Show BIG SHORTAGE IS discovered james Chrict iansen placed under arrest amount of defalcation placed at amount put up by bondsmen the sensation of the week neek is the theft of 91 94 9 1 by former state treasurer james the first news of the big steal came here by a private telegram to an attorney lat last thursday morning and it was as whispered around but nothing dennite definite was vas said and thele was as not much credence given to the early reports later other messages ome cime which confirmed the rumors and the amount was specified at there was a sort f stunned reeling feeling among the man friends 0 ol 01 1 t U I 1 c e defaulting ex but the ncik lew flea quickly aiom mouth month to mouth dud and little groups of ren r en for ald hel ceic L and all day the nut mat ter much asi as ex expressed presed for the wife and famili of the ex treas liter mrs chri I 1 is well weil known knon here and highly respected she has man kanj relatives and friends and the blow blo will fall double haid upon her nothing lint but the most profound s N are arc heard for ter her and the children with the ex e trea arre it is much the same ile he was as at the zenith of local politics and was high in ecclesiastical circles his friends begged him to be content here where he was as lall i alli monarch of ill 11 he sirve surveyed ed his flight to the top here had leen been phe ribe nominal and the theaon oner aratie er atle atie wing of his friends thourl t he had bad reached as high as he should aspire to having tasted the joys ot political paiit pili ical preferment his ambit ambition toji kaw no bounds and he bet out to olt louain tie the nomination for state trea buier he albom allon d hir alid jl ig IE ow i coir rears cars of his incumbency he be euid id plumed his wings for higher flighty fligl ts and the th e goal goa I 1 for the present fa figur ur ye yearb irb was the office of secretary ot ct state U undoubtedly doubted IV his knowledg know j of the tha condition OL di taff ff his big off office ard the fear of exposure dept him from coming into the lice hoe light last year as i 1 candidate tor for 0 th nomination lor secretary of state he gave gae it out that he be would relax flom political life and the dincov cars of tie lat last week A eek or so have fr nen that it wa wab time for him to reto refa mr Christian was laired in richfield in his url arli boyhood he became a cortege it ff j J AI 11 peterson the founder of the peterson bank the binker edu educated catel him and then placed him in chang char of the bank under the bankers ban lars watchful Natch ful daj aej practical business gu guidone idine lie he was as fairly successful wien the banker died was A as given entire control of the bank g affairs after a period of years baie was vas als satisfaction among toe stockholders rs there ws was a Et ruggle of opposing interests which lne resulted reul bulted ted in mr leaving ithe bank and assisting in fOUD founding ding the state bank of for obi iaus irea sont the details of this st ruggie y le be omitted he had bad spent some time in the mis sion bion field and on hit hir ri r awn was ex alted acted to the of a member of the stake presidency irvi ini aas as very actie in religious work as ae a member of that body he was also very actie politically ind and he was elected of richfield the two newspapers of th a city lofawn fawned upon him ari and after dafter his election as state treasurer both papers almost grovelled grovel led at his feet when the change camo came about by which the reaper was owned and ana controlled by continued Continue 1 on 3 BIG SHORTAGE continued from page 1 the present company he conceived a violent lent dislike to the paper foi some fa fanned acied slight and he did all in hib bib puny power to injure this journal which resulted in scant beant satisfaction this paper has not worked any slight upon him but it t positively refused to defer to him or fall into the popular attitude of worshipping wor shipping him he ds discourteous to the office force and no notice nonce was wag taken of him that was all the herald account of his hia clef defalcation alea is db as james Ghristian ben state treasurer for or the four year term ended at the beginning begin ot the present year last thursday confessed conf essid tu ti thefts made mada while treasured treas trea surel of utah amounting to 94 he is now nov under surveillance veil lance in his room at the lullen cullen hotel the amount of the shortage has already been apu deposited cited in mccornick gos cos bank by the bondsmen and friends of mr so that the state will lose nothing by the de galaction fal action the embezzlement of mr christain sen was discovered only a few days ago through the checking of the accounts by the state board of ex e consisting of governor Go vernoi william spry C S s tar of state and A R barnes a torney attorney t general working with jese D J jewkes ew ke state auditor and david mattson state treasurer so cla cleverly erly were the shortages covered by the former st stile ite treas treasure that it took the utmost skill kill to dis discover coer that the discrepancies in accounts were nere due to an actual de falc atio i not dot a clerical error Atthe at the time the discovery of the shortage was ab mide mr was in chafey nev he has extensive mining interests sheriff J joseph os eph C sharp and two of his bonds rn mr r J C lynch and frank knox went nent to chafey in the meantime a wire aire had been sent to mr apprising him of the discovery and he returned voluntarily to meet the charges As soon as he returned he consulted with ith his bondsmen and admitted ills his shortage while arrangements were being mide made he consented to an arrangement whereby he was taken into idy and confined in a room at the cullen hotel under the watch vatch of officers amoin amo in the bondsmen of mr christi ti ansen who are held responsible for his shortage are W S C S burton G S holmes ll olmes i C lynch frank knox kno ard jo joseph joeph eph F smith these bondsmen or their representatives met with the state blaid of examiners last thursday and agreed to pay the full amount of the shortage to the state an ali a mount amount equal to that embezzled has already been depo deposited iteal in Me Cornicks bank to be turned over to the state upon the release of the claim against the bond bon droen men both of the thefts named were made ll 11 mr to cover other shortages in the accounts caused bi previous defalcations mr was heavily interested in a m mine ine near virginia city nev and the money is said to have hanc been taken to build a mill at that mine several other prominent men of salt lake and other parts of utah were interested in this enterprise mr Christ iarsen admits his guilt freely and declares that the amount dies discovered covered to be horst bv the teate blaid of examiners is the total amount stolen those who have been investigating the matter are inclined to believe that this statement is true although a thorough investigation of the accounts is being made under the supervision of the state administration the discovery of the shortage was due to a prompt checking of accounts by david mattson the present state treasurer jasse e D jewkes state auditor J A gr grib b c ek k treasurer of salt lake county and frank heg in botham auditor of salt lake county on jan 4 mr air groesbeck paid to mr chrisitan Christ tan en then reinig as state tie tic surer being a portion of taxes amounting to due to the state from salt lake count mr air give gave him a receipt and should shoud also have forward cd receipts to the state and county auditors this was not done upon relinquishing his office as state treasurer to david mattson malison mr accepted a position as temporary deputy state auditor under jesse D jewkes it was wag discovered last api A e k th it the item on the state auditors books charging salt lake county with had been tampered with and an attempt had been made to make it show instead the handwriting was not that of any one in the state auditors office and an investigation was inaugurated the state auditor the stile tras urca the county auditor and the county treasurer checked their files it was found that the county treasurer insurer had bad a receipt for the the state treasur treasurers ers record sho ved the deposit of check out dut with the deposit of 0 the th check the the state funds were only su to balance with thi state auditors without record of this payment with the payment recorded on the state auditors books the fhe county auditor had recci received ed no notification odthe of the treasurer of the state of tile the payment adment of the sum gum the state treasurer ind and the state a auditor then called the attention of the state board of examiners to the discrepancy and a careful inie ime aiga tion lasting several days was begun governor sarv and the other officers of the state made a careful inquiry I 1 into 11 to all the details ot mr air caris tiAn sens administration and into thib transaction in particular and were forced to the conclusion that the had been stolen on being examined by the state heard board mrs alice mclaughlin ln deputy in the state treasure s office recalled what at the time tim there ethere a apnea ed to be SL something thing irr tular in tile the de posit for 11 91 tile the amount of inherit unee tax paid on may 26 1908 by the julia A kimball estate on checking this item it was found anat the auditors books contained no record ot of this payment though a receipt had been gien the for the amount the failure to check this account was probably due to neglect in both the treasurers treasur ers and auditors offices the investigation led to a beat ell for the stubs of the receipt books from w which ahse thi se receipts had been taken the ilie state treasurer issues so many r during his term of office that the number of stubs of receipt books becomes so great that ahlie is not room to store them in the office for this irabon at the con elusion of each state treasurers treasur ers term the receipt books used during the four years scars ale aie stored in a in the office of the secretary of state on leaving the offie mi remarked th thit it he was going coing to take his receipt afook stubs to the office of the secretary of state for storage hr HP took them away in a large suit case investigation vesti gation disclosed the fact that the receipt stubs had never reached the office of the secretary of state every link of evidence secured thus far car by the investigators pointed t to 0 the unmistakable guilt of the former state treasurer and his bondsmen were notified no tined at that time mr christian sen was in chaley nev on business sheriff sharp mas aas notified and with J C lynch anch and fraak knox kno two of the bondsmen left immediately for hafey chafey before they had arrived mr Christian sea had heen been notified by wt wire re of the startling disclosures and he started back to salt lake he was rank frank with his bondsmen and confessed his us guilt doing all in his power to make reparation reo reri with what money n T e he ie has hims it and what his friends friend are ready t ta advance for h him ain the bondsmen will be reimbursed it is slid for the money they have deposited to cover the shortage after the discovery was made several meetings were held between the state board of examiners and the bondsmen end nd entire al arrangements range ments satisfactory is to the state and the sureties ware madej whereby the t e is as leim bur ur ei to the fuli amour tu tie embezzlement air is well uell known throughout the state and his embezzlement is scarcely credible to his bis friends he was regarded as 4 citizen whose honesty and integrity were beyond question he was nas a member of sav several clubs and popular in social circles mr n was born in south ern utah thirty file fie years ago living in richfield the greater pirt of his life when a man he was the cortege of the late james M peterson beginning bee inning active life as a clerk in the james M peterson Pc terson bank in richfield he was in the confidence of the banker and his aptitude and energy won him rapid promotion while still a very young joung man he was rna made e cashier of the bank a position which he held until elected to the office of state trea treasurer burer four years ago he was one of the most influential men of richfield and was twice elected mayor of the city he has taken an active actie part in state politics for several years jears he was mentioned last fall for the position of state chairman of the republican party 4 and nd was given the chairmanship of th finance committee on his retirement from the office of state treasurer he was for a time the active aspirant for secretary of ane state lind board he is at present the treasurer of the utah board of commissioners for the alaska yukon pea afi ti on mr is married m aimed and has a family living at 1087 first avenue salt lake city saturdays herald contained a story of how auditor jewkes came to dis cover the defalcations in christian sens accounts ile he sas that at the first of the year the matter of continuing the former auditors system was discussed and that he finally decided to have a change of system he started to get e everything ery thing ready for the change to a new st ht h t of books first he ordered a trial balance to see how the accounts balanced and found everything apparently all right in this york mr air offered his ass assistance and ill he be reid from the old books while the totals were put down by the new auditor ili these continued on page 7 BIG SHORTAGE continued from page 3 totals were mer I 1 later ater to b be e to the new set been ordered mr aly only stayed with the auditor one half diy daiy I 1 while this pait of the work was aas being done the new nen books wore not read for transfer of thi accounts account until mann ord when auditor lewkus lewk s got read readi on that date to transfer trint cr the accounts to the new books book cind and as he wisS wasi bout about to begin the work ork it flisher nto into his mind without Nit hout any rea rca on cm that he should draw another art anil balanc lip HP ordered this done and then the wis was discovered mr jewkes beli eed that the books book had been tampered with and someone tr tang him to too see if hid he could detect an all error he commenced a ss tem ati all p 0 I 1 i ig arid and finally discovered the rol ut or the evil mr jewkes adda that he met during state republican convention last summer r and that the ex treasurer made in an extra effort to become friedly frind ly and the two men became fast friends ind and mr air jt akes ledges cs that he had the utmost confidence in his friend ahe a account count continues thus mr jewkes relapsed into thoughtful mood he was pondering over the cincu circumstance meance mt ance he broke the silence rather suddenly by saving 11 1 I noticed that mr shopped helping me get my work in shape nape era ei abruptly he quit all at once he seemed sudden suddenly 13 ts to lose all his enthusiasm and anxious about my get tt ing started starred in good form he topped stopped so abruptly that afterwards I 1 remembered of thinking about it and regretting th t he had bad not gi given en me an opportunity unity of thanking him for his assistant assis I 1 acm of wondering what he would think of me for allowing him to go eo without expressing my appreciations of his frien friendliness diness and by the way I 1 recollect now that his ambition left him 3 jut ut as soon as we had finished checking up on the county tax accounts mr air jewkes stated that about all the work did in the office during the part of one day he was there was to help check off the balance odthe of ahe county tax ta entries he read the amounts off from the ledger while the new auditor took t them em down it was some time that day that must have made the false entry enar crediting balt bait lake |