Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-12-14
Mr.. HOWARD'S GRAFT GAME
EXPOSED BY LEGISLATIVE IN
vEsTIGATING COMMITTEE.
AS a Member of the Railroad Commis-
sion He MIXED the State for Hun
dreds-Fuller @. Smith Gets Severe
Censure for Appearing as Attorney.

The long expected report Of the legisla.
tive investigating committee on the accounts
Of the railroad commission and others, on
which the fate OF the railroad commission
was supposed TO rest, was made public 70 the
legislature Tuesday The accounts OF II. q.
Thomas Of Stowe, fsh and game commission.
or, as well as those Of Fuller @. Smith OF
ST. Albans, George T. Howard OF Craftsbury
and Henry s. Bingham Of Bennington, rail
road commissioners, were examined, Great.
er stress is laid on the latter commission
as the accounts of Commissioner Thomas are
found TO be correct, although the inyestiga'
tors admit that In the hands Of a CRATER the
office might be made 10 pay well through
manipulating the fee system.
OF the railroad commission Henry ). Blng.
ham Is exoneratod from personal blame al
though as member OF a costly commission
he necessarily shares in a general criticism
Fuller c. Smith, the chairman presented
correct accounts Of his per diem and expenses,
but he deserves, say the investigators, sever
est censure for appearing as attorney for
possible litigant before the other two mem
bers OF his own commission. that taking
place at Milton.
At legislative hearing, finds the commit
tee, Chairman Smith made q false statement
(which he subsequently retracted) that no ac'
counts Of his had ever been questioned by
the auditor The specific instance referred
TO was for nine days service tS54) and ex-
penses Of s36.5O while attending the con-
vcntion Of the National Association Of Rail-
road Commissioners at Birmingham, Alabama,
in November 1904 This account was pro-
perly disallowed" finds the investigators.
An apparent overcharge by Mr.. Smith IN
April Of the current year was satisfactorily
explained Further in relation to Chairman
Smith a questionable charge is made against
the state for five days while in Wilmington
preparing his biennial report
Commissioner Howard does not fare so
well as his c0nfreres. It is found:
That he charged for no office work, but
that for work away from home he CHARGED
for 4l4 days, while Mr.. Smith charged for
23i and Mr.. Bingham 2s2, whereas the inyes.
tigators can find no reason why he should
have done more Of this kind of work, than
his co-workers.
That Mr. Howard home is in Crafts
bury and that Hardwick is the nearest rail-
road station, ten miles away; Commission
er Howard has made unnecessary expense
charges to the state by leaving home in the
evening instead OF starting the following
morning as he might have done and made
his railroad connections He therefore charg-
ed for an extra days salary and expenses
which was unnecessary.
Commissioner Howard charged the state
$3.50 for the use Of his own team in carry
ing him to and from Hardwick. Whether
this is a legal charge is not definite but
It is found that on 6s occasions he took re.
ceipts from his hired men. his children ana
his brother.in,law, and filed them under oatn
rs money necessarily paid out when IN iacs
nothing was paid out,
On three occasions Commissioner Howard
visited Springfield, Mass, and was paid by
the state for salary and expenses. On De-
cpmber (, 1905, he went from Springfield to
Boston and charged the state for two day s
time and his expenses He made at least
one trip to Hanover, n. H. from Burlington
and STAYED over Sunday with his son, charg-
ing two days time. On June 90, 1906 he
attended the Republican state convention at
Montpelier and charged the state visit
to Burlington with his family was charged
TO the state. 1t is further found that it was
his custom to telephone home on his pri'
vate business and charge the state
In conclusion it is recommended that ac-
ton he brought to recover money from
Commissioner Howard. the Investigators use
ing the following words:
''From the evidence before us we find that
in all these specific instances Commissioner
Howard rendered no service and incurred no
expense for which the state was liable; that
by means of vouchers and accounts apparent
ly correct on their race put Ialse III lac' g.
has been paid the item above reported
and we therefore recommend that an ac,
ton be brought against the said Howard
70 recover the same together with such fur
ther proceedings as the evidence warrants(
The report was signed by five members
of the committee, Senators Stafford Of La
mobile and Chase of Windham county Re-
Eli Porter of Wilmington y.
B. Finn of Springfield and s. Hollister jack
son of Barre City. 1t made deep impress
sion. although among a few spectators It was
said that there was a touch or two OF poll
tics or wire. pulling in the report.