Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1907-09-26

Under the heading 'Left-Handed
Vindication," the Albuquerque Morn
ing Journal of date September %
published an editorial on the outcome
OF the case of Holm o. Bursum versus
the Territory of New Mexico for ad
| iudication and decision in the claims
heretofore set up by the Hagerman
| fake reform administration and sup
ported by the ex-parte report of an
alleged expert accountant that Mr.
| Bursum had been guilty of embezzle
ment, malfeasance and misfeasance in
| the management of the so-called con
vict earnings fund of the territorial
penitentiary while superintendent OF
that institution for seven years. The
editorial is Intentionally and yindic.
lively misleading in parts, absolutely
untrue in other parts and dastardly
| and venomous attempt to besmirch
Mr.. Bursum and to keep him before
/ the people as a defaulter and as a
dishonest official The editorial
, reads
First reports of the Bursum trial al
Silver City gave the public to under
stand that the case went to trial on
its merits, that the court had before
it the Stafford report, the report OF
the Colorado Title and Trust Company
and the territory's bill of exceptions
drawn by Mr.. McHarg, and signed by
Attorney General Prichard. But the
official record shows that when the
case was reached in court the bill OF
exceptions had been overruled, the
report Of the Colorado company was
excluded by stipulation, approved by
the court, and which became part OF
the record, and that there was abso
lutely nothing before the court except
the skeleton Of the Stafford report af
ter all references to the Colorado re
jport had been eliminated--and as the
essential part of the Stafford report
consisted in the main of attempts tc
refute the findings Of the Colorado re
port, there was practically nothing
left for the court to pass upon except
the bare and uncontested demand of
Mr.. Bursum for judgment against the
territory in the sum of four thousand
three hundred and thirty-three dol
lars and sixty-six cents, and as there
was no objection to the claim on the
part of the territory, the court could
do nothing but grant it.
"All that is clear enough and re
quires no explanation, but why the
territory should withdraw all the foun
dations upon which it could defend
itself and its treasury, and allow judg
ment to go against it by default, Is
one of those abstruse legal problems
which the Morning Journal, not being
up in the intricacies of the law, does
not attempt to eXplain-especially In
view of the fact that the attorney
for the Colorado Title and Trust Com
pany has said in a published inter
view that he is prepared to prove the
correctness of the report made by his
company, in any proper proceedings
But no doubt all this will be made
clear in due time, SO that the public
Imay understand it.
The Facts in the Case.
First, "the first reports of the Bur
sum trial at Silver City gave the pub
lie to understand that the case Wen
to trial on it's merits, and so 1t did
Travelling Auditor Stafford was on the
stand for over three hours, and was
carefully and thoroughly examined, al
| to the subject matter Of his repor
| and the exceptions.
| Second, the court had before it the
report Of Referee Stafford which wa'
very voluminous and contained abou
l175 typewriter pages of items in de
tail which did not appear in the cook
ed up report of the so-called expert
Francis P. Mcmahon, whose repor
was not presented because the repre-
sentatives of the Colorado Title ant
Trust Company stipulated it shoult
| not be so, evidently fearing and be
Ilieving that their clients would be in
jured were they to present the repor
| in court and that it would be proven
! that many items in their report wer'
erroneous untrue, cooked UP, fixed UP
and based upon false testimony, upol
| no foundation, and upon incorrec
|, and careless examination of the rec
ords and vouchers of the convict
earnings fund. They could have hat
, their day in court had they dared t
. take 1t, but they dared not. The!
, could have filed a petition for inter
vention or motion as intereste'
parties to get a status in court bu
they failed to do so, utterly so, ant
placed themselves out of court Q
their own volition. Now they appea
in the columns of the Albuquerqu
Morning Journal whose columns ar
ready and open to them for consid