The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1908-03-21
BANKER NEWTON'S STATEMENT.

haven Bank & Trust Co., copied
in another column of today's Lead
er from Thursdays Lincoln Coun-
ty Times, taken In connection with
the article published by Mr.. A.
M. Summers on the 5th inst. and
recent Leader editorials. makes
interesting reading.
Mr.. Newton's statement, which
is frank and straightforward, COW
ers. go far as he and his bank
are concerned, the two most i'm
portant features of the recent dis
cussion of county tresaurers'
accounts answering, as it does,
the nqaalified charge of Mr.. A.
NJ. Summers that $800.00 had
been offered his son over four
years ago for half Of the coun-
ty treasurer's account, and court
ing an investigation by the next
grand jury of the relations and
acts of the Brookhaven Bank &
Trus t Go. and its accredited rep
resentatives as regards Mr.. Lin
ton, the new county treasurer.
Mr.. Newton's statement places
new phase on the Summers
charge. 1t shows that while he
discussed with Ex- Treasurer Sum-
mers and his uncle an $500 or
$1,000 proposition in connection
with the treasurer's account, the
proposition was originally intro
duced by Mr.. B. E. Summers for
what seemed to him to be a fair
and legitimate political object,
and was considered by them in
connection with campaign expen-
ses already incurred by Wade
Summers, rather than in the ma
ture of a proposed bribe or
straight-out bonus in bis capacity
as an official.
The Leader does not question
the sincerity of Mr.. Newton's
statement, and it has no disposi-
tion to condemn or harshIy criti-
cize either him or Mr.. E. B. Sum-
mers or Mr.. Wade Summers for
the part taken in what he recltes.
AS politics we're going in Lincoln
county at that time, it is not at all
to be wondered at that uncle and
nephew and also the young banker,
who Sad just witnessed his. -fifst
political campaign in Lincoln,
should have engaged in discussing
the payment Of campaign expen-
ses as a business matter, without
knowing or considering that they
we're in danger of transgressing
the law. In fact, at that very
time, according to the published
statement of Mr.. A. M. Summers,
Wade Summers and his uncle had
a good precedent in what his fa-
ther had already done in paying
part of the campaign expenses of
Tom Keenan, when keenan, got out
of Wade's way.
One thing comes out incidental
Iy in Mr.. Newton's statement
that carries with it one of the most
important lessons to be learned by
the people and future candidates
from this political history of four
years ago, and it is only because
of its value in this respect that
The Leader here refers to it.
Mr.. Newton says he learned from
Mr.. B. E. Summers that his neph-
ew's campaign expenses were
about $4,000. The Leader has
heard the figures given from
other sources as low as 81, 800 and
others still as high as $4,000.
Mr.. A. M. Summers having
brought his sons campaign ex-
penses prominently into notice,
The Leader has requested him to
give the correct figures for public
information and instruction and
hopes he will yet do so.
The editor of the Leader has
heard repeatedly. on what he con-
siders good authority. that over
three thousand dollars was spent
Cd the campaign of one of the
candidates for Sheriff in 1908, and
that somewhere in the neighbor-
hood of two thousand was spent
on the campaign of one candidate
for Sheriff last year.
The Sheriff's Office pays from
two to three thousand dollars a
year and the treasurer's office
pays $1,000 a year.
What The Leader wants is, TO
get the people to studying serious
ly how long they can afford a
brand of politics that will require
or encourage a candidate to spend
a fourth or one half of what the
Office brings to stand any show of
getting it, and the fix the public
=. f:i~oIw, - hrx -, -, 1, - :, - -.