Sharp County record., 1901-10-18

ly sought the advice and assistance Of
ex.Gov. Fishback, who has given more
time and attention 10 exposing the
fraudulent nature of these old bonds
and who perhaps knows more about
the rascality by which they were engi-
neered than any other man in the state,
and his examination threw food Of
light on the matter. l have no doubt
that the Hudson Bank people ex-
changed their bonds with Denckla,
and as was reported by the committee,
knew what they got when they took the
bonds they hold now. and that Denckla
and his associates afterwards funded
the bonds they obtained from the Hud-
son Bank, and that the debt
has been paid. Hon. Clay Sloan, one
of the best auditors the state ever
had, was before the committee, and
gave clear and cogent reasons why he
did not believe the claim TO be a just
one; and last of all, Governor Davis
was called, and when asked the ques-
ton as to whether he did not think
| it was the duty of lawyer to press
| a claim such as this in the courts, he
replied that he would not have taken
the case.
After these witnesses had gotten
| through, this claim shriveled like Jo-
nah's gourd, and there was scarcely
enough of it left for the winds to blow
away. When Representative Holland,
of Sebastian, in his disgust and indig-
nation moved its indefinite postpone
ment, the question prevailed over
whelmingly.
In my opinion this claim would
never have received one minutes at
| tention in the legislature but for the
influence of Gov. Clarke, and this in
fluence l do not think he ought to
have used to further a claim IKE this,
| and l further believe that, if Clarke
| legislature is elected next year, one
of the first bills to be passed by it will
be bill providing for the payment Of
| this Hudson Bank claim.
When this proposition was pending
in the general assembly, well might
George Sengel, of Sebastian county,
exclaim: Already | can hear the
click of the locks that have held con-
| cealed the old repudiated bonds of the
state. and they are being busted and
| prepared for payment from hidden
vaults. Millions of the bonds will be
brough to light and in the usual in
nocent way the state will be asked to
| pay them. Pay these fraudulent bonds
that were manipulated by the Repub-
licans of Arkansas during the period
of reconstruction! Just think of it.,
| Democrats of Arkansas, this is the be-
| ginning of the greatest outrage ever
| perpetrated upon the people of the
state, and you are asked to pave the
way to say the schemes of this recon-
struction gang were good"
There is connected with this trans
action another chapter in the history
of Arkansas, which | think demands
the attention of every intelligent man
| in the state. Gov. Fishback upon retir-
| ing from the governorship, on the day
| that Gov. Clarke went into Office, call
ed attention to the humiliating fact
| that the books of the auditor and
treasurer did not show accurately the
exact condition of the states indebt.
edness. and that it was i'm
possible to tell whether the
Woodruff shortage was only about
ffty-fve thousand or one hundred and
thirty-eight thousand dollars, and also,
that Simms' report showed that nine
ty-two thousand dollars of interest
bearing scrip was missing from the
vaults OF the treasury; that the bond
registry showed that eleven thousand
dollars of bonds had been redeemed,
and were missing from the vaults of
| the treasury.
Speaking of this condition he said:
Il would suggest the passage of an act
authorizing and directing the treasur-
| er to give ample notice in the financial
| centers of the world, that all evidences
of debt against the state of Arkansas,
of whatever kind or description, shall
be brought to the treasurer on or be-
/ fore certain date, giving ample time,
| to be by the state board examined,
| registered and stamped, and that all
such evidences of debt which shall not
be brought in on or before that date,
shall be forever barred from payment;
making it felony for any officer of
the state after this date to receive or
pay any of such evidences of debt
which are not so registered and
stamped"
In pursuance of this recommends
ton, Representative Leatherwood of
Sebastian county, introduced a bill
covering all the provisions of this
recommendation, and it passed both
houses. If this bill had become a law
it is easily manifest that the Hudson
Bank bill could never have been before
the last legislature as it was; but Gov.
Clark vetoed it after the adjournment
of the legislature, as | understand, u.s.
ing these words in his proclamation
vetoing the bill: Because | think
this bill to be ineffective for the ac-
complishment of any useful purpose
to the state, and can only operate to
inconvenience without any compensat-
ing return large body of our already
badly treated creditors, | must decline
IN onnrOva n