Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-01-04
COLEMAN MUST TELL
WHOLE STORY
Continued from First Page.)

Continued from First Page.)
crime, but they committed felony in
the eyes of the law and put the blush
of shame on the fair name Of the state
of Idaho. A man might be convicted
Of an ordinary misdemeanor and fell
ony and the world would forgive him.
but when officials In high position of
honor and trust plumber the funds of
the state as did Allen and Coleman. 1t
is heralded at home and abroad and
in every nook and corner they read
about the defalcation of men who &C.
eupied high places and represented the
people of the state of Idaho and Idaho
is judged by the action of these men.
Our men and women possess the high
est degree of civic righteousness and
are the highest type of good citizen
ship, and the disgrace that has been
put upon the state by the action of
these men cannot be washed out in a
day. Mr.. Coleman is not being pun
ished for what he did, but society is
being protected by his Incarceration
and the youth of our state will be
made cognizant of the fact that hon
esty is the best policy.
NEVER MADE CONFESSION.
"Mr. Coleman pleaded guilty to a
charge OF embezzlement and received
an indeterminate sentence Of IN to 10
years. and he received this sentence
according to law, and while 1t is true
we have the right as board of par
dons to remit, commute or pardon, l
am opposed to It at present. 1t Is
we'll enough to talk ABOUT clemency
and sympathy, but when Mr.. Coleman
pleaded guilty and has been serving
his sentence now for two years and
has made several applications for par
don, which have always been denied,
he has never yet come before the state
board and freely and voluntarily, upon
his own volition, said to the people OF
Idaho: 7 have done wrong and COM
mitted a great crime against the honor
OF my state and have pleaded guilty
to the same and am now receiving my
punishment and am now ready volun-
tarily on my part to make an open
confession of everything that has
transpired and thereby let the world
know who the men are who disgraced
the fair name Of the state Of Idaho
No, his mouth is shut like clam and
he has never uttered a word.
WANT ALL DETAILS.
"He was charged with the taking Of
$4,000 He has never confessed
whether he took that $4,000 and at
once left the state with 1t or II there
were others who benefited in getting
share. He never told OF the tele-
grams sent by him from Portland ask
| ing others here to make the shortage
good; he has never told anything, but
has quietly waited for the opportune
time when he would get the remission
of his penalty and so out in the world
free man. He never tried to atone
for anything. When the shortage was
heralded as $4,000 and he knew 1t was
so reported, Mr.. Coleman never said a
word, but simply made application for
a pardon and when he made applica-
ton he knew that $4,000 was the re-
ported shortage.
when / interviewed the attorney
general year ago and asked him to
join with me to investigate this mat
ter, we started in on the $4,000 basis
and I employed James S. Bogart, an
accountant of this city, and asked him
to help us to investigate the shortage
and after a long search of the records
he found it was hard to establish
things that could be tested out in the
courts. I then sent Mr.. Bogart out te
| interview Mr.. Coleman on this very
matter with the solemn injunction not
to promise him anything in behalf Of
the governor but simply to appeal te
him to see IL he would not tell the
truth about the transaction and thus
repair some of the damages inflicted
upon the state.
DID NOT VOLUNTEER EVIDENCE
MIR. Coleman was not very willing
to do SO; there were other circum-
stances probably over which he had
no control, but at no time did Mr.
Coleman voluntarily offer his serv-
ices to straighten out the wrong COM
mitted. After repeated trials. Mr.
Begart made report, the report ha:
never been published but Is on file II
the office of the governor and can bt
seen by anyone who wants to SEQ 1t
This led US to believe that Mr.. Cole.
man knew all about the whole trans
action and at some later date. VIZ
brought Mr.. Coleman down to tho of.
flee of the secretary of state and
interviewed him in the presence of the
prison board and again appealed tt
him and after the appeal was made
to him I took him aside in the middle
office of the secretary of state depart
ment and there personally appealed t.
him to make some amends for thu
wrong he had done. He then asked
me IL he would get something in re
turn, which meant consideration ir
the way of clemency. I promised hin
nothing but told him IL he would tel
the truth the matter would be takel
into consideration at some time In thu
future. and he then agreed to tell tn,
truth and help us to get the shortage
"He was then turned over to the at