The Indianapolis times., 1923-10-27

McCray said checks he had OBJ
tanned from the State board of agri-
culture had been turned over by him
him had gone to the Kentland bank
through Chicago clearing houses. He
gave this as explanation of the stamp
Of Chicago bank On the back Of
one of the boards checks for S25 900,
made out here June 27 and received
a. the Continental and Comercial Ma
tonal Bank at Chicago, June 2e. The
Governor could not explain the dis
crepancy in the dates. He said 1t
must have been due to a mistake at
the Chicago bank. said to be the sec
ond largest in the United States.
Error on Checks
When asked why the boards checks
were not made out to him personally
instead of to the bank. McCray ad-
nlitted there was no excuse. He pre-
viously admitted the checks had been
made out following solicitation Of I.
Newt Brown. secretary treasurer of
the board. There must have been
an error on the part of the board of
agriculture in making out the checks
to the bank instead of to me-" he
said. He said the way the checks
were written facilitated transfer OF
the funds to the Kenuand Bank.
McCray was questioned regarding
recent statements by William Oar
roch. receiver for the bank, in which
the latter said. Not 1 cent Of the
board of agriculture funds ever
reached the Discount and Deposit
State Bank" ''Of course they did
not" McCray said. '"rhey were de-
posted there to my ow ncredft and
did not go to the credit Of the bank"
No Reason for Doubt.
McCray denied he had given the
board of agriculture reason to doubt
the destination of the funds. He de-
clared the board had a thorough
knowledge of the situation. But be-
yond denying he asked that the
checks be made out to the bank in
stead of himself. he would make no
more definite statements.
At the Statehouse 1t was learned
McCray made a personal appeal to
Brown for some of the board of agri-
cultures s1.0o0.ooo bond issue. sold
for s97S.2s5 last summer, to carry him
through an emergency. The board,
through Brown, made out check for
100000 payable to the Kentland insti-
tuition. McCray gave a post-dated
check and some first mortgage secur-
ity for the "loan." McCray told
Brown not to cash the check until
after his (McCray's) return from
Camp Knox, Kentucky. In some way
the check was presented at a local
bank and was turned down because
of lack of funds. Brown then called
an officer of the Kentland bank by
telephone and said he was sending
a check for $4,000.
Paper Not Honored
The officer of the Kentland Bank
said the check would not be honored.
The entire s155, 900. including the $780,
900 check, was redeemed with funds
from the Goodrich $3.50, 900 pool. The
$50, 900 check was the last of six that
went to McCray from the board.
Lawrence Orr, chief examiner of
the State board of accounts, issued
this statement today:
In order to make clear the situation
In regard to examination of State
boards, institutions and officers by the
State board of accounts, I wish to
state that about the time Governor
McCray called his creditors together
he called me into his office and re-
quested that examination be made of
all departments where State funds are
handled.
This 1 am doing as far as possible,
1--WE have examiners checking the
auditors office at this time. Other
offices, including the State board of
agriculture and other boards and in
stitutions, will be examined as fast as
we can get to it,