The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-14

<xf ted a report on the financial conoitlon ~
 the Old Soldiers Home near Mouns Creek and revealed that without puu,I@ contribution the inmates will pc wlln. out means of support for the curreh' quarter. ..,,u
 The report was made on the ors poo
 accounts and vouchers of A. J. broohs'
 who was formerly comandant ana sec
 retary and treasurer of the home. Ine
 renort covers the time this oncer was
 in charge of the home. or rom ApIli
 i 1904. to October 5, 1905. His resie-
 nation was sent to the Board 0. Coh-
 trol of the home on the iatter oa'e
 The financial dilemma to which the
 home is suddenly reduced seems to
 have been caused by an exhaustion or the maintenance fund of the institution
 No shortage is charged against e1-
 Comandant Brooks. but the examiner
 says he was derelict in not informing
 the executive committee of the nome
 of the approaching deficit eariier.
 State to the home is s12.500 for the
 maintenance of the inmates. This IS on a basis of SIPS annually for each sol
 dier, but there are only sixty-seVen m
 mates in the home and this numper
 was applied for when the last warrant
 was drawn on the State treasury TOT
 the current quarter.
 
 the ex-commandant exhausted this in-
 stallment by diverting some of 1t to
 the payment of outstanding claims or
 which the Executive Committee Knew
 nothing. Of the total amount, $l,soo.zo
 drawn on October for the quarter
 ending December 31, s1.273.11 was paid
 bv the ex-commandant to satisfy out
 standing claims. Besides this, the ex-
 commandant, acording to the examiner,
 transferred s277.S5 from the mainten- ance fund to the improvement tuno
 with the committees authority. There
 were no other funds, MT. Brooks salo'
 to pay for these improvements Tnere
 fore, when Mir. Brooks went out Of or
 fee he left to kss successor, Dr. M. l..
 Fielder. only s633.14 with which to
 support the homes sixty-seven inmates
 from October 1 to January |. Ihls IS
 absolutely insufficient, according 10 tne examiner, and as there Is stii sl'e z.oo
 outstanding in claims against the nome
 an appeal has been issued TOT pupiic
 contributions to the needy old soldiers
 Examiner German says that $lT5 an-
 ruaiIv ner inmate Is small for his main-
 tenance one year. He also suggests an
 appropriation for improving the walks
 and roads about the home.
 The full report of the examiner omit
 tinr an exhibit of the estimated item
 ized expenses of the home per month is as follows:
 "Hon. William D. Jelks.
 governor of Alabama:
 "Dear str-In obedience to the fn-
 structions received from the chief ex- ecutiye office, I have examined tne hooks. accounts and vouchers or A d.
 Brooks, ex-commandant and ex-secre- tarv and treasurer of the Confederate
 Soldiers Home. from April l, iso4, 10 October 5, 1905, and respectiuiiy suo- ranOFt.
 .sThe Confederate Soldiers Home was established April 1, 1904, under an act of the Legislature approved octooer D, 1eO3 It Is located near Mountain Creek. in Chiffon County. and contains eighty acres of land, which. together
 with all the improvements thereon ,, a, the time, were donated to the state py inc Jeff Falkner Camp. No. 1Ss2,. U' c. V. Aoor enclosed by q substantial wire fence ten comfortable residences, a commo- dious hospital and handsome audi- forum, with a library and a hall TOT
 religious services. nave oeen srensshed ereG,ed The residences are all well furnlsheu A fine system of waterworks is in op- eration and the sanitary conditions are
 '.The total value of the property Is estimated at $65, ,000. The State has, not extended this amount on the home The land and improvements donated te ths state were worth about $30,000 and a part of the buildings since erect ed and improvements since made were
 maid for by donations and contriou- tions. .. 100 or more inmates. The home IS un- der the supervision of board Of con troI composed of one trustee from each let nt three trnS- tees from the State at large. appointed by the Governor. with the Governor as ey-oficio president. The three trustees from the State-at-large constitute an executive committee to manage all business delegated to 1t by the board of control. nrovides for the election by the board of control of a commandant who shall also be secretary and treasurer and who shall have control and management o1 home Such commandant Is required to execute bond in the sum Of $2,OO0 and he must collect and disburse all the moneys of the home. under the rules and regulations prescribed by the board of control, and he Is held strictly ac- countable to the board. The board fixes the compensation of the officers | of the home and that of the commando ant was fixed at $50 per month.
 ''Under the rules and regulations adopted by the board the commandant must purchase all necessary supplies | for the home; and section of said | rules and regulations provides as fol lows: He shall furnish the Executive | Committee on the first of each month an itemized statement of expenditures | for the past month A. J. Brooks was elected commandant and held the posi- tion from April 1, 1904, to October 5 l 1905, when he resigned and was sue 1 ceeded by pr. M. L. Fielder.
 Section of the establishing set ap.
 propriated $25,000 out of the State treasury for necessary buildings anC | improvements: and Section 10 of said
 act, appropriates $125 annually for tho support and maintenance of each in. mate in the home. limiting the annua appropriation to $12.5OO. which would | support 100 inmates. but 67 is the larg. l est number who have been in the home | at any one time. This appropriation is
 drawn quarterly and is based upon the | actual number of inmates in the home | from the first day of the quarter
 | dsMr Brooks EeOt senarota accounts