The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-10-23

1 have been suspended, the Governor
has simply asked that the present ar
rangement continue and to this 1 have
made no objection.
Il suppose charges, or a statement,
will be made by the Governor in regard
| to my administration of office as Super
intendent of the Department of Public
Works. There has been nothing spe-
cific as yet and until there is 1 of
course, cannot make any explanation. I
understand that this statement will be
in writing and will then make my ex-
PLANTATION. The examination of the
! books and accounts of my Office has
not been completed as yet and l do not
expect to receive this statement until
| the early part of next week There will
! probably be a statement drawn from
( the books with the showing of discrep-
ancies if any, and 1 shall then be in
position to explain whether they are
| correct or incorrect.
AS TO THE $4,000.
THE $4,000 which I received from t.
H DaviesH& Co., is on special deposit
with ne and l am ready to turn it over
for tila Improvement of Bridge street
in Eiio as soGn as it is required OF
may be taken, but 1 consider that the
money was placed on deposit with me
for the improvement of that street.
had outlined my plans to carry the
| work to completion by the end of this
year or the beginning of next year.
After the money has been expended the
pay rolls and vouchers will be account
ed for to T. H. Davies & Co. The rea-
son the work has not been done is that
the government must first secure GER
tain rights of way and pay damages
for the removal of fences. The road
damage fund is nearly exhausted and
the $4,000 is to be used in part in secur
ing the needed right of any and to pay
for the removal of fences. The work
has been delayed because the
right of way has not been secured and
because other streets in Hilo must first
be graded. The grade was just received
from our engineer at Hilo few weeks
before Marston CampbelPs accident.
''The $4,000 was not turned over to the
Treasurer as a government realization
or a special deposit for the simple rea-
son that il it had been it could not have
been taken out for this work. 1t would
have required special act on the part
of the legislature to remove the money
once it had been paid into the Treasury.
If it had been paid over there would
have been nothing to prevent it's use
by the government in the same manner
as the Chinese fund was used in the
payment of warrants. L had given
Davies & Co. my personal receipt as
Superintendent of Public Works for the
$4,000, and I personally would have been
held responsible for that amount. Had
the money been in the treasury it could
not have been drawn upon as it would
have been required in the payment of
work in Hilo. The money now is on
special deposit and I am ready to ac-
count for it at any time
AS TO B. H. WRIGHT.
II am entirely at sea in regard to B.
II. Wright-where he got the money
said to have been taken by him, and
what became of it. The news that he
was in trouble was surprise to me.
but 1 inferred that the matter had
been settled. Treasurer Wright wrote
me but one letter in which he mention
ed the B. H. Wright trouble, and he
then said assurances had been given
that the amount would be made up. I
wrote one letter to B. H. Wright while
posed it was because he was in Jail.
1T was not the custom in the de-
partment to keep such large sums in
the safe as Wright is alleged to have
taken. Our receipts come from sewer
rents, garbage. charges, sale of town
lots and government reaIizations. It
was the practice to make deposit with
the Treasurer once a week and when
IO1 70 &c
were made oftener. When we were re-
ceiving small amounts it was the prac-
tice to wait until it had reached the
sum of several thousand dollars before
being deposited. B. H. Wright was in
charge of the safe, and l never went
there unless with him to open it,
while I, as Superintendent of Public
Works, am responsible for the acts of
all the clerks in my Office, do not see
how 1 am accountable for the alleged
shortage of B. H. Wright The money
collected by him was collected as pub
lie accountant, and he as such was re-
sponsible to the Treasurer, and the
Auditor General approved his accounts.
, In the same way the collections made
by the water department which, al
though under my supervision, are ac-
counted for directly to the Treasurer.
fright was not under bonds to me and
u has never been the practice to re-
quire bonds from the clerks in the in
terror departments.
Il saw nothing of Treasurer Wright
in San Francisco and received no word
from him aside from the first letter.
Just before the steamer sailed there
we're rumors around to the effect that
ne had gone to Mexico