The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-10
The Child's Play Effort to Shield
Treasurer.
Now Admitted That Kelly Isb
Embezzler, But Declared Are
'sOTHER EMBEZZLERS. /"
Declared That Kelly Duplicated
COmanche Transaction
In Clark County-This However
Is Denied.


of the State Journals case:
1.-THE answer brings in 7. T. Kelly
1t would not be natural unless this
was done. After telling that the bonds
were bad and that Mr.. GODDARD ar
ranged with Mr.. Kelly to get the state
school commission to buy them. the
| answer states that the bonds were reg
istered at night and that every efforo
was made to keep the matter secret
The answer then states:
That, by some kind of an arr
rangenent entered into between the
said GODDARD and the said State Treas
urer Kelly and said Secretary of Stata
Burrow, and said Attorney GeneraE
Coleman, and said Superintendent oe
Public Instruction Dayhon, the SAID
school fund commissioners purchased
! and paid $123.oOO for said bono ), ana
| placed the same in the permanent
school fund of this state"
The Capital said yesterday:
THE school fund lost not dollar.
but there was a technical violation Of
law by the state treasurer in paying
for these bonds before the order was
issued upon him by the school fund
commission requiring the payment Un-
der the law the school fu&d money
cannot be paid out by the state treas-
urer until he is ordered to do so by
the commission. In such case, or in
any case where money is paid out by
the treasurer without an order or war;
rant he is technically guilty of 'embez-
Element
by the premature payment for the
Comanche county bonds contrary to
law as it was, the state school fund
did not lose a dollar. There was no
intent to wrong the state and no in
jury resulted. 1t is, therefore, untrue.
uncharitable and essentially mislead-
ing to say that State Treasurer Kelly
is an 'embezzler' in the sense that he
caused the state or the school fund the
loss OF a single penny by paying for
bonds after they had been bought, but
before the order issued upon him for
their payment"
Is a horse thief less a criminal be-
cause the owner of the horse afterwards
gets it back?
Think of the embezzlers, who took
money expecting to pay it back, who
would be willing to pay the amount
back ten times over If they could do
so and save themselves from the pen
atty of the lawi
Many a burglar is serving sentence
although all of the goods he stole were
recovered by the owner who did not IN
the end lose a single penny by the
theft.
The public consciene must indeed be
dulled in Kansas if the Capital. the Re-
publican newspaper organ of the state.
expects its readers to be satisfied with
such an explanation as it makes OF
I
public trust and misuse of public
money.
The Capital made the astounding an
nouncement yesterday that Governor
Bailey is the same kind of an embez-
zler that Kelly is because the governor
got his pay during the month he earned
it,
What chiId's play.
Another startling statement is made
by the Capital that Harry j. Bone,
secretary to Governor Bailey, lately
Il
on the same plan that A. A. GODDARD
operated in putting the Comanche
bond deal through"
If the state treasurer did what tho
fCapital alleges he did and took state
funds to take up Mr.. Bones note, as
he did Godard's, and take bonds from
Bone he did from GODDARD or Cod
ards banker, then Mr.. Kelly is guilty
of another embezzlement and of one
of which the State Journal was
ignorant.
We were given the sensational an
Inouncement Sunday that it is a COM
mon practice for state treasurers to
break the explicit law against en-
bezzlement in the manner which
not to be blamed for loaning A A.
GODDARD $123,O0O of state money for
seventeen days and then paying Mr..
GODDARD interest on that very money
for that same time; that the state did
not lose anything. and therefore the
deal was all right.
of course Kelly is technically
guilty. Every criminal is technically
guilty. He is also guilty without any
.-technicality." He simply committed
plain embezzlement and that in sum
involving fortune. AS rule men who
do such things even for small amounts
are sent to prison.
Suppose Attorney General Coleman
should have exercised his common
sense to the point of refusing to ap-
prove the purchase of those bonds.
where would the states $123, 900 have
been?
Suppose State Auditor Wells had re-
fused to keep the registration of those
bonds a secret, or suppose he had held
them up for a day after it was known
the school fund commissioners had
bought them: An injunction suit would
have been brought to keep the bonds
from being registered in the school
fund and to keep the state treasurer
from paying for them because they
were illegally purchased. Then would
Mr.. Kelly have been only Technically
an embezzler? The state would have
been out $4,000 and Kelly could not
have paid it back. The reason the Co
manche county bond deal was rushed
through was to enable Mr.. Kelly to
pay the money back before the state
accountant found that he was S123,0OO
short.
Every embezzIer expects to pay
back the money before he gets caught
Not one out of every one hundred
Iiberately use funds intrusted to them
with the expectation of keeping them
They always expect to pay the money
hac