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Show GOVERNOR OF OKLAHOMA REMOVED FROM OFFICE. President Makes Frank Statement of His Reasons, Charging Abuse of Trust. The pi-esident has appointed Thomas B. Ferguson governor of Oklahoma, vice William M. Jenkins, removed. In taking this action the president attached at-tached to the papers the following memorandum: "Governor Jenkins of Oklahoma is hereby removed because of his improper im-proper connection with a contract between be-tween the territory and the Oklahoma Sanitarium company. The decision is based wholly : upon his own written statements and his oral explanations of them at the hearing. "One of the duties of the territorial governor is to enter into a contract with some person or corporation for the keeping of the insane of the Territory. Terri-tory. Governor Jenkins made such a contract with the Oklahoma Sanitarium Sanitari-um company, a corporation, the promoters pro-moters of which reserved 810.000 of its stock for the governor and subject to his orders. , "In the governor's explanation of the affairs he says he told the promot- ers at the time they desired him to sanction the contract 'that it was an important contract; that I had some friends who I would like to have interested in-terested in the company to which I owed some obligations which I would not be able to pay by an appointment or anything of that kind.' The stock was delivered to a banker subject to the governor's order and was turned over to those friends whose political services the governor had thus sought to reward. "The extent of the favor to the gov- ernor and his friends is suggested by the fact that the only known sale of the stpek since the contract was given out was at double the price paid for it. "As performance of the contract was to be the sole business of the corporation, corpora-tion, it is obvious either the territory was obliged to pay far more than the service was worth, or that its helpless wards were to have the enormous profits contemplated taken out of their keep. "The governor's confessed relations to the matter displays such a lack of appreciation of the high fiduciary nature of the duties of his office as to unfit him for their further discharge. "A sound rule of public policy and morals forbids a particular servant from seeking or accepting any personal benefit in a transaction wherein he has a public duty to perform.' ' . "A chancellor would not for t.h mn. ment retain a trustee who, in dealings for the trust, reserved an advantage to himself, The thought is not to be tolerated tol-erated that the president can be less vigilant and exacting in the public interest. Theodore Roosevelt." |