The Green Forest tribune., 1915-07-23

we find that while he was employing
 special counsel and paying state! l money for it, he was at the same time doing outside practice to the neglec
 ofgthe interest of the state.
 Eve further find that the attorne.
 asE required by law, failed to compl,
 With the latter clause of section No
 of act No. 131 of the Acts of 1911
 requiring him to include therein tn,
 amount of inheritance taxes collected l from what estate and in what count,
 the settlement was made. Had ht
 compiled with this law, many of ths
 objections herein could easily have l been corrected, and all inheritance
 taxes could have been accounted for.
 The report then sums up tht charges.
 The report was signed, "Auditins
 Committee of State Departments ant
 Institutions, G. w. Garrett, Monroe
 Smith, U. A. Gentry"
 Moose Issues Challenge. That he deposited franchise and in heritance taxes in local bank in or
 der to be able to cash the salary war
 rants of the governor, the judges ot
 the Supreme Court and their em
 ployes, and that these officials advised him there was nothing wrong about such a practice, was the statement mo dn hvy NY Moose in reply to the report of the legislative Investigating commit tee on his office.
 In conclusion of his statement, Mir. Moose issues challenge to the con- mittee to bring it's proof of corrup- tion in his office before the Pulaski County Grand Jury.
 If the insinuations of this so-called committees report are true, the pres ent attorney general ought to be in- dicted by the Pulaski County Grand Jury and be punished for the felonies the committee insinuates he is guilty of," he said. T invite the gentlemen composing this committee to take their accounts and such other proof as they may have available and go be- fore the Pulaski County Grand Jury, and submit their proof to that body. It is body having adequate powers to investigate, and require the produc- ton of books, papers and other evi- dences. It has the power to indict. the Circuit Court has the power to convict and punish. If these insinua- tions are half true, the attorney gen. eral ought to be indicted. If they arc false, and I charge that they are, ma liciously, hypocritically and slander- ously flase, the committee itself ought to be indicted.
 Invites an investigation.
 MT. Moose's statement follows:
 There are no direct charges of cor rupt misconduct in office on the part of the attorney general charged in the report of the so-caIled Investigating committee, as it appeared in the Ga zette, but there are several di- -eet insinuations which amount to Sh"i 60 Oi CoiiuPIloH uSSo H. are hypocritical, false md slanderous. Some of them were known to members of the com nitee to be false, and some of them were not known to members of the committee to be true.
 Aided Officers to Get Money.
 "The first charge made is that the Ittorney general deposited public unds in the Southern Trust Company, banking institution of this city. That charge is true, and funds were lept in the trust company until March ,f the present year, since which time 10 funds have been deposited by the lttorney general in any banking insti- ution. The reason for depositing unds in the Southern Trust Company S as follows: When I came into office
 found the state on a scrip basis. The governor and other state officials 'ould not succeed, at the end of the nonth, in collecting their salary war ants unless someone provided the money in advance for that purpose. The same condition existed under my predecessor, and when I came into of ice l followed the custom.
 Tn the collection of the inheritance md franchise taxes I deposited the collections in the trust company, and It the end of the month had accumu- ated sufficient money to pay the sala- ries of my own office force, those of -he governor and his office force, the Supreme Court judges and their clerks, and the Supreme Court libra rian, and others. Although this had been the custom in the office before I came into it, 1 discussed the matter with the governor and with certain members of the Supreme Court, and they all agreed that there was noth- ing wrong or improper in my so doing. During the session of the late legisla- ture, however, bill was passed which made it unlawful for any person ow- ing money to the state to pay it to any officer except the state treas urer. Since that law was approved by the governor I have made no de- posits of state funds in any bank. al