Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1913-11-29
DISCREPANCY OF FEW TENTS
SHORTAGE in TREAsuRER's Of
FIcE DWINDLEs FROM MUCH
TO NOTHING
FAILED TO SEE RECORDS
STATE OFFICIAL NEGLECTED.
MEANS or INCREASING HIS
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

After having spent seven working
days in investigating the report Of
Travelling Auditor Howell Earnest
concerning conditions in san Miguel
county, the grand jury this morning
presented its final report to Judge
David j. Leahy in the district court.
The inquisitors reported that the
work of the travelling auditor evident
ly had not been done accurately and
that he had made many allegations
the truth Of which might have been
disproyed had the state official and
his assistants referred to the proper
records. The report stated further
that the travelling auditor had been
incorrect in his allegation regarding
shortage in, the accounts Of the coun-
ty treasurer a careful examination
having showed a discrepancy Of only
a little over so cents In a record Gov
et1h8 MANY y5dls.
The grand jury, in investigating the
travelling auditors charges, examined
that official as witness. TO dilate
upon the contents Of the report would
be a mere repetition as the document
il nnhlished below III is worthy of
careful scrutiny, and if there are any
persons in the county or state who
eare inclined to believe the allegations
made by the travelling auditor, they
should peruse the grand jury's re-
port carefully, as it is likely to con-
vince them they have been misied
by the State official.
The Grand Jury's Report
Only that portion of the grand iurys
report concerning the travelling audi
tors charges is published today be-
cause OF the yoluminous character Of
the document. The grand jury states
in the opening paragraphs that it has
investigated 16 cases, returning five
true bills and ii no-true bills. 1t de-
clares that its Investigations have dis
closed the fact that there is little Sc
rious crime in the county The coun-
ty officers are commended for the ex-
cellent manner in which they keep
their records and discharge their du-
ties.
Following is that portion of the re-
port concerning the travelling auditor:
To the Honorable David ]. Leahy,
Judge of the District Court Of the
Fourth Judicial District, sitting in
and for the county Of San Miguel:
We, the members Of the grand jury
OF the said county, duly empaneled,
selected and sworn for the November
1918 term Of the district court, here
with respectfully submit this our
final report.
The district attorney presented
for our consideration a volum-
inous report made by the state travel
ing auditor regarding the finances Of
this county and the manner in which
the duties Of the county officers have
been performed during the period
from 1901 to August LIST, 1912, re-
questing that we make a thorough,
impartial and comprehensive inyesti-
cation Of the charges made in the
said report. We called before us
in this connection a large number
Of witnesses including the travelling
auditor. We spent practically all Of
seven working days investigating the
charges made in the said report
against county officers, past and pres
ent, and the statements made as to
various large sums Of money said to
be owing to the county. We find that
the work Of auditing the county books
and records was most inefficiently per-
formed. that the auditors department
failed thoroughly and fairly to inves-
tigate the financial condition Of the
county, and made no use whatsoever
Of various books and records and 9TH
er sources Of Information available