The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1915-01-28
FORMER AUDITOR
AsSAILS CRITICS
HENRY y. ANDERSON DECLARES
ADAGE ABOUT GLASS HOUSES
HOLDS TRUE.
To the Editor

BY the Sioux Falls Press under
OF January 10, 1915, I see that
the editor of that worthy paper
thinks that he has finally unearthed
something that looks good to him. or
at least he imagines he has. 1t may
that | am o bright enough to
understand the mission of a nwes-
paper and the work of that news
papers editor 60 the readers and thej
public in general.
| have always thought that when
a paper gave to the public the news
that came within it's reach and that
they were facts and they knew they
yer facts, it had fulfilled its mission
TO the commonwealth, and that it was
not the requirement OF the readers
10 have the editor Gil his paper with
a lot OF misrepresentation OF facts.
1 cannot, for the life OF me. see
how the state auditor was in any
way TO blame for the number OF en-
ployes that the secretary of state
had in his office, or how many jan
itors he maitainod al the state house,
or how many engineers We're employ
ed at the state power plant. That
question "a settled by the 1913
session of the legislature, when q
bill was introduced to place the state
house under the supervision OF the
state capitol commission. This bill
was defeated.
AS "a matter Of information, |
wish to state that the state power
plant is not only q heating plant. but
also one OF the best and up-to-date
electric plants fer lis size in the
state. This plant is run night and
day. winter and summer, and Only
four people are employed i'll IL. |
know that the state auditor did net
commit an overt act in paying these
men their salaries, but on the other
hand, if the editor of the Press is sc
righteous, why is ii that he has al
ways presented his salary voucher
regularly every month as Il member
OF the hoard OF charities, drawinS
s125 q month if he had rendered
five Or ten days service TO the state.
This did not matter then.
Because the state auditor was ac-
c%omodating enough TO pay John Rob
inson his August salary on August
-. to help him out as he Was in
JtCu VI iulltkS. INC ! iCSS ItsNP9 oi Naif
conclusion that there was graft.
o We gods, how hard up you are for
something TO startie the public with.
la reference To the presiding Off
GERS chairs. Of the house and senate
for the 1913 session, will say that
the legislature presented each presid-
ing officer with the char mat ;ne>
occupied during the session, and that
the price paid was practically the
same as was paid for them under a
$44 000 contract by the old capitol
commission. These chairs are all
mahogany and made TO order.
AS TO The pictures that you refer
to, viii say that these pictures were
ordered at the time by the secretary
of state. Hon Samuel C. Policy. The
voucher was approved by him and
the record will bear this out. This
is the same Policy that o occupies
the position oil supreme court Judge,
and is the same man that sued the
state auditorfo S65 salary as Judge,
before he was swcrn in as Judge.
Suit was brought in the supreme
court TO mandamus the state audit
or to issue the warrant. The attorney
general of South Dakota prosecuted
the case against the state. and the
state auditor was compelled. to en-
pioy an outside attorney TO defend
the interests of the state, which he
did without any cost to the state and
Won. Which side was It that was
grating?
As TO the Guenther candy, this was
not paid and the trip which he claim
ed to have made between Garden
City and Florence we found out later
was never mace. The candy, which
was supposed 10 have gone 10 the
ladies who assisted him in his work
fer the state at Sioux City, was never
given 10 them at all. but TO ON
other female, the same as the SO
1T Garden City. That and other items
were deducted from a voucher OF
June II, 1914, amounting TO $2l.72.
AS an investigation is about to be
made of the secretary OF state. why
not go hack and begin where the
committee left off in 1919. l think
it would be a good idea if some II
would tip over the wllitewash brush
and all and Rick in into Capitol Lake
- it could not be used at this time.
In conclusion would like to ask &
w questions. Why vas it that after
Land Commissioner Brinker had
made a confession and had agreed
to go before the court and plead
guilty as charged i'll the complaint
against him. i. e.. forgery. obtaining
money under false pretenSes and
malfeasanca of Office, that when 1t
came time for him to appear in court,
it wa found that the old charge had
been Withdrawn and a minor com
plant filed? To this lie pleaded gull
ty and was given a small and
freed.
Why was it that G member of the
beard of charities was w~aiteviashed
of padding his receipts, and a poor
hotel clerk in the Black Hills was
made the goat and placed in the cate
of anIembezzlcr in the eyes OF
his cmployer2
If the editor OF The Sioux Falls
prass has any grounds for any
wrongdoing hy the writer while serv-
ing as state auditor, let him come out
with them and present them to the
proper authorities. | am ready to
face any conglamerattns of state