employe
of the board is guilty of any conduct
which seems to require investigation,
the charges shall be first made to the
board. If this rule had been lived up to
and obeyed in June by the persons of
whom money was demanded for their
positions the facts would have all come
out. They perhaps could not reach the
Adams matter, but Axtell was then and
is now an employe, and had his alleged
attempts to extort money been reported
by his intended victims the matter
would have been aired at the time.
ONLY A AMISDEMEANOR
Even if the charges are proved to be
true, or if it is shown beyond doubt that
bribery has been practiced, the culprits
cannot be indicted. Unfortunately for
all concerned, except, perhaps, those
who might be proved guilty, bribery is
no longer a felony under the law Of Cal
ifornia. Prior to 1898. section 1878 of
the political code provided that "the
acceptance of any valuable thing, with
corrupt intent. by member of board
of education was felony. In 1893 the
law was changed so as to make bribery
only a misdemeanor (statutes of 1893,
page 1860. What punishment could be
meted out in event of conviction un-
der a misdemeanor charge comes within
the limit provided for all such charges,
which is a fine Of from l cent to $500 or
Imprisonment for not more than one
year. or both.
Prosecution will only be attempted in
the event of the charges being sustained
at todays investigation.
President Mathis of the board of edu-
cation is not one of the members who
knew about the charges before the pub
lication was made Once learning of the
matter he acted promptly On his own
responsibility he gave the necessary or
der for furnishing the press with copies
of the afIidavits published herewith He
was greatly exercised over the matter,
and his prompt action indicates that he
will do all that can be done to get to the
bottom of the scandal
PRESIDENT MATHIS TALKS
Said DR.. Mathis yesterday afternoon
said: "This matter shall be handled at
once and without either fear or favor.
have never heard rumor OF any mis-
conduct on the part Of any one. have
not seen the affidavits yet. and what in
formation 1 have has been solely what
I read in the morning papers.
IT have called special meeting of the
board for tomorrow morning at IL o'clock
in the board of education rooms. All the
parties on both sides have been notified
to be present and state their case. The
affidavits will be considered and the
whole matter will be promptly and thor
oughly investigated.
IF the allegations that have been
printed in the papers are proven true
the parties guilty OF such misconduct
will be asked to resign their positions as
officers in the board. I have no idea OF
having any misconduct in the board and
our action will be public. Everything
shall be made known and no white
washing shall he done"
WEBB KNEW ABOUT 1T
Although DR.. Mathis knew nothing
of the scandal in the board there was at
least one member who, according to his
own admission yesterday, knew of it.
That member is Walter l.. Webb. OF
course the scandal was about the only
subject discussed among the members
of the board and several of them tried
to pick flaws with the story published
but without success. Mr.. Webb, Di-
rector McInerny, Secretary Johnson and
other persons were discussing the mat
ter yesterday afternoon when Mr.. Webb
made the remark that rule "a had been
violated and that the matter should
have been made public in June when ii
occurred He then stated that he had
known it was coming for some time but
did not say how long.
Mr.. McInerny seemed puzzled at the
action of Janitor Cooper in paying the