The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-12
Forged Orders Cashed.

TOT9eo OroerS CaShed.
These forged, orders were all casbed bv
me commercial National bank of Salt
, Lake City, Utah, between the 10th ,iay
OF october, 1903, and the 18th dav of ,UIne.
lS4. ana that at all times between said
dates there was sufficient moneV in tbe
bank belonging to the state of Utah and
deposited by the commission with which
70 pay al OF said orders, with the ex-
was an overdraft at the bank of 81. sos 81 ;
Dut on May 8, 1904, a deposit of IS 600 was
i,doe Dy the commission to cover said
oNerdraIt. The evidence further tends TO
show, without contradiction thai the
name OF Heber ID. Webs was forced to
all or said orders by the secretary of the
commission. John @ Cannon.
soon after his appointment the secre-
Iary OF the commission, John Q. Cannon.
siseinS OF a ledger and voucher record
ana Journal. but very many of the
items pertaining TO the affairs of the
commission Were not entered in these
DOCKS At the time the transaction oc-
CURED and at the time your committee
began to exa mine the accounts of the
commission this first set of hooks had
disappeared and a new set of books bear
ing evidence that they had been recently
original books of account Your coronit-
zee finally located the original set of
DOCKS and found that they had been so
oadIy mutilated and We're in such condi-
tlon that they were OF little value in de
termining the real state of affairs of the
commission Your committee was unable
70 secure the presence of the secretary
John .. Cannon, to therein receive from
MN explanations relative to the books
oence ana records IL appears that the
salary of the secretary, John @ Cannon,
was overdrawn s25.
Records of Treasurer.
The treasurer OF the commission. Mr.
Iioyt sherman; kept books of account
pertaining to the affairs of the commits
sion entrusted to him, but at the time
tnls committee commenced to investigate
the accounts the leaves OF the book were
torn out and delivered to the committee
In that form. so that that portion which
would otherwise have constituted a pub
lie record appears in the form of leaves
torn from the original record and the
record itself Is not in the possession of
the commission. Mr. Sherman gave the
committee no information, except what
was cOntained these sheets.
Your committee further reports that
there was paid TO the treasurer of the
commission. Willis Johnson, shortly after
he became treasurer. about the latter part
OF January. the su moi s2.I31l2. which
was paid to the treasurer by John NJ
Cannon who represenfed bir1seIf 70 he
the attorney for John Q. Cannon. The
evident purpose of the payment of this
sum or 2,131-12, as shown by the evil
dence, was to cover the amount paid out
on the forged vouchers
IN addition TO the orders that were
forged, voucher No. III to the Utah Light
q Railway company for $4675 was not
used in the payment of any obligation in
CURED by the commission, but went to
III.
Cannon in favor of the Utah Light &
Power company Order No 124 to ObIaa
& Knight for $40. 90 was not used to pay
any indebtedness of the commission, but
went to pay q private obligation of the
secretary of the commission. John Q.
Cannon.
Criticism For Commissioners.
From the best information obtainable
by your committee, there passed through
the hands of Willis Johnson a member
20 of 90
Mr.. Johnson claims that this amount was
expended for his expenses during the time
he was engaged in the work of the COM
mission. He does not, however, present
a single receipt from the person of whom
he Is alleged TO have paid the money
From the best information obtainabIe
there was received ali told, by L. w.
Shurt1ff from the commission the sum
OF $l,9e6.S0 for which amount he has
signed vouchers 10 the commission He
has left, however, with the commission
no books of account showing the money
received and disbursed by him and has
filed no receipts whatever from any per-
son to whom he is said to have paid any
part of this money. In voucher No. us
an item appears on Feb. 20, hotel five
days at St. Louis from 10Th to oath in
clusiVely at 500 per day: on Feb % n,
the same voucher. sleeping from Chicago
to Ogden. $50; Feb. q. same voucher
meals 40. The explanations offered in
a number of instances in the accounts of
l.. w. Shurtliff are unsatisfacto to the
committee and a number of his eXpen-
ditures seem to be excessive
Confusion in Whitaker's Accounts.
From the best information obtainabIe
there passed through the hands of the
director general, S. T. Whitaker, the sum
of $SS,59 .66. According TO his own testi-
mony, he kept no books of account show
ing the money received from and paid out
on behalf of the commission. The evid-
ence discloses that in many instances the
accounts of Mr.. Whitaker are in a hope
less state of confusion, and il is impos-
sible for the committee to tell to what
extent they are correct. A number of Sc
rious discrepancies appear in his accounts
and the explanations in respect to them
are wholly unsatisfactory TO the commits