Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-04-20

Yesterday the onslaught on the State
auto department seemed formidable
and invincible.
1t was supported by deluge of
words and upheld by insinuations. -
To-day it's supporters have parts of
the report left, but the mighty acclaim
with which it was promulgated yester-
day has dwindled to a trembling
quayer.
Commissioner j. B. r. Smiths Wig
orous reply is responsible in part for
the Kaleidoscope change, and eniight-
ened public opinion has bereft the case
of it's seriousness. Viewed calmly and
dispassionately, the report made public
by the Governor contains many al
lusions and insinuations that can find
support only in ignorance or vindictive-
uess. gsf So s,st :. !.
The report Of D. r. Brown. to his
= superior, State Auditor of Accounts w.
e. Drake, is neither dignified nor con-
sincing. 1t displays q straining effect
that may be excused only by inexpe-
fience or Accounted for by personal
ar.imns. T4 81 -
It may be summarized by saying that
State Auditor Drake swept aside most
of it's petty suggestions when he re-
ported to the Governor that, so far
as the records show, and so far as we
have been able to verify the records,
th. work has been honestly conducted
III has not, however, been conducted In
an efficient and businessiike manner"
Evidence Of Browns unfairness crops
cut in many places in his report One
or two instances will be sufficient to
prove this. For instance, speaking OF
Chief Inspector Edward Johnson he
says:
"Mr Edward Johnson chief inspec-
tor and chief clerk, appears at the
office on Tuesdays. The rest Of his
time is spent at an office of the de-
partment In Jersey City. So far as my
observation goes, I Judge he might
Just as well also spend his Tuesdays in
Jersey City"
This cannot be said to be the lam
guage of an unbiased investigator.
Again he emphasizes a temporary
shortage Of $1,000 and endeavors to
cloud it in mystery and possible
crime, wholly ignoring the fact that
over a quarter of a million dollars
passed through the department during
the year and was handled, as his chief
says, honestly.
state Auditor brakes report ia
coucied in respectful language and
shows the earnarks of fairness
Browns report is spleenish and biased
and in its unedited form was filter foI
the waste basket than the public
prints Still, without it there would
have been no feature of sensationalisn
In this "near-scandal."
The great expose which has beer
80 zealously guarded for upward of d
month for it's well prepared submission
to the public gaze seems to have as
srmed the form of boomerang. II
has glazed the motor vehicle depart
ment, and in its rebound it has dis
closed pettishness, unfairness and per-
haps personal animosity among ON
ciais in high places
Governor silent.
Governor Fort, when seen at his
home in East Orange this morning by
an EVENING STAR man, refused to
discuss the subject. The only thing the
Governor would say was that he had
nothing to say" And the chief execu-
tive would not venture further to say
when he would have something to say.
The Governors son. Franklin W.
Fort. who is frequently mentioned in
Commissioners Smiths reply, assumed
the same uncommunicativeness when
seen at the Court House by an EVE
MING STAR man. Excusing himself
on the grounds that, as vet, he had not
read the Smith reply. the Governor
son, with the traditional Fort smile,
said:
.s''Nothing to say
Commissioner Smith says in part:
5'T returned late yesterday, after q
very busy day in Newark, and have not
had time to read the State auditors re-
port on the motor vehicle department
given to Governor Fort and by him
made public yesterday morning. /
have, however read those parts of the
report which have been published in the
Newark papers, and find that It is an
entirely different report from the one
which the auditor made to this depart
iner1t. The report published is one
which never before saw, did not know
existed. had never had an opportunity
TO reply to or explain. and which In
many respects is even more false and
unfair than the report which the auditor
filed with this department, to which re-
ply was made. I could not know, of