The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1898-09-01
be eusgoisg and iseoeiee SECRETARY

MAKE II black thsy knfhk and Then you
can't see these things.
Capt. Coeke 10 at liberty 70 make The
deniai and I will furnish him With The
booi told you about these Saprem~
Ceort Reports The secretary Of state
il charged With the sale Of them. The
Treasury books show that in 1881, as
far bsek ss that. the sale OF Supreme
Court reports amounted to u ISL b,
and that this item Increased until u
amounted TO t7,6ls0l IN 1897. But
there same books show thai 10 lsSs not
one cent Vas paid from the Secretary
Of States ofiice to the Treasurer for
sale Of Supreme Court reports. The
next year only ts2il1 wAs paid; the
oext yesr not one cent Mas paid The
following year 81, $50. I say u nra you
may print is in your Democratic news
pap<rs, that there were reports sold 10
1892 aud in 1894, because q thousand
volumes twice = year were issued from
the Secretary of states Office, and some
lawyers in North Carolina bought
some reports; but that money, though
paid, never went into the Treasury OF
the state of North Carolina Where
did 1t go? Only in three years, $62l.-
IL was paid to the Treasurer, where
before aud after this gap Of three years
$2,6ls was paid one year and $3.50 the
other. In other words, where Captain
Coke ought to have paid . matter vi
seven thousand FIVE hundred dollars in
three years, he paid s62l.la. Here is 4
shortage OF $500 which the Niger
racket don't explain. This happened
in the days Of good government in
North Carolina"
| will give you another bit Of loose
ness in that Office
During Capt. Cookies administration
there were from $50 to 100 corpora
lions chartered from that Office upon
which the fees were paid, and upon
which the seal tax of one dollar each
should have been turned over to the
Private Secretary Of the Governor.
One hundred and eighty or $3.50
ought to have been paid to the Private
Secretary Of the Governor on this ac-
count during Cookies administration.
HIS books show that not one cent was
80 paid. The Law gives the Secretary
Of State these corporation fees, except
ing thu seal tax. This account was
balanced on Capt. Cookies books-he
took all the fees. ! don't pretend to
explain it, but it is fact.
My fellow citizens, that is not all.
The act requiring the issue Of charter
or letters patent from the Secretary's
office is the act of 1893. Up to the time
of my going into Office, 4a7 companies
had filed articles of agreement and got
ten letters patent. 1t was the duty of
the Secretary of State to record these
articles of agreement. The fees are
paid by the c0porators for this service.
My predecessor took the fees, but he
did not perform the service. He left
them unrecOrded. They are unrecord.
ed still. They stopped recording them
in 1894.
i Well, let's look little further. Sec.
tion 1910 of the Code says:
. "The Secretary of State shall furnlst
: to the Auditor, on the first of eaci
= month, statement in detail of tn,
taxes and license fees under this chap
r ter during the previous month, an,
shall pay to the Treasurer the amour
3 in full Of such taxes and license fees.
: Did my predecessor do it? No, b
e did not. Capt. Cooke went into tn
e Secretary of States Office about tn
I "a vi September 1896. On these taxes
J.. the insurance license account, the fe
q account, the insurance tax account
y the laws and journal sales account, tn
d seal tax account, the sale of Suprem
r Court reports account; he did not pa
!, the Treasurer of North Carolina a dol
J.. lar until six months after he went int
k iii How did he make his paymen,
# when he did pay? Did he walk up an
q pay to the Treasurer as he was sworn
b do? No, he did not. Now here are tn
J; facts. On the Goth of February, 1879
" his first payment was made. He ha
y collected for insurance licenses, insul
e. ance taxes, sales of Supreme Court R,
e ports, sales Of Laws and Journals, fet
Is of the Office and seal taxes of tt
If office, $21 ,643.76, all of which shout
d have been paid on that day to the Stat
% Treasurer, and much of it should hay
t. been paid to him months before. Di
Re he pay it all to the State Treasurer
Re No! he paid only 81, S92.6S, and kept
n hand, for what purpose it is for him [
le say, SIS, 25l O8 of the States money. II
lie next payment was the goth of Apr
ID 1896, counting what he held back wit
l his collections between these dates /
le had on hand April 29th 81, l47.77-th
j. he should have paid to tie Treasure
J. Did he do itp No! he paid to tt
l. Treasurer only $35,5l7,22 and retaine
IF in his hands $11 $50. So. Three montl
" after that the spirit moved him ,
ID make another payment. COuntin
IN what he had held back, together wit
a his collections since his last paymen
le be had in hand on the 3lst of Jul
4 1896, $19, 1886 25. Ali of which he shoul
ct have paid to the Treasurer. Did he {
ID it? No! he paid to the Treasurer
le this time $14,2OO.O2, and kept in b
Re hands of the States money So, 1856 %.
,e was four months before the spir
Id moved him to make another paymen
J. On the Both of November, 1896, coun
Re ing what be had over from his form
or payment, with his collections sin,
X hat date, he had in hand $12,948 90, q
,e # which he should have paid to I'll
re- Treasurer Following his habit of d
!; linquency he paid to the Treasurer g
J. November 80, 1896, only SIC, 4Oe, s3, ar
g. kept in his hands of the States none,
ID - 542.O9. This was his last paymei
10 to the Treasurer. When 1 went I'M
X office he turned over to me on these a
8. counts So 5O4 SO, less than one thousaI
ID of which he had collected since IL
he 3Oth of No'ember, 1896, the date of b
D. last payment with the Treasurer.
n II he had put these arrearages at il
ss terest and paid the State interest G
a them, it might have been some excu
" for his delinquency, though Violate
II of the law. But be did not do ths
re These are the facts as they appear fro
his own books, on which no accoul
= was ever balanced from the time of b
j. going into Off ,e until the time of b
ID going out.
u In other words, in the days of got
n government, Charles Cooke, ga ma
l; above repr0ach," Chairman of the Ia
1t Democratic State Convention, a ms
lie whom, because l say these thin
E. about him, l will be denounced f,
ID having attacked the character @
G. though l am simply stating the plai
:e truth as his books show il. kent has
Of the States money and was in arrears 4
re the time, in violation Of the law. an
g. never settled with the State until |
I Xaa onstad fenrn tho afHaa