The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-01-28
PROF. BUFFERS TANGLED" BOOKS.

On the 9th day of January the News
and Observer contained the following
news item:
For the two days the Finance Com
mittee of the Board of Trustees OF the
Agricultural and Mechanical college, mas
been here examining the books OF thill
institution. This committee is composed
Of one Democrat and two Republicans
as follows: i. w. Harden, (Repnblican)
of Raleigh; DR. II. +. Dixon. Demo
crat) OF Shelby. iand Col. i. G. Edwards,
Republican,, of Oxford.
s1,hey met Tuesday afternoon and
went over the books of Prof. W.A.Witil.
ers. director of the Experiment Station.
These they found in good order and cor
rect.
but yesterday when they came to the
books of Butler. the bursar Of the col
lege. they found a very different state
of affairs. His books are in tangle---
an awful tangle--and the committee
could tell absolutely nothing abont the
finances of the institution.
Butler has not balanced his hooks for
four months, and now he can't balance
Them There's some five or six thou
sand dollars short. apparently. The
committee does not believe he has made
way, with it. They have no means of
knowing of course, but after looking
at the condition of the books they were
charitable enough TO give him the bene-
fit of the Doubt and attribute the discrc-
pancy to bad bookkeeping.
On the next day. the 9TH Of January.
in reply to an interview published with
aiming committee. this paper said:
''The News and Observer did not say
that Mr. Butler was short in his ac.
cOunts-in the sense Of having default
ed or made way with the money. but that
his hooks were so tangled that the com
mittee could do nothing with them: and
that when he tried to balance them.
there was a discrepancy of some $500
(by an error in the types this was
printed $4,000"
The substance of the item appeared on
the same morning in another Raleigh pa
per.
In publishing the news of Fusion ex-
trayagance, rascality and incompetency.
we are always extremely careful not to
print any item except upon what We re-
gard as good authority. For every publ
cation of m;sdoings. we throw half a
dozen statements away because proof is
wanting of the facts. If all the stories
of incompetency and venality that are
true were printed, the people would rise
petent gang now in power.
With reference to the ''tangle" of PROF.
Buffers book, the informant was vol
unteered TO a member of the News and
Observer staff by DIR. b.. F. Dixon, a
member of the examining board. Until
he told us of the ''tangle," no word had
come 10 us that Prof. Buffers books
were in bad shape. B DIR. Dixon not only
gave this Information to the News and
Observer, hut also gave it to a member
of the staff of another Raleigh paper,
and to two or three other gentlemen at
the same time he impaired it to mem
Der of the News and Observer staff.
q Since its publication, the Fusion papers
have denounced the News and Observer
as. n slanderer of good man and ex-
hausted their vocabulary of abuse. We
long ago ceased to regard such rawlings.
Knowing that the Information came as a
volunteer piece of news from member
of the board, we noticed none of the mai
icioHs filings of which the Radical organs
and their allies were full. Imagine our
surprise, upon opening this weeks eau
casian, to see there the following letter.
purporting to be written by the very
gentleman, who is responsible for the
publication made, and purporting to be
addressed TO Prof Butler:
Butord Hotel, Charlotte, Jan. 6, 1898.
Prof. Il. q. Butler. Bursar A. and NJ.
College. Raleigh, n. G.
''Dear Prof: was exceedingly morti-
ed to read the false report i'll the News
and Observer this morning relative to
you and your books. Being the only Dem
ocrat ON the committee, | am naturally
fearful lest y0u should think the reporter
of that paper had gotten his infOrma-
ton from mo and / wish to disclaim any
thing of the kind.
With best wishes,
Yours very truly,