The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-18

| uIohS uIoI . LII O. AL. A'hahaSA hio
state d that he would he there tina
afternoon at 4 o'clock. Two day
ella psed and as be had not seen MI
Zimmerman the State treasurer agail
'phoned to b 8 house and Mr.. Zlmmer
man stated that he b. d been unwel
but would be- there the next mornini
at 10 O'Clock.
SUSPICION FIRST AROUSED.
Mr.. Zimm erman failed to keep tina
engs cement Capt. Jennings feared
that the extent Of the error, as h'
Thought it yht not be known to Mr.
q mmerman, and he wrote lettel
under date of September 18th asking
Mr.. Zimmerman to call and explain
matter Of considerable imp0rtance tt
Mr.. Zimmerman and to the Office
After some delay Mr.. Z mmermar
drove up to the east door of the State
capitol and called for MI S. T. Car
ter, and informed Mr.. Carter that II
would be Of no use for him to make
an examination Of the entry which
had ATTRACTED attention IS 1t had
been made so long ago that be could
not explain 1t.
Subsequen. Mr.. z nnerman ap
psared in the corridor Of the capitol
building and explained to Capt. Jen'
nings that it would not be worth
while for him to try to explain the
matter as he had no recollection Of 1t.
This excited the suspicion Of the peo
pie In the tffi,e and Capt. Jennings
Immediately notified the comptroller
general and demanded searching in.
vestigation Of the books in which the
records were kept.
THE CoMPTRoLLER's REPORT.
Comptroller General Jones yester.
day sub nitted to Capt. Jennings the
following report made after a very
searching ex animation:
I'm your letter dirt led to me as
comptroller general, dated Oc5oter 7,
you state that there appears 70 be an
irrt gularity in the nlatter OF the ex
change of q certain Brown Cup IN
bond, and the amount Covered into a
stock certificate. That the State ap'
pears to have lost the amount OF this
bond and the interest at l 2 par
cent. for several years. You ask tha-
T, as comptroller general, undsr 'e:.
tion 672, volume l, of the code OF 1892
make a full investigation OF the status
of the States securities as Therein re.
quired.
"In conformity with the ab,va re
quirement, I have personally examin
ed, with the help Of S. T. Carter,
bookkeeper, and J. Fuller Lyon, bon
clerk, all the securi y transactions
the State from January 1st, 1894, to
date. From February End, 1896 to
May 23rd, 1901, I find a number OF
fraudulent transactions, aggrega.ing
sl2, 500; or In other words, these
transactions have increased the States
bonded debt to that extent, together
with g, ,9O3. IS interest paid thereon,
making q total OF s16. 403 rs.
The Items going to make up the
various transactions are fully itemized
and hereto appended. The examina
tion reveals the fact that the bond
clerk during that period in wh!c !
these transactions appear upon the
books, has falsifed Oh erased the Dum
bers Of certain bonds surrendered for
exchange and has abstraoted bonds
previously cancelled and has submit
ted the same at q later date for such
bonds surrendered, and has evidently,
as shown by the interest account put
the bonds 80 erased as lcancel'ed on
the market"
"This Is clearly shown by the fact
that all transactions during this period
appear in the hand writing OF the same
bond clerk. 1t seems that the bond
clerk in the State treasu;e ;er's Office
has charge Of all bond transactions. "
When he had received the report
and the itemizsd state m mt from the
comptroller general, Oapt. Jennings
forwarded these to the attorney gen
erals Office with q request to be ad'
wise as to the mode Of procedure Mr..
Leroy F. Youmans, the assistant at
torney general, replied In the following
term II am in receipt Of yours OF
today enclosing copy Of yours OF Oot'
ober 7th to Hon. A. w. Jones, comp.
troller general, and his reply to you
of this date. You ask that I instruct
you as to your duties in the premises.
II, of your own knowledge, you know,
or If from information obtained from
others you believe or If as conclusion
from circumstances you have ju't
cause to believe and do believe that
the bond clerk referred to has commit
ted the offsnse charged in the CORES
pondence, it is ytur duty to proceed
in the criminal courts against the
said bond clerk. Civil proceedings
will bs a matter for further consider
alton"
WARRANT SWORN OUT.
When thus advised, Capt. Jenning!
asked the attorney general to make
out the warrant for the arrest Of Mr.
Zimmerman. The warrant Charge
breach of trust with fraudulent inten'
and larceny Of State bonds with tn
purpose Of devoting the proceeds tt
his own personal use.
In bis affidavit upon which the war
rant was issued, Treasurer Jenning
recites the transactions narrated b.
Mr.. ] mes and concludes:
THAT at all these dates one DAME
q mmerman was the bookkeeper in tn
i -.xas el Gkaka nd