Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1911-10-31

of superintendent of the penitenti-
ary by me until after he had paid in
these sums Of money demanded from
him by the territorial authorities and
paid in under protest Now the facts
of the matter, as / have frequently
stated are these: His resignation
took effect on the 18th day of April,
1906 No investigation Of the financi-
al affairs of the penitentiary was
inaugurated until a month or more
after his resignation took effect The
report of the Colorado company
which investigated the financial con
dition of the institution was not made
until the 30th day of August 1906.
The first e-payment of money by
Mr. Bursum to the territory was
made on the 27th day Of July, 1906.
That is to say, three months after Mr
Bursum quit the office as superinten-
dent and one month before any re-
port had been made by the Colorado
company in regard to the finances Of
the institution. Up to the time tins
s1,727 was paid i'm no deman1 Of
any kind whatever had been made
upon MIR. Bursum for the re.urn OF
any money
What RufSum says.
The return of this S1,7'1 by Mr..
Bursunl AZ that time was 4tirely vol-
untarN on his part as is shown hy
the letter from him 70 + g territorial
treasurer which is as Vows
soEorru. n. NJ Jpsy 81 1s0h,
! "Hon J. Il Vaughn = reasurer' san
ia Fe New Mexico.
Dear sir: IN check lg over my ae-
counts with the peni entarv ! find
error to the amount IF Sl,f2f ana
! enclose remittance ftf credit penlten-
I tiarv convicts earnings, as follows;
/ one payment Of a Windsor Sl,o2 Z,
| oct. 1902 having been omitted ana
no credit seems to appear on journal
The other item IS $500. which shows
! on the treasurer's books to nave
been paid May 26, 1899, during my
| administration but upon irvestga-
| tion I find thar said money was pald
j in by Col r. II. Bergman and there
! fore / was rot entitled to credit
| therefor.
kindly acknowledge receipt and
obliee. Yours.
"H. @. pURSUM.
II is true that the 500 item ap-
peared in the report Of the Colorado
experts which report was handed In
| a month after this letter was written,
but the St.O27 did not appear in thai
report at all Mr. Pierce In MS
statement further SAYS, in regard u
this $700 item, this was part OF
the money paid by Mr.. Bursum ir
1906 in compliance of the claim OF
/ the Colorado account
Effort TO Deceive.
It is absolutely evident that the in
tention of the parties who drew NJ
this statement signed by Mr., Pierce
was to deceive the public into belieV
ing that no money had been paid II
by Mr.. Bursum until after demant
had been made upon him. Whereas
las YOU will see, the actual fact is ina
this sum of $1,727 was paid in WINE
the investigation was going on ant
before any demand Of any Kind Wa'
made on the superintendent, INT
remainder Of the sum returned by
him to the territory. namely, w.
4703S, was paid in upon demand o
the territorial Officers, after the COLO
RADIO report had been made. Whei
Mr.. Pierce says in regard to the sun
Of $1,727 that Mr. Bursum pal'
this under protest, that he did no
} owe it," he is not telling the truth.
! Now / want to call attention to ont
or two other matters contained II
pierce statement. Frequently
throughout his statement Mr.. Plerc
complains taGt before this inVestlga
ton was made by me- he and IN
other members OF the penitentiar,
board had not been consulted. At tn
, same time he fully endorses the Saf
ford report in all particulars, statlnl
+ thai he is sure that any tair-minde'
business man who will examine TN
r record will be convinced Of its apso
{ lutte fairness and trustworthiness.
. Pierce In Dilemma.
, Now. let me analyze for a Few nom
ents. this position of Mr.. pierce. As
=, lhave already pointed cut to You Nj
! Bursun caused the books Of the IN
stitutio1 to be rewritten in January
1906, ard among these so-callod re
written tooks was { cash book, Whlci
lcueh book was PRESENTED by Mr.. Bur
g su "A to his successor as book show
ling the total amounts of money whic
{ h1d been handled ~ him during III
r whole period in which he held the of
G flee of superintendent from 1899 I
7 1906. That this rewritten cash boo
7 was accepted as "a official statemen
! Of all Mr.. El1sum's financial transac
g tons is SHOWN hY an entry on page 2
Y of that cash look which reads as FOL
Il3Ws. "Nc the unde rsigned cominla
sluners Of the territorial penitenuarl
d hereby cCrtifY tina, we have audlte
= innd examined the foregoing conVlc
q earnings cash acc o4nt showing re
- ceipts and disbursements by II. I
Il Bursum, superintendent from the oVl
~ day of May, 1929, and to March J.
{ 1906. aggregatlng Tho sum of $llZ
u Ili11G.l1. being the accounts on TINS cas-
J bbok from pages II to 2g Inclusive
@ 1--WE find said disbursements and re-
a ceipts to be correct and the same