The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-30
From the Montgomery Advertiser.


 The following open letter has been written to ex-Governor Joseph F. John ston by ex-Governor William c. Oates; To ex-Governor Jospeh F. Johnston.
 I have taken no part In the contest between you and Governor Jelks for the nomination for governor. went to the opera house Thursday night and heard your speech. You seemed to have aban- doned the points you made in your fight against the ratification of the constitu- ton and have. renewed your self-lauda- ton and boasting of your great achieve ments when you were governor, as you did in your campaign against Morgan for the senate.
 I care not how big a braggart you are, nor how much you indulge your vanity, provided you do not tread on my toes. When you do you may expect me to kick
 You said thursday night, When I went in (the office) before found $36,- 900 in your treasury-not as much as the weakest bank in Montgomery had in its vaults.' You must have known that this statement was incorrect, or you were too ignorant of the condition of the treasury at that time to make your statement about 1t trustworthy. You made a positive assertion to men whose votes you were seeking. I assert that on the day you were sworn into of- flee there was in the treasury and under its control s149,s7s, and the books of that department show it.
 OfdciaI atafer17arf raada vaaforday Ia aa follows;
 Montgomery, July 2s, 1902. Statement taken from the books of the treasurer of the state of Alabama, as they stood at the close of business in the treasurer's office on the 30th day of November, 1896, to-wit:
 Cash subject to payment of warrants. To balance cash on hand. .$138, ,S90. .15 In addition to the balance men
 tioned above there was bal-
 ance held in trust at credit of
 interest on the bonded debt of
 the state on that date of..... 11,s17 10 Of which the fiscal agent held
 in New York ,................... 1,5s4.n Leaving a balance in the vault
 interest act ......................$ 10,4S2. .S9
 The two balances designated above be- ing combined make a total of one hum dred and forty-nine thousand, three hun dred and seventy-th three dollars and four cents. Very respectfully,
 J. CRAIG SMITH,
 State Treasurer.
 You said in your speech, lone bank in Mobile, the First National, held s5O,O0O of warrants of the state that were overdue. If they had presented them your treas ury would have been dishonored and protested" Everybody knows that you succeeded me as governor, and you cer- tainly knew that I, as governor, had borrowed s5000O from the Mason Bank, or rather I got that bank to cash certain warrants and hold them as security for the money thus advanced. You knew that the bank was to wait four months for the repayment of that money or the re- demption of those warrants. Tn my bi- ennial message, a copy of which l gave I to you many days prior to your inau- | guration, 1t was stated and printed in l plain type on pages and 10, as follows: | "On or about the 10th day of october l | bile, J. H. Mason, president, to cash $5O.OO0 of the warrants drawn by the au- l ditor of the treasury in favor of the Bryce Insane Hospital and some others | of the most needy institutions whose warrants could be thus used. The bank thus rendered the state much needed as- | sistance. The terms agreed on were 6 per cent discount which was reserved by 1 the bank for four months before the state shall be called upon to pay them" did you read the message? If you did you as l sumed in your statement Thursday night 1 that made false report in that mes- sage. I centainly did if your statement made Thursday night be true I assert that 1t is not. I know what I stated to have been the truth. Your memory is so treacherous that therein you are a dangerous man."
 l You further stated in your opera house speech that joint committee of the |. two houses (of the legislature) a few days before I entered upon that office made report that was adopted by both houses, saying that there was deficit of about $500, ,000, that the state owed that much money that it could not pay"
 You were in my office the day the reso- lution was introduced to raise that com mittee. I showed you every courtesy and told you that would be glad to furnish you with any information pertaining to the affairs of the state which you might desire. I felt that this was due to you as the incoming governor. I was reliably 1 informed that soon after you left my office you wrote the joint resolution and | had 1t introduced into the senate that evening or the next morning, You seem to have had enmity towards me or sus- pected my honesty. and intended to throw | discredit on my administration if possible. | do not know whether the fact that had defeated you for the nomination stimulated your action to any extent, but have always suspected that 1t did I hope that am mistaken.
 1 The amount reported by that commit | tee was s56S,000 and not $6O0.00O as you stated; and the amount reported by them was not as a deficit" nor was 1t as you 1 said that the state owed that much money that it could not pay" It was an ascertainment by the committee of the amount of the appropriations and cur rent expenses which would fall due on the last day of December of that year. This was erroneous by at least s1000 900, the Nelson note which by its terms did not