The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1916-10-20


Neither did Governor w. c. McDon.
aid. He never warned Morgan O
Llewellyn, secretary-treasurer OF the
State College. or County Treasurer
Cox Of Dona Ana county. And he had
promised TO warn Cox.
q Why didn't your"
A. But It Is not a fact that I
placed any particular confidence in
his statements"
@ IAN right then. You received
nothing from that bank from January
30th on that you put any confidence
in, did your"
A. u didn't place much reliance on
the statements. They don't near
much anyway"
Q You didn't get anything else,
did you?"
A. No. sir"
The Miserable Climax.
The whole miserable business came
out then. Ernest never went back 10
see II there was any hop. for the Las
Cruces bank depositOrs and the col
lege funds Neither did the governor.
They never sent any one there to in.
v%estigate further They never con.
iirmed Smiths vague reports. Hero
IL the sordid story OF official lncou.
petence and executive neglect. from
the record.
. And you never went back there
TO Investigate the condition."
A DID NOT"
Q Never sent anyone rncre?"
A DID NOT"
o Never communicated with any.
one regarding it2"
A. mo"
Q Absolutely let f. go?"
Here the now wretchcd and Dis.
credited travelling auditor tried teen
~ to save his face"
A. mo DID NOT"
Q. What did you do"
A. The point was this / didn't
absolutely let II 20. II was my inten.
lion 10 hayc gone there
Q Il am asking you. Mr. Ernest.
that II is a fact that for ten months
after you found that condition and
knew the character OF the bank. knew
the state funds were there. you abso.
lutely didn't do a thing toward seeing
that the bank was put in better con
dition. did your"
A NOTHING: NO."
Governor Mcdonald was a. derelict
as his subordinate. For him there il
greater censure. He was supposed 10
be a bigger man. He well knew the
rickety state OF Smiths bank, with it's
overload OF dubious notes and its Gus.
tOdy Of college money and the de-
posits Of his then trusting fellow clti.
zens. Coming back from Las Cruces.
he should have straightway ordered
the regeneration Of the First State
Bank. Either that. or a closing of Il.
And Governor Mcdonald Knew.
II was not that the governor had
forgotten about II. The unhappy Er.
nest tells OF conversations with His
EXcellency about the tottering irs;i.
tuition. But the governor did nothing.
Q Did you ever consult with the
governor regarding the condition Of
this bank after you were down there
January 3Oth?"
A. Yes. we had some-we had sew
eral conversations relative TO the mat
ter"
Q Nothing came from those con.
versations ?"
A. Nothing until We decided to &c
down there some time about the mid.
die OF December and tried to "rrpr"'
IL 30 we could 80 there about the mid
die OF December. say we. D,,.u
someone and myself, or someone in
my department ! preferred to go my
SELF. knowing exactly what had oc.
CURED az that meeting OF the board
OF directors"
z Before that day came"
A. Before that day came they beat
me TO it; yes sir. The same way IN
TuCumCari.'
And Governor Mcdonald knew that
nothing was being done He himself
had not bestirred himself to save the
State College funds or protect the
other depositors OF the First state
Bank from further exploitation.
Question Governor Mcdonald
knew generally the conditions Of that
bank and Of Smith that were known
to you, did he mott"
ERNEST: "HE KNEW AS MUCH
AS DID"
Q You kept him perfectly informed
all the timer"
A. YES, SIR; ALL THE coz
REsPoNpENcE AND EVERYTHING
WAS SUBMITTED TO TIE COVER.
NOR"
And the governor did nothing.