The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-05-04
OUR BEDDING LETTER
Apparent Shortage in Tax Ac-
 counts Has Been Cleared up.

counts Has Been Cleared up. Bedding, May 2-Suddenly and un- expectedly and to the great relief of the selectmen the mystery of ex-Col- lector Everett J. Gorham's apparent shortage in the matter of tax accounts was cleared up on Saturday. MT. Cor ham without previously even limiting at the evidence he had in reserve for his own vindication, produced two checks which wiped out the balance against him and shifted the responsi-
 bility for the eleven hundred dollars shortage from his own shoulders to those of Town Treasurer William Hen ry Hill. Why Mir. Gorham had not done this before, or in case the checks were mislaid, why he did not tell the selectmen that his credits from the town treasurer ought to include the credits represented by these checks is one of the most singular features of the situation. In the case of some
 men the theory that he was actuated by sardonic sense of the humorous or disposition to spring surprises for mere dramatic effect might be given as a possible explanation. Those best acquainted with the former col lector, however, would not associate him with either of these temperament tai qualities. He is serious in demean- Or and reserved in conversation, not at all inclined to frivolity, a prominent
 member of the Congregational church and 6 hard working farmer.
 This was the rather tense situation which MT. Gorham, relieved: He had been collector for three consecutive years, beginning with 1904 The pres ent board of selectmen in going over L ---Ixt- >A them up found that the figures show ed he had been paid for tax bills $1, 096 more than the entire sum ere dited to him on these books by the town treasurer. Here was a financial hiatus which the selectmen undertook
 to account for. They asked MT. Cor
 ham for an explanation. He gave
 assertion that he owed the town noth-
 ing. eff you don't,' retorted the se-
 lectmen in substance, these figures are wrong or there has been an omis-
 sion of entries which should go to your
 credit. Do you claim any inaccuracy in the figures you have set down here Or in those set down by MT. Hill?'' In reply MT. Gorham said the figures were all right as far as they went. The selectmen then arranged a spe-
 cial meeting to give him a chance to explain matters. He did not ap- pear SnOW1nS a luullcT6uCo 1 for one placed in the position of a man who had been either very care l less or financially culpable. Next the selectmen examined the town treasur- CTS books. The result was to make
 matters worse in appearance, because
 the credits to MT. Gorham on these books footed up about $400 less than
 those MT. Hill had written in the col lector's rate book. Naturally the per-
 plexity of the investigators was there by increased. MT. Hill, being invited to explain, admitted errors due to in- | advertence and said he thought he
 could produce memoranda that would
 clarify the situation. From this con dition of things certain facts and in-
 evitable deductions stood out promi- nently. One was that MT. Hill, as 1 the towns financial agent, owed the l town somewhere about $400 because the towns balance sheet included in
 the selectmens annual reports was based on figures furnished by him. Why had not this admitted discrep-
 ancy been made apparent earlier | Why had successive boards of select | men and town auditors failed to find | this flaw in the financial exhibit? Well
 they hadn't and that was all there | was to it. But the previous record
 shortage of $1, 1O0- had grown to about ks1,5OO and matters were still up in the air with the jury rather more favor
 ably inclined to MT. Gorham.
 The two checks which the former
 collector submitted on Saturday gave | him financially clean bill of health
 and virtually placed MT. Hill in the attitude of the one at fault. One bore 1 date of Nov. A, 1906, and was for | $936.54. The other was dated Feb. 23,
 1907, and was for s205. Both checks
 were made payable to Wm. H. Hill
 bore his endorsement, and after their l ha TO
 turned to MT. Gorham by the Danbury
 bank on which they were drawn. Their
 total of s1, 1,141.54 not only extinguishes
 Mr. Gorham's seeming indebtedness
 but leaves balance in his favor.
 The fact of this important disclos- | ure regarding the checks was prompt | ly made known to MT. Hill and he
 promised to be present at a special
 meeting of the selectmen which has
 been arranged for Wednesday of this
 week. MT. Gorham has also promised to be present. First Selectman Charles Sanford when asked today what ac- ! ton was contemplated by the board
 said that he supposed an effort would be made to restore to the town the money withheld from it. "It would appear" he added, ''that MT. Hill
 owes the town about 8, 800. He may
 make good. If he doesn't legal pro ceedings will probably be taken l Whether he was under bonds during
 the period to which the shortage re-
 lates I do not know and neither do | know whether his sureties would be
 now legally responsible. As to this
 and other aspects of the case we shal 1 probably take legal advice
 "Did you ever hear of the cheeks until they were flashed out?" | "No. and that is where the big sur-
 prise comes in. The only reference ] to checks that was ever made in this | investigation was by MT. Hill himself
 When I told him of MT. Gorham's
 position about credits, and this posi-
 tion was inferential rather than speci- l fic. MT. Hill asked me if MT. Gorhan l said anything about checks. I told l him chad not and there the matter
 ended.''
 MT. Hill has been town treasurer
 for many years, has repeatedly repre-
 sAnted the town in the legislature. is a