The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-27
HOLDS 100000
WITHOUT A BOND
Former Governor Wells Has Privi-
lege With Land Funds.
METHODS ARE CRITICISED
BOARD HOLDS MEETING TO TAKE
UP MATTER.

! D ECENT investigation into the
X business methods of the state
board of land commissioners has
led 10 a demand for a radical D,odf-
! ncdIIOn of the law bearing on The
I subject. 1t has also resulted i'm sp.-
! cal meetings Of the land board and
! request upon former Governor FEaba--
! NJ Wells that the securities belonging
| 10 the state be turned over To The
/ board. These securities viii be turned
I over his morning, and the understand
/ ing is that another special rnPprfng of
! the board viii be held today 10 CON
/ SIder the further disposition of the Sc
I cullJieS and 10 discuss other important
! phases of the situation that are not
satisfactory to the new administered ton.
me one thing that has caused the
! greatest concern and that has led To-
! the most severe criticism both the law
! ana the procedure Of the board is
| mat securities worth approximately
I SI060000. majority Of them neco-
] liable, were turned over TO Governor
J Wells and left in his possession for
! years without an accounting. so far
/ as the records show: and at time
! when not one cent of bond security
] was required by the law.
What Report Failed to Show.
| The real situation was brought TO the
! attention of Governor John &. Cutler
a day or TWO ago when the animal
Z
/ scented TO the governor by Byron Groo.
/ the secretary. This report like ali
/ previous reports, gave an itemized list
/ or the securities held by the board.
! but gave no information as TO where
! these securities were kept or what
/ disposition was made of them.
Governor Cutler called upon Score
tafy GrOo tor information on this point.
He learned from him that seven years
! ago the land board adopted d resolu-
ton making Governor Wells custodian
of the securities belonging 10 the
| board. and that the governor had kent
the securities in the State Bank of
Utah- This is the information that
/ brought about the special meeting OF
the board yesterday
There is no intimation on the part
OF anyone that any provision Of the
law has been diSTeEarded but the urO-
visions of the law making such 4
business system possible came in for
severe criticism. It also led To a de-
I termination to modify the law in such
manner as TO make such a situation
/ impossible i'm the future One sugges-
I ton is TO make the secretary of the
I board custodian of the securities and
place him under a bond of 5000. 900.
Others favor A stiH higher bond. and
stu others favor appointing a Gus
todian altogether outside of the board.
Who Constitute the Board.
The state board Of land commissions
Governor John q. Cutler Thomas ID
EseeS of Sanpete county. James A. Mel
vile of Willard, HerscheI Bullen, ST..
OF Cache, and Byron GrOO of Salt
Lake Melville and Groo are cIassed
as Democrats. Each member with
/. the exception of the governor is placed
under bond in the sum of $4,000. The
governor is required TO furnish no
bond
The law under which the board has
n l-T IN
disposition of the securities.
Inc board shall be the legal Gus
todian of all notes. MORTGAGES and
other evidences Of Indebtedness arts
ing from investments of state funds
made by il, and shall collect all in
teTest due the state on all Investments
Interest so collected shall be paid into
the state treasury, TO the credit of
the fund to which il belongs. on the
last business day of each month
Whenever the state board of exam
lnerS shall so direct, the interest de
rived from the Investment of funds
belonging TO the respective state in
stitutiOns shall from time to time uDOn
proper reQuisitiOn therefor. be used
for the maintenance of said institu-
ton; and whenever the board shalt
order the use of said fund. or any Dor
ton thereof, it shall notify the state
auditor Of such order, and the state
auditor shall draw a warrant for the
amount stated in the notice, in favor
thereto; and the state treasurer. shall
pay such warrant out of the funds
designated"
Acting under the authority of the
law quoted here, the state board of
hand commissioners at a meeting sev-
en- years ago adopted a resolution des-
ignatinE Governor Wells custodian He
occupied that position up to the close
of his administration less than a
month ago.
Value of Securities on Hand.
The responsibility thus placed on the
shoulders of the governor. and the
power given him, can be judged from
the statement that the annual reports
show approximately 81, OO0. coo securities
in the hands of the executive at all
times OF this amount as nigh as
three-fourths, or Approximately $780,
600. IS in negotiable paper mostly in
bonds that could be transferred from
one person TO another almost as read
lily as so much cash
The exact amount of these securities
on hand at this time is not known
The report of Secretary CiroO for 1904
IS now in the hands of Governor cut
let, but viii not be printed for some
time yet. The report for the previous
year, 1903 made public a year ago.
shows 1925. .06 on hand. Of this
amount, $666.412 was in bonds alone.
These are all local bonds-rnunicipaL
county and state bonds mostly PraC-
tically all of them are negotiable. In
addition to these many of the notes
are supposed to be negotiable.
In the discussion of this subject no
one questions the integrity of former
Governor Wells At the same time they
cTiticise the law. and they cTitieise the
state board Of land commissioners for
doing business in this reckless way,
turning over such a mass OF negotia-
bic securities to an individual without
requiring bond of any kind It IS
pointed out that this is a method that
would never be adopted by "A business
man in running his own business, or
by any private corporation.
Why System Is Weak.
''COnceding that Governor Wells is
absolutely honest" said one man. land
conceding that the State Bank Of Utah
is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar:
still banks have been robbed and
banks have been wrecked before now
Suppose these land board securities
should turn UP missing at any time, the
state would be left to hold the sack
with no recourse on any Official con
nected with the land board that by law
is made the custodian of the securi-
ties -