The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-16

in Alabama that does not find 1t neces- sary to purchase or sell cotton for flu ture delivery. Every trade made was under the strict rules of the New York cotton exchange
 Cotton Telegrams
 ''The Montgomery. Journal and the Bir- mingham Ledger, a few days since, con- tained glaring headlines charging that my personal telegrams were charged to the stote They undertook to quote the testi- mony of c. A. Fonvilie and Mrs. Alice Graham of the Western Union Telegraph company to sustain this assertion. The Montgomery Advertiser reported the tes- tin1ony as follows MT. Fonville and Mrs. Grs ham testified as to certain telegrams sent by Governor O'Neal in connection with cotton specuiations. They said that several of these teelgrams had been charged to his personal account. The op- Dc s,tion papers didn't have the decency or fairness to report the statement that the mistake had been corrected when dis covered All the telegrams, which I re- ceived from brokers in New -ork, were prepaid. The telegrams which I sent were prepared in my office, either writ ten personally or dictated to stenograph- CT and handed to Mr. O'Neal or MT. Nun nallee, my secretaries, to be delivered to telegraph messenger. They had posi- tive instructions to mark on each tele- gram that they were to be charged by my personal account
 ''When the accounts of the telegraph company against the state were present. ed. they were always presented at that time to MT. John D. McNeel, my private sec, etry. Yet through an error or mis- take of my secretaries, unintentionally made, amounting to about $1.b0, which promptly corrected when called to my attention at the time mentioned, l am to be denounced by the opposition press as
 applying public moneys to my private accounts.
 Contingent Fund
 1T have been criticized because it Is | claimed I made too many trips on pub l lie business. There is not a single tr1p for which a charge is made, that was not in my honest judgment of public ssrWce' ! and in the discharge of an executive duty' | I deny your right to sit in judgment on 1 me as to whether should have attenoeu certain conferences or traveied on pup lie business. When journeyed In my or. ficial capacity rode in the best cars anu registered at the best hotels. As a pri- 1 vate citizen when I take a journey or any length out of the state, ride m Pullman car, and I pursued the same habit as governor of the state; trnSeieu as befitted the station occupied. l never rendered an account of my expenses tnat 1 was not less than the amount I actually expended. In the hurry of travel anu
 business frequently neglected to enter necessary items.
 1 "I have been criticized for expendins e326 for attending the governors con ference at Colorado Springs. I was ab- sent for over 10 days on this trip and l the amount that I drew was for my
 travelling expenses. as well as for Ala | bama's contribution to the expenses of the conference and the sum which
 was expended was far less than ehe amount of my actual expenses. may
 be extravagant in my own affairs. but
 in the expenditure of public moneyi I have always been parsimonious. II has always been the rule for tho gov l ernors to use the contingent fund without the formality of an itcmizet statement and no governor has evel been called on before to account aI
 to the manner of itD expenditure. Tht
 right to do this is wise provision