The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-04-20

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Grand Total l---------------$4, ,05a .25
(This voucher has been approved by
Attorney GeneraD
! Shows What Farcical Cases Cost,
The above statement gives the tax
payers of North Dakota an inkling of
what they will have to pay for the
criminal prosecutors instituted By tie
state administration in the so-cailed
investigation IF the Scandinavian
American bank failure. A short time
ago the Courier-News printed state
ment showing that Arthur LeJueur
Socialist alto ne. of St. Paul, Minn.,
former Socialist mayor of Minot had
been paid $750.45 for services rem
dered in these same cases.
The statement printed herewith
shows that the state auditing board
has allowed total sum of $2,148 to
LeSueur. According to this statment
the auditing board has allowed $72O.-
~ for expenses in bringing j. j.
Hastings, former vice president of the
Scandinavian American bank back to
North Dakota from California. Of this
amount $452.72 was paid as salary
and expenses for George Raymond,
deputy sheriff of Cass county, on his
trip to California to arrest Hastings.
Another item that is arousing a
great deal of comment is one for
l,189.46 to the VIM. j. Burns Inter-
national Detective agency. 1t is known
that one bill presented by the Burns
agency called for $2,5OO, but that
State Auditor D. C. Poindexter re-
fused to issue a warrant for it be-
cause it was not itemized. The detec-
tive agency refused to itemize the Sec
ond bill, but it was vouched for bv
the attorney general and so allowed.
Subterfuge Employed
A study of the above statement
shows that Attorney LeSueur's bills
were not made out directly to the
state but to the Bishop Brissman Co.,
a firm of accountants that has some
time been engaged in auditing the
state industries. By many this is
held as species of deception, to COW
er the fact that LeSueur is in the
employ of the state administration.
The fact that these expenses, incurred
by the states department of justice
IN the prosecution of criminal cases,
have been charged up to the state in
dustrial commission, the body in
charge of the opposition of the state
industries, is also subject of pertinent
comment.
Attorney LeSueur has been paid
$50 a day for every day he has been
in the states employ in these cases,
the records of the state auditing
board show. All his travelling and 9TH
er expenses have also been paid dur
ing that time, the bills paid show.
Johnson Has Four Assistants
Attorney General johnson has four
regular assistants, besides three
clerks in his office. Under these cir
cumstances people are beginning to
wonder why he has to pay out thous-
ands of dollars to an attorney outside
the state in prosecuting cases for the
state. The assistant attorneys general
are George F. Shafer, Charles Simon,
George [. Reimstad and Rheinhart J.
Kamplin.
Another item of much interest to
the public is the fat fees that ]. w.
Brinton has been pulling down in
these cases. 1t is shown that $275 was
paid out to Brinton. These figures
copied from the original bills with the
state auditing board, provide corrob-
Grating evidence of the generally ac-
cepted theory that Brinton, LeSueur
and others interested with them, have
been providing the evidence upon
which the Nestos administration
hoped to convict some League leaders
of wrong-doing. How dismally the
Nestos,etal. have failed in this ven
ture, court records in Fargo are held
to be incontrovertible evidence.
Only Small Part of Cost
The bills printed at the head of this
article show the payment of a total
of $4,059.25 in these futile cases. This
is only a small part of what these
farcical proceedings have cost the tax
payers of North Dakota, according to
people who are in close tuch with the
situation. But the revelations made by
these figures give the people some in
side knowledge of what the present
anti-farmer state administration is
perpetrating upon them. II
It is held by many that it is a de-
sire on the part of the Nestos regime
to cover up what is being done now
that is the cause of the feverish at
tempts being made to oust all Lea
guers from state offices. The I. ". A.
state officials realize fully what will
happen to them when the people get
hold of what their servants are doing.
With loyal and faithful League Off
cials on the job in the state house it
is proving exceedingly difficult to
keep the facts away from the people,
recent developments indicate.
1T seems mighty strange that af-
ter all this hue and cry Of fraud and
Investigations by detectives and
Would-be sleuths, sveinbjorn johnson
has been unable to put single one of
the prosecutions over said Fargo
man yesterday. People cannot be
blamed for becoming suspicious that
this i only political propaganda after
what has happened. During the re-
Sk1S p~x