The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-01-27
HE OFFERS TO SQUEAL
Convict Fetzer May Make It In
teresting for County Clerks.
HE'S THE HIDE FAKIR
In Letter to the Governor He Says II
the State Will Guarantee Him Inn
munity From Further Punish
ment He'll Tell 1t All.
Special Dispatch 10 the Standard.


Helena. Jan. 26.-J. B. FetZer, who is
serving two years in the penitentiary
for bounty frauds committed in Bea-
verhead county. offers upon promise of
immunity from further imprisonment
to make some disclosures that may be
decidedly sensational and rather un-
pleasant for certain county clerks and
recorders in Montana in regard to
bounty frauds perpetrated in several
counties. If any reliance can be placed
upon the word or the evidence of Fet-
ger. the persons upon whom he casts
reflections. whether they are now in
office or out, arc liable to be a trine
uneasy until he is effectually muzzled
This champion bounty fakir admits in
letter to the governor that he did not
confine his nefarious work to Beaver
head. He distributed his patronage"
over number of other counties,
among them being Fergus, Cascade
Choteau, Lewis and Clarke, Deer
Lodge and Sweet Grass. He tells of
some grossly negligent work on the
part of more than one county clerk in
the matter of inspecting and punching
hides. He relates how he used the
same hides more than once and in one
instance handed an officer 81 TO have
the hides passed. He goes into details
that would look decidedly unpleasant
"
able letter by offering TO prove his vari
Gus allegations upon assurance from
the state that he will be punished no
further after serving out the present
sentence.
Just now the board Of examiners is
very anxious to learn all II can about
FetZerS claims, as $2S, 600 worth We're
passed at the last meeting TO give the
holders chance to prove. their gem
uineness. Whether the state author
- q
and promise to shield him from further
punishment upon condition he make
good some of the charges is not known.
II is believed. however, that his letter
has sealed the doom of these claims
and they will accordingly be thrown
out at the next meeting. Suit will
probably result and then the public
may learn more of Fetzer's allegations.
Carelessness about the matter of In
specting hides received severe shak-
| ing up to-day at the hands of the state
board of examiners. A letter was
drafted and copied and mailed to- every
county clerk and recorder in the
state
The letter says. I'VE desire to cali
your attention to the provisions of the
bounty law OF this state f<e do this
for the reason that an inspection of the
bounty claims presented convinces us
that the actions of the county clerks in
the matter of the examinations of skins
presented is sometimes perfunctory.
Claims were by us examined only a few
days ago which, in the aggregate,
amounted to about $4,000, and an in
spection of those claims disclosed tho
remarkable fact that the witnesses who
subscribed to the affidavits. as required
by law. are the same in nearly every,
instance, no matter by whom the ami
mails We're killed or in what portion OF
the county they were killed. That
HAY attat t..I to-,
ing warrants for bounties is established
beyond question by the conviction of
James ". Fetzer. in Beaverhcad county,
only few months ago.
Claims aggregating $4,000 are now
outstanding against the state for boun-
ties for animals alleged to be killed by
him. He now represents that all of
these claims. with the exception of a.
few hundred dollars, are fraudulent,
and his ability to secure warrants was
mainly due to the remissness and mat
tention of those officers whose duty ie
was to punch the skins and pass upon
the evidence which the law required be-
fore warrants could issue. II the law
was strictly complied with, II would be-
impossible for him to say that the hides
purchased beyond the state were ac-
cepted and marked by the county off,
cials, for before a certificate was issued
the county officials could require relia-
BILE proof that the animals were killed
within the time specified and within the
boundaries Of the county, so likewise
would 1t be impossible for him to state
that the same batch of hides had been
presented In succession to two or three
different county officials. in each in
stance securing certificate authorizing
the holder to obtain the amount speci-
fled therein.
"A county official charged with a
duty such as is imposed upon him
through the nrOyiSinpS of this
law. with the possibility of fraud inn
mtnent who hastily and careiessly or
indfnerently performs his duty. is
guilty of an act of criminal negligence
and unauestionably Is liable upon his
official bond when fraudulent claims
arise. in consequence OF which the state
suffers. We must respectfully request
in the future you make thorough i'm
vestigation whenever skins are pre-
sented. as to when and where the ami
mails were killed and let the statement
of the claimant be supplemented by
proof of reputable men, so that the
chance Tor perpetrating fraud may be
minimized. This practice of accepting
the affidavits of professional witnesses
in the different counties should be dis
continued and the duty should be i'm
posed upon the claimant of securing
witnesses who know something about
the presence in the county of the claim
ant and who likewise know something
about the killing OF the animals.
1T is not meant by this that In
every instance witnesses should depose
to the fact that they saw the animals
killed. but that they should be cogniz-
ant of some fact that would give a
tinge OF likelihood to the story told
about the killing Of the animals goes
without saying. The simple fact that
they sign the affidavit in the form pre-
sented does not relieve the county clerk
and recorder OF all responsibility in the
premises. II Is his duty to make in
quiries as to the knowledge possessed
by the affidavit maker. and exercise his
judgment in that respect as to whether
the affidavit maker is justified in max
ing the same from the knowfedge pos
sessed by him
You are likewise requested TO strict
~ comply with the law so far as the
punching and mutilating of the skins is