The Red Cloud chief., 1899-02-24

would by law nave apsed into the
treasury. 1t might be wise TO see II
any other sums have been kept from
lapsing in u similar manner
The state auditor keeps Messrs
Price and Whitaker I'm his Office for
political reasons / think an i%nvesti-
CATION would prove that these men
are hardly worth the $1,000 n year
each which they receive. / have seen
the states money used to hire work
done In their room which these men
could and should have done had they
been competent. But yet when the
auditor set these men to packing
books and blanks to be sent TO county
seats he gave them good sized state
warrants as an extra tip. Whitaker
confessed to me at his house last June
that he did wrong In taking this mon
ey from the treasury. ! have NOT heard
of any money being returned.
The legislative Investigating COM
mlttee told me that they found that
one Of our $1,000 appointed officials
had taken 800 wrongfully from the
state treasury some years ago. The
report Of this finding is On file. Is 1t
any wonder that a man gets the grand
bounce when he Is constantly object
ing to crookedness in his W camp
and insisting on contributions to the
conscience fund? 1t seems to me
men should straighten up their ac-
counts or quit the public service. Or,
better yet, pay back and quit both.
Section 20 OF the insurance law
says: THE auditor shall not appoint
anyone to examine insurance compa-
MES that is an officer, agent or stock
holder of any insurance company" In
defiance OF this law the auditor has
all along had Mr.. o. w. Palm OF Lin
coin rs his insurance examiner, al
though IL Is said Mr.. Palm is n OF
the largest and most prosperous insu-
rance agents In the state. Serious pro-
tests came into The office against this
and | have for a long time asked the
auditor to discharge Palm and obey
the law. My pleadings have been In
vain and ns late as two months ago
sthis man Palm was east holding up
companies, as he very properly terms
IL. This leads me 10 say that there Is
a rule In our insurance department
approved by Auditor Cornell that ex-
aminers OF joint stock and old line
companies shall have not to exceed
$40 a day and expenses for their work.
| can prove this by copy OF a letter
to the Erie Fire Insurance company
Of Buffalo, N. Y, dated January 0,
1899. and copied on insurance letter
book Of that date. pages 149 and $50.
| affixed the auditors name to that
letter upon his orders after he read
the letter. Now the fact is that dur
ing last year letters and documents
fell into my hands evidently not in
tended for me and they prove conclu-
sively that the auditors insurance ex-
aminers were violating not only this
wholesome rule, but plain statutory
laws as well and were holding up"
companies shamefully by the power
Of the great seal OF the state.
The fraternal insurance law Of 1897
provides in section o that men who ex-
anime fraternal associations shall be
limited to SIS per day and necessary
travelling expenses and hotel bills"
A few weeks ago a director Of the Ma
tional Aid association Of Topeka, Kas.,
a fraternity doing business in this
state, protested to me because the au-
ditor sen his nephew, j. A. Simpson,
to examine their books and records
and after only two days work Mr..
Simpson filed a bill for 500, which
they paid rather than have trouble
with the state auditor. The Traders
Insurance company of Chicago seems
to have had a call from Mr.. Simpson
recently, backed by n commission
from his uncle. the auditor, and after
a few hours visit paid $110. During
1897 i succeeded in getting all insu-
rance examinations recorded I'm a book
kept for that purpose and there were
no hold ups in the name of the state
or violations of law in regard to eX'
aminations that l could learn. Bur,
during the last year 1t was different
Not an examiner could be induced to
put n single date or data on the rec,
ords i'm the office and my appeals to
the auditor to compel them to do sc
were of no avail. The auditor and
the examiners combined TO keep rear
ly all the reports Of the examiners and
everything else touching examina,
tons of insurance companies away
from me, although I often asked tc
have them so i could record the facts
and file the papers in their proper
places. / declared that all this un,
called for conduct was simply to keel
me from seeing their crookedness ant
OF course I deserved to walk the ganl
plank. II has long been the custom
OF the auditor to lay all insuran c mai
on my desk and to open II and Civ,
IL attention. After the scandlous o
w. Palm letter of December 16, 1898
written at Chicago, fell into my hands
| was not allowed to open any mor'
office mail. After that accident tn,
aduitor always opened insurance mai
and looked for compromising matte
before turning II over to me for re
plies. On January 10, 1890, two socia
letters very plainly addressed to IN,
by friends fell into Auditor Cornell
hands. There was not a scratch oil
the envelope to indicate that the audi
tor had any right to them, but thes,
two also came to me from the hand
of the auditor and like the office mai
they were wide open. c. c. Pool, tn
deputy auditor, handed me one of tn
letters addressed plainly to me b,
typewriter and marked personal AM
this one also vas ripped open. Thes
men spempd determined ~ Epnx