The Forrest City times., 1913-09-12
WILLIAMS REINSTATED
LeYee Board Votes. II to 3 to Make
 Him Secretary.Treasurer,

The Commercial Appeal of Tuesday gives the following account of the leyee board meeting Monday:
 The affairs of the St. Francis Levee Board are in worse muddle than ever before. All thought of levee building and the protection of the St. Francis basin from overflow seems to have been laid aside for the time being un. til the more important question of which faction shall enjoy the offices of the board is settled
 The board spent the entire day in Marion yesterday trying to decide who is the secretary treasurer. State Sen. ator F. w. DeRositt, of Forrest City, introduced a resolution to expunge from the minutes the Mcdonald reso. lution by which Eugene Williams was removed from the office of secretary. treasurer at the previous meeting.
 The president, o. N. Killough, held that nothing but the correctness of the minutes could be questioned. whereupon MT. DeRositt made an. other motion to rescind the Mcdonald motion entirely and to reverse the action of the board at the previous meeting
 The motion was carried by a vote Of Il to 8, those voting against being o. N. Killough, H. A. Block and H. F. Roleson. MT. Williams then claimed the office of secretary-treas- urer, but H. A. Morrison, who was elected to succeed him at the last meeting, refused to recognize his claim on the ground that as an officer of the board charges had to be pre- ferred against him and notice given of the charges before he could be re- moved from office.
 MT. Morrison left last night for his home at Earle with the books of the Secretary-treasurer in his pos ssion, and last night no one kney ho is secretary-treasurer of the board.
 No other matter was. taken up at the meeting of the board, although the vital question as to whether or not an office for the engineer is to be maintained in Memphis near the base of supplies was one of the principal reasons for the calling of the meeting.
 MT. Williams said yesterday to the board that he had in the banks S6OOO with which to pay the interest coupons on the bonds and the certificates which have not yet been presented for payment, and that he would make good the protested checks for the cur rent expenses of the board MT. Mor- rison challenged the statement, saying that he had letter from the presi- dent of the Memphis correspondent of the Bank of Forrest City, saying that MT. Williams did not have that amount on deposit. MT. Williams replied that he did not say in what bank he had the funds, but that he would take care of all of his indebtedness to the board
 The friends of MT Williams protest that the action of the meeting of the board on August 26, by which he was removed from office, was illegal and that he was, therefore, still the sec retary- treasurer and that all that was necessary was to expunge the minutes of the Mcdonald motion. Those vot- ing for the motion of MT. DeRositt were J. H. Lovewell, w. M. Hazel, R. s. Rogers, H. D. Tomlinson, w. T. Thorne, F. o. Love, c. M Bell, c. c. Fogg, J. M. McBee, R. A. Scott and F. W. DeRositt. They claim that the notice given MT. Williams was not sufficient, and, further, that an officer of the board cannot be removed from office before conviction.
 The offense with which Williams was charged was his refusal to turn over to the Repositories the funds of the board. At the time of the failure of the Bank of Forrest City there was about Sl2,000 of the boards money tied up. MT. Williams paid the in' terest on the bonds as they were pre- sented in Memphis, claiming that he and not the bondholders had the op tion as to whether they should be paid in New York or Memphis, but failed to meet the checks for the running expenses of the board, which he au lhorized the president to draw on him
 There was a movement on foot among MT, Williams friends at tho meeting to present resolution asking MT. Killough to resign as president o the board, but the other matter took all day and the Killough plan was not pushed.
 As 1t stands, the dispute over the office of Secretary-treasurer will have to be taken to the courts unless Mr. Morrison recedes from the position he took yesterday at the advice of the president.
 It is possible, also, that at the next meeting MT. Morrison may muster