The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1910-06-10
be trivial. but Gov. vardaman gave

% LItfldts Uut NV vSAuAuSN 90"
his personal attention to superinteDd.
ing the building Of the additions 10
the asylum made during his admins
trat.on and was out there with his
horse or his horse and buggy every
, day for several months In looking
after this work, and, il I am correctly
informed, this $4,000 was properly
allowed by the board of trustees to
compensate him in part for money
expended by him while engaged In
this work.
This board of trustees was com. /,
posed of men of the highest character.
including Col. r. j. Harding, OF Jack
son, sheriff of Kinds county, whose
Integrity no man ever questioned and
who stands as high as any man In
the state for both valor and honor.
The other gentlemen were OF equal
high standing. We did not have Col.
!, Harding before our committee, our
time was very limited, but, without
his permission, l refer to him as to
the correctness Of the statement
now make. This amount, and no
other, was drawn by Gov. Vardaman
in connection with the Jackson insti.
tuition, and the accountants report
bears this out.
On the 1905 Gov. Vardaman re-
ceiyed $500 from the penitentiary
trustees to make a trip to- buy mules,
and on the 2-2S-05 drew $500 from
the contingent fund. The last $500
was an additional amount spent lii
his work on this trip. There is no
showing that the $4,000 paid by the
Soldiers Home on the 5-11-06 was
| paid out of any other fund. For two
| trips, one to the SOLDIER Home n
one to the East Mississippi insan
asylum, the expense, as show by the
report, is $4,000. Twenty-Five dollars
, of this was drawn from the contingent
! fund and $500 from the Soldiers
y Home. Exclusive Of chair car service,
!, Gov Vardaman's railroad fare was
:. about $500 on these two trips. The
!, other items on this exhibit, amount.
ing to'$l31.4O, are susceptible Of like
explanation, and a study Of the ex.
. hibit would bring n intelligent and
| unbiased man to the same conclusion.
Expenditures Not ~Extravagant.
1t is charged that Gov. Vardaman
was reckless and ~extravagant with
this contingent fund. To refute this
!. I only ask that you read the report
p Of the account. Take, for instance,
s his trips: One was to New Orleans,
{ La, on the occasion Of the boundary
suit; to st. Louis and Kansas City to
purchase mules for the state; inspect
t ing yellow fever at Natchez; a visit to
a city insane hospitals in Illinois. In fact,
you will find that each and every trip
charged to the contingent fund was for
some everyday, common-sense pur'
pose. OF course, the purchase OF
mules, the selling Of cotton, putting
q down uprisings at Oakley, were quite
prosaic, but nevertheless, were stern
r duties that Gov. Vardaman attended
u to well, as this report will show. ]
defy any one to point to a single triI
e Gov. Vardaman has made, and as
g shown by the report. that has not beer
n altogether and entirely for the states
e benefit. He is charged with extrav
d agance when his entire travelling ex
IS penses, including the amounts appro
q pr.ated by the institution, amount t.
$2,1S7.15. AS Exhibit Is of the same
report shows Gov. Noel expended 81,
h 1G1.9 50 for similar expenses during HI
first two years in office. the ratio o
9, travelling expenses for the two govern
b. ers is about the same. Exclusive o
the whitecap fund and the Meridian
cyclone fund, Gov. Vardaman received
n. a contingent fund of $2O,00O.00 TO
c.1 the four years and returned TO tn
q state at the end of his term Of ofic
III S1,73O.0O having expended for fou
years s18,27O.0 90 out Of the regular COL
tingent fund.
Expended Less Than Present Admins
tration.
ia There was appropriated Tor COY
" Noel for the years 1908 and 1905 $40
IL OOO.O 90 contingent fund. Out OF TIL
9 .943.13 was expended, and in add
ton to this 81, 5O2.15 Of the Vardama'
at contingent fund turned over to hiI
n in 1908, making a total ~expenditur
Or out of Gov. Noel's contingent fund TO
r. the two years, $11,445.28. Gov. Noe
rs is also provided with a stenograDhe
,yj in his office who has received $1,44O.O
Mt for the two years, making the tota
70. expenditures of Gov. Noels office 10
er the first two years of his administrs
ton s12,8 S5.2S (this was the expend
lures of about twenty-five months
IF the same ratio of expenditures !
ne kept up, Gov. Noel's office expend
r.. lures for the four years will be abou
s25. 100000, against s19.000.00 spent b
"a Gov. Vardaman.
er Object Of Contingent Fund.
want it distinctly understood, hOv
IL ever. that what I here say is ne
- :, - criticism of Gov Noel