Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-05-10
AN EXTRA SESSION
MAY BE CALLED WHETHER SHY.
ELY RESIGNS OR NOT.
Governor Hay will Sound Public Sem
fiment Through the Newspapers.
Startling Conditions Revealed bv
Arrest of Hamilton Involve AUDI
tor and Former Gov. Mead.

OLYMPIA, May 8.-Governor M.
E. Hay has announced that he will let
public sentiment, as expressed
through all of the newspapers of the
state, including the country weeklies,
as we'll as the big dailies, determine
whether or not there shall be a spec
ial session of the legislature.
The startling conditions brought to
light through the probing of the
special legislative committee, and fol-
ing the arrest of Adjt Gen. Ortis
Hamilton on charge of embezzel-
ment, have convinced the governor
that there is need for special ses-
sion. He stated, however, that he de-
sires to sound public sentiment in
the matter. 1t is estimated that it
will cost from $4,000 to $4,000 to
bring the lawmakers to Olympia. This
is regarded as an enormous sum of
money, and the governor does not feel
warranted in causing the expendi-
ture of the same, unless public senti-
ment favOrs it.
State Senator A. r. Hutchinson of
Spokane wants the affairs of the East
ern Washington hospital for the In
sane examined into. While the legis-
lature was in session, he charged that
a building erected under the direction
Of the state board of control was of
faulty construction. This has
brought the board OF control into the
limelight, and that body will I'M
questionably have it's acts looked in
to.
State Treasurer John G. Lewis
handed a long letter to the
governor today, urging that the leg
islative committee investigating his
office:
Military Auditors-The comman-
dre-in-chief,s state auditor and the ad-
jutant-general shall constitute a
board of military auditors. The COM
mander-in-chief is president of the
board and the adjutant-general is
secretary. The board must have a
seal which must be attached to all
accounts audited by them.-Article
8, Military Code, as found on page
1112, Pierce's Code.
If the foregoing excerpt from
Pierec's Code is good law, and the
lawyers here say it is, then there are
men in office today who have not per-
formed their sworn duty. There has
been no seal" attached to the vOuch-
ers and accounts passed by State
Auditor c. w. Clausen and by AL
bert E. Mead, former governor, and
M. e. Hay, present governor of the
state, by means of which Ortis Ham,
ilton was enabled to steal nearly $780,
900. of the states funds.
Clausen has been absent from the
state capital for several weeks. He
has never explained his failure to per-
form his sworn duty as given in
L lClCC SOuS. uc ocCllOu
means nothing more than the military
board of audit, Mead, Clausen and
Hamilton, was absolutely required to
audit the accounts of expenditures.
Mead never audited these accounts
or at least a great part of them, ac-
cording to his own confession. Clau-
sen never knew that he was a men,
ber of the military board of audit, |
created by law, and that he had
sworn to perform the duties of that
office. If he did know such to be
the fact, the record shows that he
never carried out those duties.
A board of audit, lawyers here say,
means board of state officers whose
sworn duty it was and is to examine
as to their accuracy, honesty and |
merit, the items charged against the |
state funds by such officers who had |
power to incur debts and expend the |
money of the public.