Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1904)
Vol. XV. LINCOLN NEB., JANUARY 71904. PUBLICAN I Major Wm. Daily, ODe oi the Old Guara of Ponuiiun in Nemaha county, asks the following questions: 1. was tne money tnat constituted the Bartley defalcation all or partly the permanent' school funds? 2. If it was school money, has that fund ever been reimbursed? If it is school money and has not been reimbursed, is that amount iuciuded in the report of the state In debtedness? - 4. If the Bartley robbery consisted of the permanent school money, under, the law is not the state bound to re imburse that fund? ' The manner ' in which these ques tions are framed leads me to believe that readers of The Independent might be interested in the answers to them. j A brief answer to the first question is that part of the Bartley defalcation consisted of permanent school funds and part belonged to other funds." To give a clearer idea, however, I pur pose to quote a little from the" rec ords: Under the republican regime prior to 1897 it was the practice to carry on the "General Ledger" in the state treasurer's office the balances in the several funds exactly the same as if no defalcation had been made. This, of course, for obvious reasons. But when Treasurer Meserve came in, and the Bartley shortages became known to a certainty, he set about to correct the General Ledger so that the "book balance" shown in any lund would ex actly correspond with the amount in ., depository banks and cash on hand in the vault. In order to do this, it was necessary to transfer the shortages to an account wnicn was canea me De pended Account.' Not all of this shortage is a legal charge against Bartley, however; some of it repre sents losses in depository banks through republican criminal careless- Vio 'ct o n- h art ctnvv The "Suspended Account" itemized as to liability was as lollows, when first transferred :v SUSPENDED ACCOUNT. Capital National bank $236,361.83 Buffalo Co. National bank. 4,493.00 Globe L. & T. Co.'s S'av. b k. 12,892.54 Bank of Wymore 14,905.57 First Nat. Bank of Alma.. 40,312.48 First Nat Bank of Orleans. 20,000.00 Merchants' bank 8,731.85 J. S. Bartley. 335,87b.C8 Total 0673,641.25 Classified, however, as to funds wherein the losses occurred the Sus pended Account was as follows: SUSPENDED ACCOUNT. General $114,997.69 Sinking Permanent school 2i0.loo.i5 Temporary school 38,820.44 Permanent university 9,775.03 Agri. college endowment... 43,368.61 Live stock indemnity 3,843.33 Normal endowment ........ 12,600.09 Total $673,641.35 Hence, a little calculation will show that the $335,878.0S carried In the Suspended Account as a charge against J. S. Bartley, consisted of the follow ing funds: HARTLEY LIABILITY, Permanent school 1-10.133.43 permanent university 9.775.93 Agri. coliego endowment... 43.3CS.Cl Normal endowment 12.600.09 Total IC73.C 11.35 Tl.iHO Kttnu were to ent rod again fcl Hartley iu the Suspended Account be a!e they represent "trust funds" for which the tnooirer U at all tlmnt p.n-onally liable, and to which the depository law dov'a not nppiy. F.c rapltulatlng. the answer to Major Daily's firt fim.tl'u h that the Hart If y defalcation couttbtcd of S;t5,S7vOS of "lrut fund" and an undetermined portion of tho $M7,7i'.3JI In 'cumut fundi." part of which, at least, oild t l'gnlly huK'd to hint tf It wcr worth whtl to litlf.ate th ia tlrr trfcaun of hl violation of the depos itory law. Coming to Major Pally'i aocotul l i it REDEMPTION The Associate Editor I Into the Records ,:tO Oil Some Frienda Who are VI. -palled by the Dig State Dtlt. Under Populism 1897 to 1901. ' Sir7 ' Uiuler Kepublican "IledemptiotT 1901-3. question, the nnswer Is that no por tiou of lost tr.Mt fundi" haa ever been repaid by Hartley or his bonds nun, notwithstanding the blj; talk wo heard nbout hU "puttlnK It bad if the Kou-rnor would j-aiulc' him and give him an opportunity to colktt what varlott reputdtcan tttate.Hni n in Ni'brn.ika "owe" hint. A tniall portion of the Mispondcd Aciount hac, how ever, been r ri;d, prUuipally throuKh the aiUvity of Attorney tUn rial Klnyth. An t i:.iiunal bmk fail ure, and th rcs tltant receive r tup, dbtliMK'd that rartl7 (then In prUou) wag urn of th dx.itirn. Attorney (Uneral Mm) th would Imtncdutriy take ttpi to un ur Itartl'y a Ulvbhnd for the ntnto. The amount movmd arfl ai foliowi: I'or irmaueut ichoot nd, from receiver of Citizens' National Ikml;, C.r. Inland. $ For pernmneiit school lund, from cornet roller of tho currency, M:al dividend Kearney Co. Nat. lUnit... I'ur permanent school hind, from renlver of the Hank f'f AtHniion Tor permanent lutuxd fund, from receiver of th Hank of Atkinson .............. Tor .vnuanent hi fund, , CH!ena' Ihnk tr. Island, 801.31 7II.H) 6.7C.SO 417,16 For general fund, First Na tional Dank of Alma..... Total "tnt funds' .t,l0.:w.5 tor t'rapor!iry chool f-inl, . &t.(') For ilni-hu f'md. Crttsl NxtL.r.al dlvl'r:l For rr-::l Cirr.rl 925.C3 ' Grand total v recovered. ?31,l.t 1 Of this, $45,854.88 .vwas recovftrcl during Treasurer Meaerve's two terns, and $6,099.43 during Treasurer Etch er's term. This left the Suspend:! Account on November 30, 1902, tea sum of $021,743.23, of which $325, 587.50 is still carried as a charge to J. S. Bartley and represents that much loss to the four permanent educational or "trust" funds of tho state. Major Daily's third question is In teresting at this time in view of the enormous increase in the state debt during the last six months of admin istration by the" "redeemers." The answer Is that no portion of the 621, 743.23 in the Susnended Account la counted as a part of the present state debt, permit me to explain what the state debt is: Prior to the advent of populism in Nebraska, the state's indebtedness consisted of state bonds, or 'funded'; debt, and state warrants, or "floating" debt. Four years of populist and dem ocratic administratiorusaw the funded debt wholly wiped out and a big. re duction made in the floating debt. To be specific, let us consult the records: On April 1. 1877, state funding bonds were issued, in accordance with the provisions of section 8, article 9, of the constitution of 1875, and In pursuance of an act approved Feb ruary 14, 1877, payable in twenty years, to take up certain "certificates" and outstanding warrants which then constituted the "floating" debt of the state and which even at that early day. showed the incapacity of republi-. can officials as financiers. Nebraska's period of statehood had run ten years and one month and she was in debt nearly $450,000. In other words, re publican extravagance used up all the state revenues and incurred a debt of about $45,000 each year. Thete bonds were issued as follows: To Austin Corbin $123,000.00 To permanent school fund.. 320,267.35 1 1 - . Total $449,267.35 Orr April 10, 1891, there were issued $100,000 of "state relief bonds," due April 1, 1896. Part of these had been paid by the republican treasurer prior to January 7, 189 1 the date on which the populists and democrats took full charge of the executive offices. Oh that date, then, the "funded" debt of Nebraska was a3 follows: State bonds ......$449,267.35 State relief bonds 19,000.00 Total funded debt $468,267.25 Now, let us look a little Into the rise of the present "floating" debt, which, it will be remembered, was wiped out by the issue of state bonds in 1877. For a number of years it ap pears that tho republican state ofil- cers managed to get along by. spend ing no laoie than the current receipts from taxes. Even as late as 1886 we find less than $12,000 of general fund warrants outstanding, and there waa double the amount of cash Iu the treasury to take up and pay these warrants. Doubtless the history of this rise can best be toUl ti tabular form: Till: "FLOATING" I) Kill. Warrant Outstanding. xm $ it'.;.:'f.',., 1V" DS2,m.C4 Wri,,,,,.. 7S8.75KU3 WH. 67T.S25.Ti irm LMfi.27j.4i ikjs. ...... L5,i: -id r .. i.r: .,; November November November Novt nsbr November November Novcmbc-r November Novt m:rr November Tat In "fiontUu" av ! rt :ri),xj ; tirr.1 t!. -1 : v ) f U C. . . no. "' ''. tr, 1 1. V - -.. t : i 5.