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Show CONVICTED n PUBLIC RECORDS Supenntendeol Jones 03d Offender, . i iVla.s Removed as Superintendent Superin-tendent of Infirmary Under Un-der a Cloud, i - Sensational Letter From the Commissioners' Commis-sioners' Records nnd Significant Bit of Whitewashing. Tho cxposo of methods of Superintendent Superin-tendent William rt. Jones of tho Salt Lako County infirmary, mado by The Trlbuno during tho past month. Is not the first occasion for an Investigation Into In-to hla administration. Tho Tribune has showii' by tho records that Superintendent Jones hns not only padded the Infirmary payrolls In the Interests In-terests or his official family, but by por-Jured por-Jured affidavit ho has succeeded ln separating sepa-rating tho county from money which was appropriated to his own use and for which the taxpayers rocelved absolutely nothing. Thla was but In September of this year. Attention has bcon called to several specific cases of recent dato where the superintendent has abused tho public confidnco ln tho purchase of supplies that were not for tho benefit of tho inllimury. but of his family. But Superintendent Jones's offending In these cases dooa not complete the record. rec-ord. The county records are reploto with them. Two years ago this same man gava County Commissioners Home and Har-kcr Har-kcr any amount of trouble. They attempted at-tempted to get the superintendent to report re-port In a buslnoss-llke way, but he refused re-fused to comply with their request. The record, which will bo found In the office of tho County Clork of Salt Luke county, shows too clearly why Superintendent Superin-tendent Jones declined to comply with the request of his then superiors, Commissioners Com-missioners Marker nnd Home. To bo orlef with a Ions story. It was agreed by the County Board of Conimls (doners In lfOl, on the recommendation of Superintendent Joros, that he be fur-idahed fur-idahed a contingent und of He represented rep-resented to the Commissioners that If he could have a fund 'of ?50 he could f-ave considerable to tho. county In tho purchase of grocn urocorles, etc., from tho huckster wagons. In Juno of that year tfy board gavo him tho first 550, In the fall, or to bo specific, In October of the same year, Superintendent Su-perintendent Jones asked the Board of Co mmlssloners for ?50 more to bo used as a contingent fund At this time Commissioner Com-missioner Horne suggested as a good business rulo that tho board require of tho superintendent that he take receipts re-ceipts for tho amount he expended on account of the contingent fund. This, tho Commissioners say, ucemed to have been thoroughly understood by Superintendent Superintend-ent Jones. Did N"o Take Receipts. He nnpll-.'d later for an additional $50, and Commissioner I-Iornc asked for an accounting. Superintendent Jones said he had taken no recelp's and therefore could not glvo an accounting. This the board concluded was a strango proceeding in view of the understanding had when the Bccond $.00 was given to the Olinnrlnlnnilnnt The Commissioners declined to give the third $53. According to tho rocords on file and tho statement of unimpeachable witnesses uho are familiar with the situation. Superintendent Su-perintendent Jones, when nn Investigation Investiga-tion of hi3 record was Instituted, had tho supreme audacity to say that ho still hnd on hand the one hundred dollars contingent fund which the County Commissioners had awarded him from twelve to sixteen months prior. This, too. In face of the fact that he had asked tho board for the third appropriation appro-priation of $30! If ho had the fund on hand more than a vear after It V.aA iwn o-i., v,i - ''-' i mm, wiiy did he ask for a replenishment twice? The Trlbuno Is prepared to substantiate ihcso statements, not only by the record rec-ord now on file ln tho offlco of the County Coun-ty Clerk of Salt Lake county, which la reproduced herewith, but by the statements state-ments of somo of the most reputable gentlemen gen-tlemen In Salt Lake county. Tho disclosures made on thla matter alor.o will show to the taxpayers of Salt Lako county the character of tho man who sj recently; made false affidavit In crdcr to draw from the treasury a rnens-ly rnens-ly sum of $18.33. Records Are Convicting. It Is not necessary, -we believe, to produce pro-duce the personal statements of this Interesting In-teresting Individual since tho records themselves mako so complete a case against Superintendent Jone.s. For weeks County Commissioners Ilar-kcr Ilar-kcr and Home attempted to sccuro from Superintendent Jones an accounting. Thla he declined to give, but In. an evasive way attempted to avoid the Issue which tho majority of the Board of Commissioners had made. The board at this time was composed of William J. Uorno and Henry Harker, Democrats, and James II Anderson, Republican, Re-publican, So. many stories had come to the board reciting tho mismanagement of tho Infirmary Infirm-ary that Commissioners Harker and Horno earnestly attempted to safeguard tho public by requiring of the superintendent superin-tendent to comply with their request for a buslne3s-llkc accounting for the property entrusted In his care. Throughout this period Commissioner James II. Anderson i blocked overy movement tho other members mem-bers of tho board made that It was possible pos-sible for him to do. This the records now show. Urged an Accounting. In November, 1902. the political complexion com-plexion of the board changed nnd Commissioners Com-missioners W. AV. "Wilson and Henry M. Standlah woro elected. The change would take plnce In January. Commissioners Harker and Horne. being tho retiring members, doslrcd that tho records so far as tho Infirmary was concerned be got in proper form to be turned over to their successor!. Thoy had been astounded at tho result Of some Investigations which they had made and on tho night of December 22, 1P02. tho following was sent to Superintendent Superin-tendent Jones- "Infirmary. December 22, 1002. "Brother Jones, Dear Sir Being tho chairman of tho Infirmary, I wish that you would furnish mo with a financial report of the place. As I am going out of office I want to know tho condition of affairs, olease. "HENRY HARKI3B." Tn respoiiHO to this courteous request of his superior. Superintendent Jones replied re-plied that .he had mado complete reports to tho Auditor and that he had no other reports to make. He further said that ho hod talked with Auditor Wood and that tho Auditor had Informed him that ho would furnish tho Commissioner within copy of his reports. Tho letter Is an evasion of tho issue from beginning to end. It rends as follows: Evaded the Questions. "Hon. Henrv Marker. Chairman Committee Com-mittee on Infirmary, Board of Commissioners. Commis-sioners. Dear Sir 1 received a mossago on Monday ovonlng last to render you a financial report of the Infirmary I have llinrln nfimtilnl, On.innlol r-nnnl n nt ll.n I r, flrmary each month since I became superintendent, super-intendent, and havo filed tho same with the County Auditor, as directed by tho Board of County Commissioners and required re-quired by law. I havo no other financial accounts since by the law, the County Auditor has possession and control of the same 1 spoke to the Auditor, Mr. Wood, and ho Informed mo that he would furnish fur-nish you tho report from his officevat any time for any month, or any period of months since my appointment "Tho month of December Is not yot reported, re-ported, and, of course, you will understand under-stand that It in Imposslblo to report It until the bills are received. Immediately upon receiving those bills at tho closo of this month I shall submit tho report for vour consideration. "Hoping this will prove satisfactory, 1 rcniuln, yours truly, WM. It. JONES, JR." That Contingent Fund. Commissioner Harker then made a vet-bal vet-bal request of Jones for an accounting, and Jones replied as follows: "December 23, 1002. "Dear Sir In response to your request for a report of the funds placed In my care from your committee's contingent fund, 1 will say that In June, 1901, I received re-ceived fifty (550) dollars from you, and ln October of the samo year, fifty ($50) dollars dol-lars more. By unanimous direction of tho Board of Commissioners, given ln June, 1901, I proceeded to sell some extra stock of vegetables and somo animals and made purchases of fruits, vegetables, animals and supplies as Instructed. This has gone on up to date as 1 havo been directed by the board, evory Item of supplies, etc.. disposed of to any person has been paid for except SI cents on a disputed bill, and everv Item niirrhnHml Is n;ilrl fnr There now remains on hand in cash a bulanqe of sixty-one and seventy-llvo hundredths (SCI 75) dollars. "Besides this amount I now have on hand the S100.00 subject to your committee's com-mittee's order. "Thero wero occasions when I had to draw on It, as authorised bv you, and also on my private funds, but all such drafts have been paid, and tho sum advanced from your contingent fund is now lntuct. Trusting that this report will give you the full Information required, I am, yours truly. WM. R. JONES, JR " Motion to Dismiss Jones. After Superintendent Jones had refused to comply with the wrltton request of Commissioner Harker und the verbal request re-quest of Commlsloner Horno for an accounting, ac-counting, they having authorized no transactions alleged In tho Jones letter, tho following was presented by Commissioner Commis-sioner Ha.'ker at the meeting pf tho Board of Commissioners In January, 1003. Seo Minute Book 'M," Board of County Commissioners, Com-missioners, page -174. "As a member of tho Board, after having hav-ing asked Superintendent Jones for a report re-port of cash received for cows, pigs, and produce sold, and not having received any reply to the same; only a letter telling me to got any Information desired from the Auditor, 1 hereby make a motion that William R. Jones, Jr., bo removed as superintendent su-perintendent and that B. M. Hurman bo put In his place, and to receive ono hun-. dred dollars a month salary, to take effect ef-fect January V. 1503. (Signed), "HENRY HARKER." Tho motion was seconded by Commissioner Commis-sioner Horno- A discussion followed, participated In by each member of tho Board. Chairman Anderson nsked that certain renorls from the superintendent of the county Infirmary, addressed to Messrs. Harker and Horno, be read and made a part of the record. Whereupon Commissioner Commis-sioner Harker handed the clerk of the Board the following communication: The records hero Include tho letter of Rllnorlnlnnilnnt Tnnno nUm-r. I...) Jones iWas Reinstated. Immediately after the retirement of Commissioners Harker and Horne, when Commissioners Wilson and Standlsh succeeded suc-ceeded them, according to the Minulo Book "M," County Commissioners' Record, Rec-ord, page 4S5, the following was trans, acted: "Be It resolved by the Board of Commissioners Com-missioners of Salt Lako county that the action of the Beard of Commissioners, taken January 3 1&03, removing William R Jonos. Jr., as superintendent of the county Infirmary, and appointing B. M. Harman to the position of said superintendent, superin-tendent, bo and the same Is hereby revoked. re-voked. This resolution shall be In effect fron nnd after Its passage." Adopted. All members voting "ave." On motion of Commissioner Standlsh nn Investigation of the charges made against William R. Jones, Jr., superintendent of the county infirmary, was ordered: sold investigation to be mado by tho commit tee on Infirmary. It would seem by this that Commissioner Commission-er James H. Anderson immediately had his friend, Superintendent W. R. Jonos reinstated, and that tho Commissioners wero willing to go on record to vote for tho reinstatement of the superintendent who was under serious charges and then Investigate his conduct afterward J In other words, Commissioner Anderson had prevailed upon tho new members ot the Board that If they would reinstate Joneo ho would whitewash him afterward, for that was, in fact, the result of the Investigation, as will be seen. Commissioner Standlsh then communicated communi-cated with former Commissioner William J. Horno concerning tho charges that were made against Superintendent Jones and former Commissioner William J. Home sent the following reply to Commissioner Standlsh: . - A Startling Letter. "Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 2i, 1903. "Hon. H. N. Standlsh. Salt Lake City. Utah. Dear Sir: In reply to your letter let-ter dated January 17, 1903, will stato that what wo wanted from Mr. Jqnes was u complete statement of all property disposed dis-posed of by Mr. Jones' during his office term. Wo have, been unablo to get this statement from Mr. Jones, and It was on that account that tho resolution was passed rellovlng him from tho position of superintendent of tho infirmary. Tho reports re-ports which Mr. Jones mado monthly to tho County Auditor were always "open to our Inspection, but thoy do not Include the matters upon which wo wanted .Mr. Jones to report. Wo referred particularly particu-larly to about four tons of hay taken from tho stack at Jesso Fox's place, which stack tho county had bought Thcso four tons wore not delivered to the Infirmary. Four cowa, three taken, from the Infirmary in tho summer of 1901, and ono In the fall of 1002. About mu'entecn hogs that wero taken from the Infirmary In the fall of 1001, and In ,tho spring and fall of 100.'. Flvo young pigs taken early ln 1002; 2100 pounds carrots taken from tho Infirmary through tho spring of 1902, and other vegetables taken from the Infirmary In-firmary through the spring and snmmor of 1902. Wo also demanded to know of Mr. Jones what disposition ho had mndo of tho $100 which was taken from the pauper fund, and given lo Mr. Jones to bo used by him for buying vegotablos and green groceries for tho Infirmary. Wo also wanted to know of Mr. Jones wha amount of money ho had on hand fron! the salo of any of this property, nnd what amount of money he had In his, contingent conting-ent fund. Wo wanted to know of Mr, Jones what disposition had been made by him of the 5201 In currency found lp tho clothes of an Inmate of tho Infirmary, who died at the Infirmary somo tlmo In tho cany -summer of 1962." This man had been dopendent upon tho county for somo tlmo prior to his death and had paid nothing for his keep while at tho Infirmary. Infirm-ary. "Tho.uo are Items which havo come to our attention, but what wo wanted of Mr. Jones was a completo report of all the property disposed of from tho Infirmary, In-firmary, whether wo know of Its being taken or not. 'These Items mentioned by me are simply sim-ply examples of what wo mean, and of wn.-iL inaucis -ve imcnueu no hiioiiiu report re-port to the Board of Commissioners. If there Is any asalstanco I can glvo you in these matters, do not hesitate to call upon men. Yours respectfully, "WILLIAM J. HORNE." The whitewashing committee which afterwards af-terwards Investigated this matter had the audacity to go on record as saying that "tho notice by Mr. Harker was not tho action of; the committee on Infirmary of the Board of Commissioners. It was the request of a member of the board, was ambiguous, and was replied to courteously cour-teously and fully." An Ugly Technicality. What a farce this was! If the request of Commissioner Harker, chairman of tho Infirmary board, to a subordinate for an accounting of public money nnd property prop-erty was ambiguous how could tho County Commissioner have addrowed tho superintendent superin-tendent of the Infirmary In a proper manner? man-ner? The allegation's mado by Former Commissioner Com-missioner Horne were taken up by Chairman Chair-man James H. Anderson nnd the result of It was that a general denial was made. It set out things the former Commissioner Commission-er knew nothing about, and when one of tho formor members of tho board nsked for space In his parly organ to dlsprovo the fnlalty of tho denial he was refused, even though he offered lo pay for Its space. It is ono of t)io completc&t cases of whitewashing that has over been 'done In 8alt Lake county. It Is offensively disgusting. It was stated by the whitewashing committee com-mittee that tho reason Supt. Jonos did sloners was that the request was not mado ln the rogulnr way They permitted tho matter to be closed on the rankest kind of a technicality. The matters which former Commissioner William J. Horno had called the attention of Commissioner Com-missioner Standlsh to wero but Incidents among the numerous cases that Commissioners Commis-sioners Horne nnd Harker had looked Into In-to and had used as n foundation for their action In relieving Jones as superintendent of the Infirmary. But Jones was tho son-in-law of Apostle Charles W. Penrose, Pen-rose, at that time and now editor of tho official organ of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That was sufficient to give Impetus to the chief of the whitewashing bureau, Commissioner James II. Anderson. More Serious Charges Suppressed. A more serious charge connected with the management of the Infirmary was laid beforo the grand Jury that year with sworn affidavits showing tho grossest kind of misconduct In tho Juggling of accounts, and even after tho principal witness "had made sworn affidavits to the matter one of the members of the grand Jury, according to an unimpeachable unimpeach-able citizen, a former member of the Board of Commissioners, approached the principal witness and told him that tho matter contained In his affidavit as deeply deep-ly Implicated him. tho witness, as It did Superintendent Jones 13 y the most outrageous tactics possibly ever employed In Salt Lake county this matter was suppressed! The Tribune Is prepared to furnish statements from most reputable witnesses that thero were sufficient facts laid before be-fore that grand Jury lo havo completed a chain of evidence agiiln the superintendent superintend-ent even more complete than that which the records of the Auditor of Salt Lako county now show In sustaining Tho Tribune In tho assertion that Jones had padded the payrolls and perjured himself In .order to extract from the County Treasurer a sum of money to which ho was In no sense entitled These statements made by The Tribune, In the past and now, are corroborated by tVin rnnnwlo Thnu r rrt nlun Qlmnnrto.l h.. statements nf those thoroughly familiar wllh all tho detail. The Tribune is prepared to substantiate In detail these accusations, nnd when we say that property prop-erty of the public has been carted from tho Infirmary to the home of a member of the Board of Commissioners for his use and for which the county has nevor received a cenl of compensation wo havo pointed out the reason why Jones Is retained re-tained ln his place oven ln face of the record which he has made. Supt. William R. Jones knowa too much! Too much depends on his silence. There are others implicated than he, lie fears nothing from tho present machine. Ho will not bo removed until a Board of Commissioners Is elected that will have" the courage to do Its duty without fear or favor; until a board Is elected that will havo no personal temerity in dealing deal-ing with a membor of one of the first and most powerful families In Utah. j. j. .t. j. j. . . |