Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1901-06-13
THE DAVIS STEAL.

The cass of SihlOl land CLERK
Davis, VIII it is allegs lhls stplea
$Sl, 200 from the state school fund
furnishes q good object lesson Q
the inner workings of the poIi,ica
machine which manipulstes tbs
public afurs of ths state q Oag,
on. So far as we know nobody
denies but that Davis stole til,
money and most persons psrhapi
bile We that the State Land Bmrd
which employed Davis should BE-
held resplas ible with him for the
defalcation. In view of the receni
opinion given out by D strict A t.
torney Chamberlain of AIlltnomah
county, however, nob,dy believes
that either Davis or his superiors
will be held responsible for the theft
bat that they viii go Scot free and
the tax payers and school children
of0regDn will BE- just $1,000 loser.
Every body believes that our
state affairs are managed and
directed BY a political machine and
eases of this kind are straws which
point in the direction of the proba-
bic fact that when it comes to a
question of gratis" aud "grafters''
when it tcomes to a show down in
the matter of shielding embezzlers
of public funds, and others of their
ilk-party fences are laid low and,
without regard to political principle
the gang all stand together and
p;0test elsa oths-, s,ftly mIrmur-
ing, each in his neighbor's ear, "The
people be damned" The fact that
in this Davis case a number of
legislative committees have ex-
anined his books, since the defal-
eation,and reported them corr ect is
u shame to the state, to the mem
bers Of the legislative bodies and to
the people who elect them. Such
Jotteness as this is the cause Of
much Of the political and social
unrest of the age and explains
why SO many intelligent people
are beginning to believe that some
new and better system of govern
nent must be evolved to supplan'
the present rotten one.
The following comment and
queries apropos the Davis case,
which we clip from the 0fegonian,
is to the point:
Startling as it is, and incompre
hensible as it may seem, the ides
is freely heldout by many persons
of much information concerning
the Davis case that little. if any
possibility exists for the recovery
of the $4,000 of the peoples
money. 1t has indeed, been evi
dent from the start that nobody il
seriously concerned about it. Th,
columns ofthis paper are directed
at the subject occasionally, anC
then there is a slight movement
but the most patent thing about
the whole is the indisposition 0
all concerned to do any thing tina
might possibly bring fruit, and
added to this is the alacrity with
which everybody asserts that th'
money can never be recovered
Atsor.lsy- General Blackburn
selects a method ofprocedure which
District Attorney Chamberlain
promptly pronounces ineffective
Mr.. Blackburn would willingly
pillory Pennoyer if he could, JUS
as he spent $1,000 investigating
Napoleon Davis when he shoulC
have been proceeding against Geo.
Davis. Is there not a public
o6ic er in the state who will sincerly
try to recover this money to the
treasury and punish the perpetra-
tors, regardless of political ring:
and favortisn? Is the clerkship
abuse. after all, merely an accurate
reflection of our whole official life?'