Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-06-25
HIS ATTORNEY MILD AND DoclLE
IN HEARING ON PANAMA.
PACIFIC CHARGES.
NOTHING NEW BROUGHT
OUT BEFORE COMMITTEE
Witnesses For Greater Iowa Assooia-
tion Show Vouchers For All Ex'
penditures Have Been Presented es.
eept For Two Small Items-Nothing
Strange in Sale Of Furniture.
pecial to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. June 25-For two days
the rctrenchment and reform COM
mittee of the Iowa legislature has been
going into the charges preferred by
James NJ. Pierce of the Iowa Home
stead. against officers and members of
the Iowa commission to the Panama
Pacific exposition. Several witnesses
from over the state have been before
the committee and have been ques-
tened as to their knowledge OF facts
relating TO the expenditures and &C
counts of the commission.
When the hearing opened Tuesday
Attorney Robert Haines, representing
Pierce, appeared before the committee
and stated that as far as they were
concerned they were willing to rest
their case on the evidence as brought
out before the senate investigating
committee last spring, of which Sena-
tor Milton b. Pitt OF Harrison county,
was chairman.
The question arose as to whether
or not time should be taken for
statement of facts by both sides. On
motion of Senator Wilson of Appan-
Dose county, il was voted that state
ments of facts should be presented.
Attorney Haines>representing Pierce,
reviewed briefly the, history of the
case claiming that representatives Of
the Homestead found what they be-
lieved TO be irregularities in the ac-
- dc.
on the part of the officers of the COM
mission, that the matter was gone into
by the senate of the Iowa legislature
on charges preferred by James Pierce
and that the senate had in turn re-
ferred it to the retrenchment and re-
form committee. He declared that
they were not present as prosecutors
but to present to the committee e'i-
dence which they had discovered.
Attorney Emmett FINLEY. of Council
Bluffs Attorney B. F. Swisher. of
Of Davenport We're present in the in
terests of Woodwork Clum and>> the
members of the Iowa commission to
the Panama Pa cific exposition. Attor
ney FINLEY briefly presented the COM
missions side of If. He said that all
expenditures of the commission have
been accounted for thru vouchers filed
with the state executive council ex-
cepr two minor items for which vouch-
ers seemed to have been lost He said
the charge that the commission failed
to turn over monies received for let
ting concessions to various individuals
would be refuted by showing that no
concession fees were charged.
Homestead Witnesses Heard.
Austin Haines. associate editor Of
the Homestead, was the first witness
called. Haines told of examining rec
ords of the commission and of discoV-
ering that many expenditures were not
accounted for in vouchers.
F.. G. Prouty. of Davenport and A.
Fl. Hammerstrom, of Clinton. expert
accountants. both testified that they
had examined the accounts of the
Panama Pacific exposition commission
and found the accounts checked out
all right except for two items for
which there were no vouchers.
George Haws. of Ottumwa- member
of the agricultural committee Of the
commission, was called and asked
whether or not he purchased some OF
the furniture sold by the commission
at the close Of the fair or whether 1t
was given him. He said he purchased
it and as he remembered it the furni-
ture was some that had been pur-
chased by the guarantors and not by
the funds furnished by the state.
T. V. Murphy. editor of the Clinton
Advertiser. was called to the stand and
asked if the Advertiser in 1915 paid
the Iowa News Bureau money for leg
islative correspondence, or if the
bureau handled the correspondence
for the Advertiser out of Des Moines.
He said the bureau did not send cor
respondence to the Advertiser and that
in 1915, at which time he was manag-
ing editor and handling legislative
news, he had not heard of such a
bureau or of Rolla Bales. said to be
one of the. Correspondents for the
bureau. It had been charged that
Woodwork Clum,. who was Interested
in the Clinton Advertiser. paid bill
for correspondence for the Advertiser
with funds of the commission
A number Of men prominent in