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Show I : FRAUDS BEING EXPOSED g am Former Governor Wells last Tues- H day told the Investigating committee mm "of the house of representatives of the tm forgeries of Brigadier General John MB Q- Cannon, formerly adjutant general H of this state; formerly editor of the H Deseret News; formerly commander H of the national .guard; formerly secre- HJj tary of the St. Louis exposition com- H mission. In the light of the revela- H t,ons of tne ox"cn,of executive it Is IH little wonder that the hero of Sco- H field and of Sunnyside has beaten a H retreat and is now secluding himself H Bomewhere, because tho testimony B adduced at the hearing appears to be I sufllclcnt to cause his arrest and pun- HJ Ishment. mm No ono neGU marvel" tlmt Jolln Q- H has hiked away to other climes, for HJ the atmosphere of almost any place B wi" 1)0 moro consenlal than that of I Utah. Ho is certainly up against it IS and llp aBalnst It hard. It is manifest M from the testimony that during his H m of ofuco no Merged orders to the I amount of $2,078.27; and that ho was B'i the beneficiary of every order, although Tm ono was mauo Payablo t to Oblad & OB Kn'sn Former Governor Wells fa Identified every ono of tho twenty or- IH Qers as orBerlGS saying: II "At a cursorv Blanco all tho orders B mentioned appear to bo regular, but the signatures of my name are for- gcrles." I I The witness also stated that Can- non, In tho presence of John M. Cannon Can-non and Joseph S. Wells, stated: "Your signature Is on the orders, but you did not write it." Tho peculations of Tohn Q. Cannon appear to have begut . i early as October Oc-tober 10, 1003, and continued until Juno 14, 1004. The bmallest amount was $0.35; tho largest ?203.15. It appears from tho evidence that John Q. began to get a bit scared as I' the year 1004 drew to a close. The scare increased as the time for the eglslaturo drew near and ho confided Hs troubles to ills brother, who tried to help him out. Treasurer Johnson testified that John M. Cannon had of-rered of-rered to make good the amount taken rom the fund through the medium ot uio forged orders, if he, Johnson, would turn over tho forged Instruments. Instru-ments. Subsequently General Cannons Can-nons attorneys asked, or demanded, ieso papers, and when they were re-I re-I J,8- quested they be deposited in in?!?U.llng was orB"t out about the interview between Governor Wells of w u 3- Cannn in tho presence r Joseph S. Wells and John M. Can-' Can-' as above stated. It is Sfl1' however, that on that day "nmensured terms, declaring that ho IB had been a dead weight on his hands for twenty years; that despite tho fact that ho, Wells, had endeavored to help him along; had honored him with positions of trust; in tho caso of tho secretaryship of tho commission had alienated tho newspaper men or tat, city, who unanimously petitioned for the appointment of M. J. Cunningham, by turning tho newspaper man down, Cannon had gone back on him and had been a "millstone around his neck." He upbraided him, so it is said, with every dishonorable act committed during tho time mentioned. Under all of which John Q. sat mute and silent. Questioned as to what had become of tho money, Cannon replied that It had been used for regular expenses of his family; that he had not drank nor gambled it away. Tho disclosures of the witnesses were of such a startling nature that tho members of tho house havo decided de-cided to Investigate everything connected con-nected with tho affair thoroughly. They will also go Into tho affair of tho Carbon county "war," whero General Gen-eral Cannon was in command, and will ask that every voucher and warrant war-rant bo produced, in order that a complete detail of expenditures may bo had. Tho land offlco will also bo examined and its affairs probed. A prominent country member of the houso stated to Truth that ho and his country associates believed it was high time to examine everything thoroughly. thor-oughly. "This affair Is a good hint to us to go into matters and sco what has become of tho money. There has been an evident looseness In tho handling of cash that should bo stopped, stop-ped, and wo are going to probo to tho bottom, if we havo to appoint a committee com-mittee and continue it until, after tho session Is ended." Tho disclosures of Tuesday and since are such as to place in a very unenviable light tho senato which passed a resolution thanking tho exposition ex-position commission for its work, and especially declaring tho belief that not a cent had been "stolen, lost or squandered." Senator Johnson's statement to tho senate and his testimony testi-mony on tho stand do not' dovetail very nicely, either, while tho attitude of tho first committee in trying to ox-plain ox-plain matters away and cover up offense of-fense is particularly peculiar. Tho county attorney is expected to take immediate steps for tho extradition extradi-tion of Cannon, who is said to bo in Honolulu. That being United States territory, there would be llttlo difficulty diffi-culty in getting him. Truth is endorsed by every good citizen in the state in its demand that an investigation of everything con nected with tho handling or stato funds bo had. It is duo to tho officials of-ficials themselves who havo handled affairs of stato honestly, and tho public pub-lic Is entitled to know what has been done. Let tho light bo turned on. Lot tho guilty ones bo punished in every instance. Too much condoning of offenses of-fenses by men In high places lias dcuu indulged In. Tho common thicr io railroaded to tho pen; tho rich man's son Is entitled to no moro consideration. considera-tion. Nor should those who cover up of-fenso of-fenso go free. Compounding a felony Is a gravo offenso against tho majesty of tho law. No favoritism ought to be shown. Had Cunningham been appointed ap-pointed secretary and committed the offenso charged ho would bo In jail whllo his friends would bo trying to hustle bonds for him. Play no favorites, favor-ites, but let justice bo done. n . - |
