Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-12-14

Mr. Harvey, what, if anything. he had
done towards advising the other MEM
bers of the board with reference to
this. and he stated that he had taken
the matter up with the chairman Of
the applications committee, Mr. w. H..
Smith, and with Mr.. j. w. Hill, presi-
dent / Immediately informed him
that l considered these charges very
grave and that If Mr.. Dcets had been
guilty, or was guilty of doing these
things. that he was unworthy of the
place he was then filling, and If he
We're not guilty. that it was very
serious charge to make, and advised
in view of the brief period of time
between that date and the time of cleo
ton. to defer taking any action on the
matter until after the annual election.
inasmuch as Mr.. Deets' position was
not changed any by the last election,
he not being a candidate at that time.
My understanding is that Mir. Hill, Mr..
Smith and the other members of the
board advised the same course, believ-
ing that 1t would be better to- take 1t
up after election and go into the mat
ter thoroughly. Immediately following
the election, at the first regular meet
ing of the board, the question was
brought up. and owing to the short
time at my disposal. because of the fact
! that I was compelled to leave the city
that night involving a trip Of about
! two weeks. asked that the board de-
fer action until my return. | advised
them that the matter could not be
easily disposed Of without doing either
the association or Mr.. Deets an injus-
tice, and that nothing would be lost
by two weeks wait However. the
majority of the board favored immed-
late action, believing. as they ex-
pressed 1t, that there was only one
outcome to it, and the sooner it was
over. the better" and proceeded ac
corlingly.
Mr. Deets being called upon to state
his side of the case. said that this
was all entirely new matter to him.
that he knew nothing about any of
these charges, except as they had been
related to him a few days previously
by Mr. George \. Shollenberger, and
Mr.. Rufus n. Harvey, at the sugges.
ton of Mr.. w. H. Smith. and that ha
was amazed. and he wanted ito know
what is back Of these charges and
what is the object Of accusing me- an
entirely innocent man. of such SER
ious CHARGE" He denied point blank
of ever having altered a single appli
cation that ever came into the office
in any shape. manner or form, and
could not understand why he should be
accused Of doing such a thing. I was
compelled to leave before the meeting
adjourned and on my return found
.l,.o,,
signed by every member of the board,
except my self proving that ]. w. Hill,
president, request the attendance OF
our general counsel A. B. Cummins.
at special meeting at which this
subject should be discussed and gone
into. and that Governor Cummins give
use tn, benefit of his advice in the mat
ter Governor Cummins, after listen
ing to the charges set forth. which
were substantially as stated by Mr..
Harvey to the writer. stated that he
was nonplused that a charge of this
kind should not be brought unduly;
that he could not conceive of the object
of any man in making these charges;
that the benefit to the secretary at the
rate of so cents per member would
only amount to SO or 81 at the outside.
and why any man should jeopardize
position Of trust for a paltry sum
was beyond his comprehension, and
that If he did not do it. it was certain
ly grave charge to make against him,
and that feature of it should be in
vestigated as we'll. The evidence
showed conclusively by the statements
of the entire membership of the appli-
cations committee that these members
would be eligible under the liberal in
depreciation they were then placing
upon the bylaws. and that there was,
therefore, no object in making any
alterations for the sake of increasing
the membership. The evidence also
shows that Mr.. Harvey and Mr.. Shol-
lenberger had gone back over several