Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-19

ing BOOKS. lie said Price IN DIS capacity OF
book clerk was obliged to pass on the legal
points in the bonds presented at the Of
fee and was a valuable man for the place.
Price had often been cautioned not TO talk
politics in the ofnce and to refrain from It
30 far as possible outside. The same ap-
piled 20 Whitaker. who did his work we'll,
and no money had been paid out for extra
help in his department
The Palm Matter.
As to the Palm matter the auditor said
he had sometimes employed Palm to make
examinations, but had never given him a
permanent appointment. SO far as he knew
Palm was not connected with the insurance
business. There was no evidence Of it in
the records Of the Office. There had been
some protests and the auditor said he be-
lievcd that PALMS wife was the agent OF
several companies, but he did not know
that Palm had any interest in the business
Mr.. Lichty had never objected on this score
The auditor said he never had seen the
Palm letter, and did not know its contents
until the fac smile was printed in The
Bee. lie said that about the middle of Jan
uary he had demanded Lichtys resignation
and later in the same day Representative
Weaver Of Richardson had come into the
office and in pleading for Lichty's reten'
tion had said that Lichty had in his pos
session a very compromising letter.
In discussing this letter the auditor sait
he believed he was out of the state a.
the time when II reached the Office. and h,
was quite sure that on the 22nd and 23C
of December, when the letter must have ar
rived at the office, Deputy Pool was alsC
absent. He never before received a lettei
OF this purport from Palm. He had in
structed Palm to be reasonable in hi
charges, but could not tell how much hat
really been charged as no record Of thii
was kept, the fee being retained by tn,
examiner. He had never shared with tn,
examiner in these fees.
There had been very few complaint
One had come from the Ancient Order o
United Workmen at Grand Island, wher,
Palm had charged about $95, and the com
pany thought he had put the hotel bill VI
higher than the Grand Island hotels charged
This bill had not yet been paid The Trav
elers company of Hartford had also mad
some complaint. He said that there was N
fixed charges for examining joint stool
companies. and so far as he knew ther
was no rule in the Office on this point. N
record was kept of the number of days pu
in by the examiners.
After the examination of some document
and letter books the committee adjourne'
to O'Clock this morning, when Palm an
Simpson, the two examiners, were put ol
the stand.
Palm Tells His story.
Palm told CT his work with the com
ranies and said that in case he had to e
to New York or other eastern cities h
charged as working time the days it took u
reach the place. as well as the time EN-
ployed in making the examinations. He die
not think his charges were too high. The,
were not as high as these made by examiner
from other states. He had never divided
up the examination fee with the auditor
He had had some correspondence with TIL
auditor about fees. and the 'holdup" let
ter published, he said, was one of the "un
fortunate ones that fell into Lichty's hands.
The term ''holdup," he said, was a common
term among insurance men.
]. A. Simpson told of the examination
he had made, and thought there had beel
no unreasonable charges. He admitted tha
| in January OF this year while he was a
work in Topeka and Chicago, he was ais
| drawing a salary from the state as count
treasurer examiner. He was quite sure non
| of the money taken by himself as fees ha
| been divided with the auditor.
| The committee continued to work durin
| the day, the examinations being conducte
| in quiet manner, with no attempt to cross
| examine the witnesses or bring out dam
aging testimony. When Witness Palm tul
of receiving letters from Lichty, but sal
| he regarded them as his private propert
| and did not care to have them publishe
in this examination" that part of the sub
| ject was dropped.
| Clothes for Lichty.
One thing brought out in the testimon
| that was interesting was the statement tina
| Mr.. Lichty had done some private work 10
| one of Eugene Moore's first bondsmen, TO
which he had been rewarded with a new sui
| of clothes. The bondsman referred to
| known to have been George Holland Of Fall
| City and the evidence given today was onl
| hearsay the witness saying that Hollan
had told him about it, Lichty being inter
viewed on the subject this afternoon, sal
that the statement was true and that he &c
| a good suit of clothes, the offer havin
freely been made by Mr.. Holland.
The testimony was also brought out the
in one or two cases the auditor had bee
offered money if he would make certain ap
pointments, the names of those making tn
offers not being disclosed One of the au
ditors deputies, however, stated to by
stander that 1t was Abbott of Falls City wh
had made an offer of $500 for the appoint
ment of his son as bank examiner This lie
to the following telegram being sent:
LINCOLN, Feb. IS, 1S99.-George A. All
bott, Falls City: Employe of auditor state
you offered $500 for appointment of your so
as bank examiner. Answer"
This brought back the following answe
this evening:
FALLS CITY, Neb., Feb. IS, 1S99.-At
solutely false. No man dare face me wit
such charge. GEORGE ABBOTT"
Another interesting feature of the exam
ination was the calling on the witness stan
of reporter of the Lincoln Journal, VIII
testified that some time during Decembe