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VOL. 44.
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, WEDNESDAY JULY 17, 1907.
NO. 131.
REFEREE'S REPORT
IN BURSUM CASE
WORRYING
Ill EXPERT M'MAHON
OF
'S EX-PARTE
' EARNINGS F
T
Thousands of Dollars Credits Omitted in
Previous Report Territory Indebted
to Mr. Bursum During His Super
i indency of PrisonNo Shortage
or Deficit Ever Existed.
A little over a year ago there was published by tlio Democratic news
papers of the Territory, amongst them the Albuquerque Morning Journal,
an article purporting to be the report on the receipts and expenditures'
of the fund known ns the '"convicts' earning fund" of the Territom.1
penitentiary, during the term of nearly .seven years of which IT. 0. fflir
suni was the superintendent of the prison.
This report, was prepared and signed by one. Francis M. McMahon,
then secretary of the Colorado Title and Trust 'Company of Colorado
Springs, Colorado. This party had been employed by ex-Covernor Her
bert J. Hagerman for this purpose and, as near as can be ascertained,
received the sum of about $1,2.50 out of the convicts' earnings fund for
the job.
It was then and there claimed by Hagerman and those interested
with him in the affair that MeMahon was an expert accountant, had
thoroughly and honestly investigated the accounts, had demonstrated that
Mr.' Bursum owed the Territory over $12,000.00 of this fund received by
him and not accounted for. This, of course, meant that Mr. Bursum was
guilty of ofiicial mis-conduct and embezzlement. The rcKrt was given
the widest possible circulation in the yellow press under flaring headlines
and paid for by a combine of Ilagcrman. administration officials, Demo-
eratic politicians and personal enemies of Mr. Bursum.
The report was .absolutely ex-parte and the Hagerman administra
tion had denied the request of .Mr. Bursum to be represented during the
investigation of the accounts by an expert accountant for the purpose of
checking the work of MeMahon as it proceeded. After the publication of
this so-called "expert's report" Mr. Bursum and his friends published an
emphatic denial of the false charges and untrue accusations made therein.
In order to fully substantiate the absolute falseness, incorrectness
and untrue statements in McMahon's "expert report" and to vindicate
himself fully to cleanse his record from the unjust charges, foul asper
sions, the cooked-up falsehoods and the vindictive assaults upon his char
acter, heaped upon him by this report, and the yellow press of the Terri
tory, Mr. Bursum determined to secure a judicial investigation and
decision.
Under and by virtue of an act of the recent Legislative Assembly,
Mr. Bursum instituted suit in the Third Judicial .District Court for
Socorro County, praying for a complete and thorough judicial investiga
tion of the accounts described and known as '"the convicts' earnings fund"
under his administration of the. Territorial penitentiary. The suit was
filed and Charles V. Safford, traveling, auditor of the Territory, one of
the best bookkeepers and accountants in the country, a man of the high-
' est reputation and an official of remarkable efficiency and executive abil
ity, was appointed referee by Associate Justice Frank W. Parker, with
instructions to take the necessary evidence and submit the same to the
court. The Territory of Xew Mexico by its attorney general, William C.
lieid, tiled a cross-complaint and became a party to the suit. ,
An immense amount of testimony was taken by Ueteree Saitord,
several weeks' time was spent by him and his assistant in .the taking of
this evidence and in the preparation of the report. Some days he and
his assistant working from fourteen to sixteen hours. , Hundreds of errors
on the part of MeMahon were discovered, most of them against Mr. Bur
um. omissions of credits bv the hundreds were found; discrepancies and
erroneous additions and subtractions by. the dozen were shown up. -
The original memoranda, bills, receipts, vouchers, invoices, and book
records were thoroughly examined and checked and as the
report shows that not only was Mr. Bursum not indebted to the Tern o y
of New Mexico at the time of relinquishing the office of supermtendent
of the penitentiary or at any time in any amount, but, on the contrai,
the Territory, of New Mexico was then and there and ls today indebted
and owes to Mr. Bursum a very large sum of money amounting in the
agteSi herewith in full that the people
may read and know.' It is a clean cut, easily understoo an, 1 correc
. r , :i. ot pvnenses of the fund, and ot tne
statement oi every muu iaur T :r 'uanA -.Wice
greatest interest to every citizen who desires to mo - right and pist.ee
prevail.
Fill I TEXT OF OFFICIAL REPORT
FILED IN COURT BY REFEREE
Santa Fe, N.M., July 12, 1907. ,
Hon. Frank W. Parker, Associate Jus
tice of the Supreme Court, of the
Territory of New Mexico, and Judge
of the Third Judicial ' District
thereof. . .
Sir: In compliance with your order
naming me as referee, and as such
referee' directing that I investigate
and report as to facts, in the cause
now pending in your court, in which
Holm O. Bursum is the plaintiff and
the Territory of New Mexico is the
defendant and in which suit the plain
tiff prays for an accounting as be
tween the Territory of New Mexico
and himself, concerning moneys that
came to his hands, during the time he
was superintendent of the New Mex
ico Penitentiary, commencing May 5,
1899, and terminating April 12, 1906,
I. would respectfully submit the result
of my examination.
My report, "which Is herewith sub-
mltted, shows In detail all of the de
bits and credits of all transactions,
but the result is so entirely' different
from a report made by the Colorado
Title and Trust Company, dated Aug
ust 30, 1900, that I do not feel that
In justice to myself, that I can submit
this report without calling Your
Honor's attention to the many mani
fest errors in the former report.
Concerning the books of account
this former report charged that valu
able records had been destroyed or
were not available, and on the other
hand I found all books of original en
try and from these the financial trans
actions of the penitentiary under the
superintendency of H. O. Bursum can
bo readily traced. The only record
missing and which in no sense was a
book of original entry, is an old indi
vidual ledger, used in keeping ac
counts of persons buying material
from the penitentiary, and the bal
ances from which on all supposed live
accounts, were transferred to a new
ledger.
The absence of this book was not
material, as, having the books of orig
inal entry, the Journal and impression
books (invoice and voucher), although
this work consumed considerable
time, it has been easily reproduced.
The "re-wiitten cash book" mentioned
in the report referred to was not cop-(
led from any cash book kept by the
penitentiary. A cash book was never
kept, simply a journal in which all
cash transactions were entered as
well as other items. This so-called
"re-written cash book" made np a few
weeks before the retirement of H. O.
Bursum as superintendent, was an at
tempted statement as to the . cash
transactions of the penitentiary for
the period of his service? The state
ment was made for the information of
the Board of Commissioners; was in
no sense a book of original entry and
would have had no value whatever
except for reference, even If it had
been correctly transcribe which It
was not, many entries having been
omitted on both debit and credit
sides. This book should have had no
place whatever in the examination
above referred to except as a guide
or a check and this fact should have
been recognized by the party who
made the audit. That it was so recog
nized by him is shown by his repeated
complaints that the book was not an
original entry and was inaccurate, yet,
strange to say, these very inaccura
cies were made the basis of charges
of shortages.
The only books that should have
been used in the examination in ques
tion were the books of original entry,
supplemented by the books in the of
fice of the Territorial Treasurer as
well as those in the office of the Ter
ritorial Auditor, and such other evi
dence of the receipts and disburse
ments of moneys as could be moulded
into shape and furnished proof posi
tive of such receipts or disburse
ments. In making this examination I have
spent a great deal of time, compiled
a correct cash account, re-written and
journalized all transactions, repro
duced the old ledger, verified all ac
counts pertaining to the receipts and
disbursements of money by the su
perintendent and sale of materials to
Individuals and herewith submit my
original work, consisting of one hun
dred and seventy-five special ruled
sheets which show in detail every
transaction, together with the repro
duced ledger as well as balance
sheets. .
The following statement is a con
densed summary of all cash transac
tions, covering receipts and disburse
ments of moneys that came into the
hands of H. O. Bursum during his
term in office and for which he was
accountable, but does not include the
receipt or disbursement of any funds,
although penitentiary funds, the actual
possession of which never came to
the hands of the superintendent I
have reference . to the salary fund,
general maintenance fund, permanent
improvement fund, penitentiary in
come fund, and the Scenic Route fund,
all of which receive direct appropria
tions made by the Legislature, col
lected by the Territorial treasurer,
retained by him and by both the treas
urer and auditor credited to the
.proper penitentiary fund and only dis
bursed by the Territorial treasurer on
warrant of the Territorial auditor on
voucher approved by the Board of
Penitentiary Commissioners and uo
part of which funds were handled by
the superintendent In cash or ' its
equivalent, or by any one for him in
his employ. In the report before re
ferred to, purporting to show short
ages or misappropriation of funds, no
moneys belonging to any of the above
mentioned funds were included, but
all such items as were claimed to be
misappropriated or unaccounted for
were included Jn what is termed the
' convict's earning fund" and this sum
mary submitted by me covers all cash
transactions In said fund.
H. O. Bursum, cx-superlntendent of
the Now Mexico penitentiary in ac
count with the Territory for cash that
came to his hands from May 5, 1899,
to April 12, 1906, while superintendent
of New Mexico penitentiary:
To cash from jail receipts.? 5,485.63.
To cash paid by govern
ment, for support of U,
S. prisoners
To cash from sale of mat'l.
To cash from other funds..
To balance due H. O. Bur
sum ;.. 4,3:13.56
29,886.57
80,429.17
31,126.04
Total .$151,200.97
By cash paid Treasurer. .. .$122,436.82
By contingent expenses.... 28,824.15
Total
.$151,260.97
I am unable to draw comparisons
between the amounts shown In the
above summary and the figures in the
former report as in that report no
summary or general statement was
made. However, it. can be readily
seen that I have charged Mr. Bursum
with more than $32,000 in round num
bers than anywhere mentioned in the
former report and as to the remit
tances to the Territorial Treasurer
have credited Mr. Bursum's accouut
with more than $10,000. This, of
course, includes the money paid in by
Mr. Bursum voluntarily; $1,027 and
the $2,470.38 paid under protest on
the demand of. the ex-Attorney Gen
eral, hut after deducting these items
still leave in round numbers, more
than $6,000 paid over to the Terri
torial Treasury and all of which is cov
ered by receipts from the Territorial
Treasurer, the stubs of which are on
file in his office and as shown in detail
in the main body of my report.
Contingent expenses are composed of
expenditures for the following ' pur
poses: Freight, which includes freights on
materials like brick and lime sold
f. o. b. cars at other points and freight
prepaid, 6,814.04.
Telephone, telegrams and express,
$2,233.89.
Supplies and material purchased,
$5,026.29.
Rewards and expenses In pursuit of
escapes, $1,921.15.
Gate money and railroad fare .of
prisoners 'o their homes. A large part
of this was on account of IT. S. pris
oners and came back to the Territory
by U. S. payments and included in
the charges' of cash received from that
source, $4,274.64.
Additional services, $4,625.85.
Miscellaneous expenditures, $3,928.29.
Total, $28,824.15.
I have also compiled and submit
herewith an itemized, statement of
these expenditures showing dates,
amounts and classified as above and
of which the above is a summary.
The following is a summary copy
furnished ex-Attorney General Reid;
showing specific amounts and items
compiled by the parties who made
former report under their direction or
from Information furnished by them,
which were claimed in the former re
port to be due to the Territory from
H. O. Bursum, and on which the de
mand for payment was based. For
convenience for the purpose of read
ily referring to these items I have
numbered same:
Summary of Amounts Due by H. O.
Bursum.
(1) Ten thousand vitrified brick in
A. T, & S. F. Ry. car No. 77870,
$100.00.
(2) Receipts on journal and not
on cash book, $168.45.
(3) Remittance of May 26, 1899,
belonging to E. H. Bergman and cred
ited to H. O. Bursum on cash book,
page 10. $700.00.
(4) Amount turned over to H. O.
Bursum by convicts to pay bill of Win
ter's Grocery Co. which bill' was not
paid and the money never turned
over to Incoming superintendent for
disbursement, $175.05.
(5) Warrant No. 2012, December
9, 1902, favor H. O. Bursum withdraw
ing balance in general maintenance
fund, fifty-third fiscal year and npt ac
counted for, $152.27.
(6) Warrant No. 2401, November
30, 1903, favor H. O. Bursum with
drawing balance in general mainten
ance fund, fifty-fourth fiscal year, and
not accounted for, $861.92.
(7) Warrant No. 3138, January 8,
190C, drawn favor of "Jack Donovan
FISHERY
Washington Must
Settle Newfound
land Question
SUBJECT II DELICATE ONE
Unless Satisfactory Agree
ment is Reached Grave
Complications Feared.
Washington, July 17. The ap
proach of the first of August, marking
the beginning of the new Herring
fishing season on the coasts of New
Foundland, is a matter of great con
cern to the state department for it
finds the fisheries controversy be
tween America and Great Britain in
a most confused and unsatisfactory
shape.
The Modus Vivendi entered into
last year, by the terms of which and
greatly against t'ne wish of New
Foundlanders, American fishermen
were permitted to ply their vocation
unmolested off the shores of 'that isl
and, expired with the close of the
fishing season.
Indications today are that it will be
difficult to reach any permanent set
tlement of the trouble and the whole
effort of negotiations is apparently
concentrated for the moment on
drafting some form of a modus Viven
di to guard against the development
of friction that might have serious re
sults. New Foundlanders have suggested
the reference of the whole subject of
the conflicting tneaty to the Hague
tribunal and our government is not
averse to such an arrangement under
certain limitations. ,.
PREPARATIONS FOR
CURRY INAUGURAL
Executive Committee Holds Another
Meeting and Progress Is Reported
National Guard May Turn Out.
Everything is going along swim
mingly for the Inauguration of Cap
tain George Cury as Governor of New
Mexico, which will take place the lat
ter part of this month or during the
first week in August. Another meet
ing of the executive committee having
In charge the Inaugural ceremones,
was held yesterday afternoon presided
over by Acting Governor James W.
Raynolds.
Chairmen of the several sub-committees
who were In attendance reported
progress with the various preparations
and Governor Curry's inauguration
promises to be the most notable in
the history of New Mexico. Republi
cans and Democrats are uniting to
make it such, and ,to welcome home
the couquering hero, who during the
past few years has been busy quelling
the rebellious Pulajanes.
The Inaugural ball, which will be
the crowning feature of the inaugura
tion ceremonies will be held at the
Palace Hotel. Tickets for the affair
have been printed and the advance
sale indicates that it will be well at
tended. The price of admission has
been placed at $5.
At yesterday's meeting of the execu
tive committee it was suggested that
it would be a good idea to have the
New Mexico National Guard partici
pate in the Inaugural parade. There
is some doubt as to whether the mili
tiamen would be able to turn out with
out serious Inconvenience, owing to
the uncertainty of the date of the ar
rival of Captain CUrry. The Territor
ial National Guard will be in encamp
ment at Las Vegas during the week
beginning July 21.
NEWSPAPERS PAY
$250,000 FOR LIBEL
Sensational Sequel Follows Attempt
to Organize Soap Trust in
England. '
STATE TO HI""
Judge is Aim
Ready to Instruct
Haywood Jury
EVIDENCE ABOUT JILL III
Closing Scenes in Famous
Murder Trial at Boise
are Interesting.
Boise, July 17. On the opening of
court this morning, Attorney Richard
son notified the State that the defense
desired three of the state's witnesses
to remain in town. Judge Wood an
nounced that prior to the opening of
argument he would notify counsel as
to the main points in the evidence on
which he would instruct the Jury.
Counsel narrow, for the defense an
nounced the sur-rebuttal for the de
fense would be very short.
O. M. Sackett, of Telluride. Colo
rado, for fifteen years an employe of
the Smuggler V.iion Mine, was the
first witness of the day. lie told of
his personal experiences in the big
riot at the Smuggler Union mine In
1901, when he said ho and several
other employes were compelled to rim
a perfect hail of bullets in order to
get to the mine. He said Vincent St.
John was at the head of the Telluride
Union at that time. The witness next
told of negotiating with St. John to
have the firing stopped and reached
an agreement with him.
Agreements Offered as Evidence,
The witness said that as a result
of the negotiations he had with St.
John an agreement between Edgar A.
Collins, assistant manager of the mine,
and St. John, of the Union were
drawn up and signed. The agreement
was offered In evidence, and although
the defense objected, Judge Wood al
lowed it to be filed. The agreement,
was dated July 3, 1901. In It Collins
agrees to cease work on the mine for
a period of three days and the Miners'
Union agrees to refrain from violence
for the same period.
The witness then told of thff killing
of Arthur Collins, superintendent of
the mine, the disappearance of sev
eral miners in the district and vari
ous other disorders. He said the men
were afraid to work and many of them
were shot at on their way to the mines
and it was because of these conditions
that troops were brought Into the dis
trict and martial law proclaimed.
On cross-examination Sackett said
that the trouble in 1901 lasted only
three days Then the agreement went
into effect and the matter was set
tled. "Everything continued peaceful in
the district until late in 1903, didn't
it?" asked Richardson.
"Well, there was sort of an trmed
neutrality."
Richardson read the witness and
Jury another agreement entered into
July 6, 1901, by the mine owners and
the Union. It set forth that the dif
ferences between the mine and Ihe
Union had 'been amicably adjusted,
the Union expressing "entire disap
proval of the recent outrages" and
agreeing not to molest union or non
union workers.
Richardson asked if this agreement
was not in effect up to the general
strike of 1903.
"Ostensibly," replied the witness.
Asks State to Close Its-Case.
The witness justified the ction of
the citizens In taking the law in their
own hands and deporting the men. He
said it was necessary and that they
had the "law of self-defense" to sup
port them. He said since the depor
tations everything had been quiet and
satisfactory in the district.
At the luncheon recess the judge
announced that if possible he desired
the state to close Its rebuttal case
during the afternoon.
(Continued on Page Nine.)
Liverpool, July 17. The attempt in
the fall of 1906 to organize a huge
soap combine in the United Kingdom
which quickly camie to an end under
the pressure of adverse public opin
ion, had a sensational sequel in court
here today when William Hezketh
Lever, a Liberal member of Parlia
ment secured judgment for damages
In the sum of $250,000 and costs
against the Daily Harmsworth News
papers Malls and News for libel pub
lished by them during the course of
the controversy that followed the at
tempt to bring about the combina
tion. After a hearing lasting two days the
defendants today suddenly withdrew
their plea of justification and agreed
to pay the amount demanded. Lever
it is declared, took a leading part In
the efforts to establish the soap com
bine. '-
NORTHERN PACIFIC
FLYER WRECKED
Engineer Found Dead at Throttle In
Overturned Locomotive No
One Else Kilted.
Butte, Mont., July 17. The North
Coast, Limited, west bound, the crack
flyer on the Northern Pacific Railway
was ditched :hree miles east of Gar
rison this morning. Two baggage cars
the smoker and day coach left the
rails. The locomotive overturned, and
in the cab, his hand upon the sand
pipe valve and the brake lever, was
found Engineer James Graham of
Butte, dead at his post.
MISSOURI AND KAW
RIVERS STILL RISING.
Kansas City, July 17. The Mis
souri, and Kaw Rivers continue to
rise slowly but aside from, a few
"washouts and the flooding of low lands
no serious damage has been reported.
f. : i