The Kenna record., October 13, 1916, Image 3

About The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924

Image provided by: University of New Mexico

                
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Protection?
Perhaps you need a wind-break, a shed,
feed or salt trough We have the very
lumber you are looking for also mater
ial for that new wind mill tower.
A full supply of stock salt block or
sack.
Th& Kenna Lumber Co
w
i
u
WE DO IT NOW
We aro running a general hospital for sore
footed horses, broken down cairiagea, bug
gies, wagons, automobiles, broken or worn
plows, etc.; etc. Your patronage solicit
ed, and satisfaction guaranteed.
JOHN M. MIMS, Kenna, N. M.
Record of H. 0. Bursum
As Superintendent of the
New Mexico Penitentiary
CLEAR AND CONVINCING STATEMENT PRESENTED BY
FORMER GOVERNOR HERBERT J. HAGERMAN, THE RE
A PUBLICAN EXECUTIVE WHO FOROED BURSUM TO RE-'T-.
SIFN AND WHO INVESTIGATED HIS PRISON MANAGEMENT.
FACTS IN CONNECTION WITH HIS
"VINDICATION" ARE BROUGHT OUT
Bursum's Record as Penitentiary Superintendent Was an Issue in
the Campaign of 1911, When the People of New Mexico Re
pudiated Him. It is an Issue Before the Vetera Today.
Holm O. lJnrsuin, repudiated
Kepublk-Hn candidate for governor
of New .Mexico in 1011, who is this
year the etmdidute of the snino
party for the suine high office, whh
removed from the position of su
perintendent of the New .Mexico
penitentiury by Herbert J. 1 Inner
man, a Republican executive, in
1906. Immediately thereafter an
investigation ,,f the penitentiary
under bin iiiHiuieincnt was made at
the direction of (Jovernor Ilajrer
man, There were reasons for Governor
Ilaiferinan'ij actions. In view of
the fact that Mr. Hursmn is again
Becking the highest honor in the
"tfift of the people of the state, the
voters of New Mexico are vitally
interested in knowing what those
reasons were. They are vitally in
terested in knowing what prompted
a Republican executive an execu
tive of the party to which Mr. Hitr
suni belongs and in which he has
been prominent for years to re
lievo Mr. Uursnm of the adminis
tration of one of the most import
ant of New Mexico's institutions
and to investigate his management,
and what was discovered as a re
sult of the investigation made.
Ex-Governor Ilagerman has
stated his reasons for the removal
and investigation of liursum, and
the results of the investigation,
jnajiy times. On several occasions
during the campaign of 1 1 1 1 he an
nounced them from the public plat
form. He never stated them more
clearly than ia a speech at Deni-
ini. N. M., on the night of October,
28, 1!)11. 'This speech was printed
in the AlbiKiucnpic Journal of Oc
tober 2!, TJ 11.
No statement made by Ilager
man at that time has ever been
disproved. Every statement he
made still stands, and he is ready
now to back up everything he said
then. Hagcrman is a man whose
personal integrity has never been
questioned.
In liis speech at Denting llagerman
Maid:
"When appointed governor of the
territory I soon became aware that
tlie penitentiary was not being well
administered. I secured the opinion
of a prison expert from another part
of the country and In his judgment
the physiccl and moral condition
were bnd.
"Mr. Dursum'H friends said he had
not the lime to give personal atten
tion to the management, and had left
the direction of the penitentiary af
fairs to subordinates.
"When 1 insisted that he should re
tire If he could not give proper atten
tion to the (Jut leu, bis friends Insisted
that he should remain thore for ihe
purpose of furthering the political iu
tererfs of the Republican party.
-Mr. Mursum flio not retire for sev
cral months after I requested 1:1s
resignutio'i, and during tho interval,
according to a statement by Mr". New
comb, the clerk of the penitentiary,
Mr." Bursum Inotructcd Mr. Newcomb
to rewrite the Journal, the cash book
and tho ledger, two of which bookt
had been in use since 1889, and Mr.
Dursum, according to his own state
ment, then had the old ledger des
troyed. As to the other books, Mr.
Newcomb says they were put away
and he never saw them again.
"When Mr. Bursum's successor
went into office and an expert wus
secured to audit tho accounts of the
penitentiary, tho books could hot b
THE "VINDICATION" PRO
CESS. Xvlieii the report of the Rcf
rlCe whs presented to the court
and judgment asked, if was stip
ulated by the attorneys that the
report of the Colorado expert
who had made the Penltenltary
) liiveKtiM,at ion should not be in
finy way presented, considered
or passed upon. The attorney
pehcrtti t)f tli territory Was the
person! tfntt political frlelld" Of
Bursiini.
The report of the Colorado ex
pert, therefore, was not affected
by the judgment, not being be
fore the Court The Refiee's
report was presented to the
Court and no real hearing was
had Micron. No evidence in con
tradiction of the report was pre
sented and ther was no hearing
on th6 object loud
The vindication rests entirely
upon the report of ihe Referee,
It the report of the Referee tg
faise then the! judgment hmdiints
to nothing. .'
How was the report arrived
atT ,
By a most extraordinary pro
cess. No proper notice of hear
ing was given by the Referee.
He examined the books and
called In v. itnesses from time to
time and took their testimony.
The Attorney General dropped
Into the Referee's office from
time to time, but took no part in
the proceedings, and no one ex
amined, Or cross-examined the
wlfrieflse on behalf 6f the state.
(Mo evidence was Introduced In
behalf of the state and there
was no hearing of the argument.
on the proposed finding.
found, liiey could not Hud the re
written Journal, which Mr. Bursum
said, in a subsequent letter, was the
only hook of original entry. Mr. Bur
mini had taken It with him to bis
home in Socorro, where he kept It
until the return was demanded.
"I ask you In all candor I ask Mr.
A sTLY "Error,"
"Socorro, N. M., July 27, 1&08'.
Honorable J. H. Vaughn,
Treasurer,
Santa F6, New Mex.
Dear Sir:
In checking over my accounts
with the penitentiary, I find er
ror to the amount of $1,727 and
encloso remittance for credit,
Penitentiary Convicts' earnings
fund to cover. This error oc
curred as follows: One pay
ment by A. Windsor, $1,027, Oc
tobor, 1902, having been omitted
and no credit seems to appear
on the Journal. The other item
for $700 which shows on the
Treasurer's books to have been
paid May 2C, 1899, during my ad
ministration, but upon Investi
gation I find that said money
was paid in by Col. H. II. Berg
man and therefore I was not en
titled to credit therefor.
Kindly acknowledge receipt
and oblige,
Yours, -
II. O. BURSUM."
That letter was writton by Mr.
Bursum while his accounts were
under Investigation. Mr. Bursum
mado the "orror" as to the $700
on May 2fl, 1899, and did not
discover It until July 27, 1906,
when his accounts wore being
investigated. The "error" as to
(he $1,027 was made In October,'
1902, and was not discovered
until Mr. Bursum's accounts
were being Investigated In July,
190t, some four years later.
Bursum himself If any man who had
nothing to conceal would, when he
knew he was going to be removed, go
to work and have all the books of an
Institution rewritten, and destroy at
least one of the original books, have
two others concealed so they were
never found by his successor, and
carry away one of the new books to
his home at a distant point and keep
It there for a period of several
weeks?
"Mr. Bursum knows that every
statement I have made la true, yet he
says It is not an issue In this cam
paign. "Before the Investigation Into Mr.
Bursum' accounts was completed he
sent to the territorial treasurer the
sum of $1,727, which he eaid he had
kept by mistake. He had part of the
money for aeven years, and the re
mainder of It for more than three
years, before he discovered his error,
and in my opinion he would never
have discovered that large error, had
it not been that he knew an expert
was digging Into his financial trans
actions. "Mind you. $1,727 was returned bo
fore any demand had been made upon
Mr. Bursum, and afterwards when de
mand was made lie returned $2,470.3S.
Examination by exports showed that
from ell Mih books available I here
were short?e of from tl.OCJ to
$8,000, and expenditures of $)!).0ih) to
$20,imio demanding explanation.
"I do not say that Bursum embez
zled this money, Hut 1 do say that a
man wl.o. after holding public office
for seven years, does n;;t know
whether the territory owes bin) more
than $4,100, or whether he Owes (lie
territory more than $1.1 Oil, l:i ho care
less, Inefficient, incompetent or dis
honest that he lias n right to aspire
to Ihe high office of governor oi' thi:.
great state.
"Mr Bursum says .that the court
subsequently cleared him of all
charges brought against hi in. mid that
his record Is not an Issue. I will ven
ture the assertion that any lawyer,
after having read the entire court re
cord, will say that It presents an un
precedented case of 'whitewash.'
"Mr- C. V. Safford, the referee ap
pointed, wafl Mr. Bursum's secretary
of the Republican territorial central
committee.
"The Judge before whom Ihe eflsfl
was tried before whom It was speci
fically arranged It should be tried--Was
thtf cloee personal and political
friend of Mr, Bursum.
"BY THEIR fR0lT9 SHALL
Vg KN0VV THEM,"
(Extract from speech deliv
ered by Hon. Herbert J. Hagcrman,-
former Governor of New
Mexico, at Iteming, N. M., Oct.
28, 1911.)
"Mr. Bursum says none of the'
penitentiary books were de
stroyed, and refers for his vin
dication to the records of the
court. These very records, a
copy of which I hold in my
baud, state unequivocally that
one of iM most Important
hooks 6f Original entry was de
stroyed. Mr. HUrslim himself
wrote a letter In which he said
he had that book destroyed. Still
he comes before the people and
says none of (he books was de
stroyed. He also sayg Ms rec
ord as superintendent of (lifl
penitentiary Is not au Issue in
this campaign. I say nts record
Is an Issue. If he was Incompe
tent or dishonest in that posi
tion of trust, how do we know
that he will not be incompetent
or dishonest If elected to a high
er and more responsible posi
tion? 'By their fruits ye shall
know then!' By his acts we
shall judge him."
tlll Mr. Bursum saj' hit pentterr
tl'nry Peloid is not an Jsnue" In th.U
cnmal,in "
' ii'o man can reaa :.ir, Saii'oru's re
port as leferee without coming to the
conclusion that he exhausted his in
genuity in defense of Mr. Bursum.
"Let me give one illustration of just
what I mean. Mr. Bursum claimed to
have spent $366 for freight In the
year 1600. He could show neither re
ceipt, voucher, or- cancelled check.
Mr. Safford reported to the court:
'These amounts were paid for freight
tnd Mr. Bursum has produced the
check stubs showing payment.'
"Will Mr, Bursum, should he be
come governor, recommend to the
State Legislature the passage of a bill
making check stubs conclusive evi
dence of the payment of public and
private accounts? If he regards him
self as having been vindicated by Mr.
Safford s report he should be willing
to allow others the same privilege be
fore courts of Justice that were ac-
epted by him.
"TUere were things shown In the
tlrst investigation that were not
touched by Sir. Snfford In his white
wash report. The flr.t investigation
showed that at one time there was
bought for the penitentiary 1,05
yards of cloth at 50 cents a yard,
when the local market price of that
cloth at that lime was onlv 29 cents
a yard. Who pocketed the '$222.18 ',4 ?
The next year the penitentiary bought
1,050 yards of cloth at 41 cents u
yard, when the local market price for
the same clotli was only 1(5 cents i
yard. Who pocketed $330.75?
"Here were two little transactions
in cloth where somebody got a rake
off of $552.93. Mr. Safford offered no
explanation, and the judge required
none. Still Mr. Bursum saB he wa
vindicated.
"I could cite many other Instances
of liko nature whero somecae was al
lowed to filch money from the terri
tory. The laws of the territory state ex
plicitly that If any officer or employe1
of the penitentiary shall be Interested
In any contract or sell any supplies
to tho ponitentiary he shall be sub
ject to removal and guilty of a crime
for which he may be fined in the
sura of $2,000
... ,
Vet It appears from the books that
on Dec. 1. 1904. Mr. Bursum sold 350
bead of sheep to the penitentiary, aO
that on Jauuary 4, ho sold 230 head
of sheep to the penitentiary. Out
of the 350 head of sheep sold In De
cember only 105 were ever delivered,
so far as tha records show, and of
the 230 head sold and for which M
Bursum received payment in violation
of law, only thirty-four were ever de
livered, so far as the records stiow.
"I do not charge that Mr. Bursum
cheated the territory out of the sheep
he sold to the penitentiary Illegally,
but those transactions are of the
same character with mcny others that
would never have been made by a
coainetent man If "?
A SPLASH OF WHITEWASH?
A warrant or the Territorial
Auditor, No. 3I3X. for $4no.73
witt fiiaile payable to "Jacl
Monovnll or hearer." This war
rant was endorsed nd cashed
by H. (I. llursum. Donovan
iiinde an affidavit that he knew
nothing about the warrant, bad
never ttirtie.l it over to Mr. Bur
hum ami was Hot entitled to re
ceive that sum from the Peni
tentiary. On the hearing before
the Referee, with no cross-exam-iii'-ition,
Donovan endeavored to
tfxplaln this transaction In a
light lavoralile to Mr. Bursum
by claiming that the $400.75 rcp:
resented part of his salary that
Mr. Bursum had advanced to
lilni, although In his afMu-vlt be
stated his salary as being $i0.
Mr. Donovan made no explana
tion of how or why he made the
afiidavlt In question and the
Referee did not ask him one sin
gle question In regard to ex
plaining that affidavit, did not
even call his attention to tho
contradictory statements ap-.
pealing therein and ask for an
explanation thereof. The Ref
eree's attitude 13 nliown by a
comparison of a portion of the
testimony with the Referee's
finding thereon. Mr. Donovan
testlfiRd as follows:
Q. "Mi. Bursum had no per
sonal interest In your salary, di
rectly or Indirectly, did he or
not?" A. "Why no." And yet
tha Referee in his finding says:
"Mr Donovan was not looking
to the Penitentiary for any sal
ary or wages that might be due
him, but was looUSns to H. O.
!Jur..ur.!.'''
VALLEY VIEW
Lticile and Louise Smith
spent a pleasant diy with Mui
rell and Clara Stobb Sunday.
The dance given in honor of
William Brink, at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dunn,
Thursday night. Oct. 5tl, Wiis
greatly enjoyed. All
report a delightful tini .
Miss Anna Stool" left for Co
vis Saturday where she will vU
it li'T friends'.
Hciewith it is announced hat
C. C. Ilili, Sapt. of Chaves
county schools, appointed John
Miller and W. J. Stohl. direc
tors of School Districl No. 31.
Valley View school will cpeu
Oct. i3oth. With Chris Free
m hi of Eaglehill, teacher.
W.J. Stotiband G. W. Smith
of Valley View attended tho
Wilson-Marshal roily at Kenna
Monday night.
WHITE CHAPEL
Notice There will he a hox
supper at the White Chapel
school home, Saturday night,
Oct H.
Everyone is invited to come.
You will notice a small change
in tho program.
"The Obstinate Family"
Short Play.
"Getting His Picture Took"
Dialogue.
Music.
"Mlei py Sambo" Dialogue.
"Hans Von Smash" Short
Piay.
Don't be afraid of the weath
er, bundle up and nnvt ui
way.i
Thio wese thirty-two a'.
Sunday School Sunday. Lets
make it fifty next Sunday. If,
starts at 2::i0 sharp.
You v ho have been kicking
about the laws of our country
and the execution of cam",
either come out on Nov 7th
and cast your vote for the right,
or else forevor, hereafter hold
your peace: