The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-25

WANTED-THE WHOLE TRUTH.
The G / o is very strongly disposed
to believe that the public will never learn
the entire truth regarding the frauds
which have been perpetratcd by whole
sale under Republican administrations of
the county auditors and the county treas
urer's offices until the effort is made
to secure the conviction of w c. Bourne
! on the charges now pending against him.
The public will never be satisfied
until the whole truth is known. They will
want to understand, for instance, why
frauds of that general character or, IN
deed, of any character, were never COM
mitted during the administration of that
office by Auditor NJ F. Kahn. Mr.. Kahn
had as his chief deputy Mr. Moosbrugger,
through whose Investigations the present
exposures came about. Mr.. Moos-
brugger was removed from office
as soon as Mr.. Sullivan, Kahn s
Republican successor. took hold,
and Bourne was appointed in his
stead. This was another case of the en-
tirely non-partisan tendencies of local
Republican officials. Had it taken place
as the result of the induction of a Demo-
cratic county auditor into office, the Pio
neer Press would have made Of it
grand opportunity to read another of it's
splendid lessons on local non-partisan-
ship and moral publication as conducted
by the g. o. p.
How does it happen that every precau-
ton which was necessary to be taken to
prevent such frauds was taken under Mr..
Kahn and Mr.. Moosbrugger and, as sug-
gested by State Examiner Pope, was
omitted under Mr., Johnson and Mr.
Bourne? This is another of the Questions
which the public would like to have an
swered. and which must be answered be-
fore the whole truth is known.
1t is not the Republican administration
Of the office of county auditor alone
which is involved in these gross and
shameless frauds. 1t is also, and in an
equal, if not a greater, degree. the Re-
publican administration of the office Of
county treasurer.
1t was the present Democratic county
treasurer. Metzdorf, that felt called on
by his official obligations to go to the
state examiner and cal his attention to
the condition of the tax refundment ac-
count. 1t was on his suggestion that the
state examiner started his Investigations
resulting in the Burns-Griswold discov-
cries. 1t was only by precautions such as
he took, when he refused to pay the war
rant to Shoemaker without consulting
the county attorney, that the whole sys-
tenn Of fraud and robbery could have
been brought to close. But no Re-
publican official seems to have deemed
such precautions necessary.
Take the single requirement, put into
the law to meet just such oases-that OF
paying the warrant by the county treas
urer only on PRESERVATION by the person
to whom it is actually made payable
Why does no Republican county treas
urer ever seem to have thought it neces-
sary to observe that requirement.? If it
had been observed, it would not matter
how crooked tie auditor or his deputies
might be, unless there had been actual
collision and conspiracy to rob the
county inside as we'll as outside the
auditors office, the robberies could nsv-
er have been contaminated. But it was
never observed. Any Tom, Dick or Harry
could present the county warrant and
was sure to have it paid
When the whole truth is known we VII
without doubt be able to understand why
with the inception OF Republican control
In this county, this network of official
fraud and robbery was at once cast
over the county Offices.