The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1905-07-19
TWO THOUSAND NOW,
Limit About Reached Might be Low
er-T Deficit-A Letter.

The Greffoz shortage has mount
ed to $2,o4o.6I. In answer to the
request for them in Saturdays
Times, many receipts for payments
on sewer assessments have been
presented to the committee In
little more time the whole matter
should be successfully unravelled.
1t might develop that discoveries
may be made to somewhat reduce
the aggregate deficit. 1t mi ght for
instance turn out that a lateral
now counted as paid for has not
been paid for. There is possible
chance for the opposite to be true,
but not much. The committee be-
1ieves the final figures will not be
far from those set forth above.
! The investigation is attended
with extreme difficulty. The book
keeping has been conducted with a
view of making discovery as impos-
sible as possible. That would be
the natural consequence, and the
course to be taken by any man un-
der the same circumstances. The
success attending this covering pro-
cess is made noteworthy by the
fact that on several occasions since
the use of city money began, the
Finance committee of the council
has gone over the books without
discovering thing wrong. Evi-
dence of the first use of city sewer
money appears three years ago.
1t may have been in vogue before
that, probably was. In June of
that year the committee examined
the books and reported the ac-
counts of the police judge to be cor
rect. The same action occurred
the following year. and so on until
Mr.. Grefoz himself finally pointed
out that his accounts were not cor
rect. This he did in letter to
Judge McFadden. in another to his
sister in Portland, and still another
to Senator Avery.
5 It is considered certain by members
of the committee who have been
going over the books that if Mr..
Greffoz had paid up his later sewer
assessments, and had continued at
his post without himself pointing
, out the true situation that it is very
| unlikely that the discovery of the
shortage would ever have been
made. There would have been
little or no occasion to have ever
referred to the books In case he had
5 remained straight in the future de-
, lection would not only have been
wholly improbable but almost i'm
possible. The letters he wrote,
, however, after his fight, told the
story. But as illustration of the
difficulties OF detection. even with
this knowledge before them, memb-
ers of the committee worked some
time before they actually got clue
from which to find the source of
shortage.
5 The fatal letter that convey
ed the first intimation of the trouble
y in the accounts was written June
27th. That was on Tuesday, and
= it was about the day Mr.. Greffoz
= left Corvallis. It was mailed on
the train that runs between Albany
and Detroit, being postmarked
July 5th. 1t was received in Cor
wallis July 9th. 1t was written on
t an official city letter head, with all
: the upper portion cut away except
f the corvallis, Oregon after
which the date was written in ink
The letter, which was to Senator
| Avery, enclosed a resignation as
: police judge, which bore the date
June 24th, three days before the
letter itself was written. Appar-
emily, the unfortunate official saw
that instead of getting out of the
meshes of the terrible net of fnan-
: cia1 trouble that enveloped him, he
r was constantly sinking deeper and
deeper. He saw that the longer
he held on, the greater would be
) his offense against the city, and
l that the sooner the dreadful thing
t all ended, the sooner would the ul-
+ innate calamitous denouement beov
. er. Thus reasoning, instead of go
ing to his friends with his trouble,
he resorted to fight as means Of
t avoiding that which his pride
e Stunned. It was mistaken course,
as all we'll know, for Ed Grefoz
was a man whom many a friend
would have stood ready to assist
y and defend in the hour of need. The
!. letter and resignation sent back by
+ Mr.. Greffoz. are as follows: