Arizona republican., 1904-07-06

| the OH1ceS WOulu come III IOI iIlOIe UT
 less severe criticism in the report which
 MT. Hickey will submit. It was said
 that the board of supervisors had
 been guilty of negligence in superintend-
 Ing the affairs of the county and that i-
 had been especially negligent in the
 distribution of the immigration com
 missioner fund which had been prac-
 tically frittered away even if it had no.
 been disposed of in a more reprehen- sible manner than by mere frittering. | The person most affected by the rn-- mors was County Recorder McFall who was said to be short about $4.000. It had been observed that the greater part of the time of Hr. Hickey had been spent in the office of the county recorder and that there has lately been no observance of holidays and Sum days in that office. Just what has been discovered will not be made known until the conclusion of the in- vestigation and the submission of the report. It is thought that the investi- gation will require two or three more days.
 It is learned though that the alleged shortage in the office of the recorder | Is the result of a difference of opinion about who has the right to certain fees of that office. This dispute was once threshed out in the district court and Judgment was rendered against the re- corder who was directed to turn into the treasury certain fees which, in the absence of any definite direction by the statutes he thought he had a right to keep. These were fees for certificates attestations marginal releases and other instruments which are not to be filed and recorded"
 In retaining these fees the recorder acted upon the advice of several attor. neys of Phoenix and on a decision upon the same point by the district attor- ney of Yuma county where the same question had been raised. The suit against the recorder to compel him to turn over these fees was brought to trial two years ago, just before the be- ginning of the campaign. He expected to be a candidate for reelection and at the advice of his political friends h.. did not appeal from the judgment against him. A part of the fees werr. turned in but it is said that the rest were not.
 Though he had been defeated in the law suit Recorder McFall was still not convinced that the fees belonged to the county and he resolved to make a test of the matter in the higher courts. Therefore he has been holding out these fees, though making statements to the treasurer of the amounts he has re- ceived. It is said though that no re- port has been made to the board of supervisors
 At the beginning of the year the amount of the fees so held out was $l,950 and it is thought that the report of MT. Hickey will show that to the present time the amount will be abou. S4,000. A week ago there was a par tiai arrangement by which MT. McFall was to turn into the treasury tha amount shown to have been held out up to the beginning of the year. That deposit was to be made last Saturday. But at the last moment the recorder on the advice of his attorneys decided to retain the morey.
 It is likely that soon after the re- port of the investigation has been made suit for the recovery of the fees vii be begun and it is thought that by that time they will amount to S5,O00. That case will be decided only in the court of last resort.
 In the supervisors office thedisposi- tion of the funds for the objects ofthe immigration act of the legislature of 1901 is said to be inviting the atten- tion of the investigators. That law provided that boards of supervisors m counties of the first class might ap- point commissioners of immigration at a salary of $500 a year and might ex- pend in carrying out the purposes O.. the act not more than $2.5OO annually. The law was passed expressly for ths benefit of. Phoenix and the Salt river valley. It was understood at the time. and but for that understanding the law would not have been passed, that che funds were to be practically distributed by the board of trade of Phoenix. An officer of the board was to be the commissioner of immigration. but he was to draw no salary. The salary was to be applied to the ad- vertisement of the valley.
 That arrangement was afterward su- perseded and John O. Dunbar was ap- pointed commissioner. He has main- tained a relation with the board of trade whose nominal responsibility for the proper expenditure of the money is as binding as it ever was but the board, 1t is charged has performed no other office of late than that of a catspay for dragging the money out of the treasury. It does not appear that it has taken fervent interest in the results-of the expenditures. Some time ago it WIS announced that the commissioner of Immigration was going to issue a pamphlet in which would be set forth the glories of the valley. There were to be 10000 copies of the pamphlet. The board was supposed to be in some way responsible for this publication and to know something of the process by which t was to be issued There was | an invitation to publishers to submit bids but the notice was so indefinite that they could not intelligently avail themselves of it if they had desired 10 1 do so. It was not stated when the I