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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1933-11-16, Page 2THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1033 THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE EDWARDSBURG CROWN BRAND THE CANADA STARCH CO.LIMITED, M O NTREAL economical and delicious table syrup County Auditor Convicted of Accepting Bribe William T. Booth, of Wingham, Given one Month’s Suspended Sentence by Judge Costello at Goderich; Claims Money for Extra Work Robert Higgins, of Hensail, Fellow Auditor, will Appear for Trial To- Day; Booth Still Faces Charge of Conspiracy; Both on Bail Found guilty of accepting a bribe ■of $50 to falsify his report and to conceal shortages in the accounts of Gordon Young, former Huron County treasurer, now in prison, William T. Booth, of Wingham, 1932 county auditor was on Friday evening sen­ tenced by Judge Costello to one month’s suspended sentence. The ■trial lasted three days. The fact that Booth has always borne a splendid reputation and that it was the first and only slip of his life weighed 'heavily with the trial judge in the extension of clemency. Executive officers of the company by which he has been employed since 1921, gave him a clean bill of health stating that for nine years he has handled between $40,000 and $50,- 0 00 of the company’s money annual­ ly without the semblance of dishon­ esty. ■Robert Higgins, Hensail, fellow auditor of Booth in the conduct of the 1932 audit of the County of Huron’s hooks will appear before the judge to-day on charges of bribery and conspiracy. It was agreed that the evidence taken in .Booth’s trial will apply and only argument of counsel remains to be heard. The conspiracy charge against Booth will also be disposed of at this court. Bail was renewed in the case of both accused. Foi* Extra Work Booth admitted accepting $<510.00 from the convicted county treasurer knowing him to be short in his ac­ counts and confessed withholding this information from the county officers and to not including it in his report, but stated he had taken the money for “extra work” done as a result of the “terrible mess’’ in which he found in the books. He sought to justify his withholding of the true facts by saying he consid­ ered he was doing a “Christian Act’ by giving the treasurer a chance to make restitution as he had promised to do. .. i “It would have been much more of a Christian act for you to have offered to help Young out of his difficulties had you not taken the $<5l0i he offered you.’’ Judge Costello told the prisoner in passing sentence. Booth, a leader in church and com­ munity life in his home town, felt his position keenly. Higgins on Stand Friday morning Higgins entered the witness box and, as did his fel­ low auditor, William Booth, admit­ ted taking $<5>0 from Gordon Young, convicted county treasurer, but said it was extra work and not to falsify his report or conceal information of a shortage. Higgins admitted that his signed statement of his audit tal­ lied with the treasurer’s statement to County Council, although he had knowlege of both a shortage and an apparent surplus. Judge Costello—“Why did you not report things just as you found them in accordance with the declar­ ation of office you took?” Witness replied that ne thought Young was an honest man and had just overdrawn his salary. The treas­ urer, he said, had offered to replace SOURED ON THE WORLD?—THAT’S LIVER Wake up your Liver Bile —No Calomel necessary Many people who feel eour, idug-gish and generally wretched make the mistake of taking salts, oil, mineral water, laxative candy or chewing gum, or roughage which only move tho .bowels ana ignore tho liver. What you need is to wake lip your liver bile. Start your liver pouring the daily two pounds of liquid bile into your bowels. Get your stomach and intootines working as they should, Once more, Cartor’s Little Liver Pills will soon fix you Up. Purely vegetable. Safe. Sure. Quick, Ask for them by name. Refuse substitutes. 25c, at all druggists, 51 A nourishing y sweet for the 7 whole family the shortage and later reported he had done so. Higgins said he had suggested to Young to neglect draw­ ing his salary until such time as he was square. Mr. Higgins was county auditor in 1921-22-23-27-31 and 32. He said it had always been the custom for the warden to sign oraers for the is­ suing of cheques in blank and to leave them with the clerk!. If the auditor should find that a payment had been made by cheque for which no order had been issued it would not create suspicion, for the reason that an order could be secured at a later date. Before a courtroom, filled with spectators from many parts of Huron County and representatives of the public and business circles of the various towns, villages and the town­ ships, the trials of Robert Higgins and William T. Booth, 1932 audit­ ors, charged with conspiracy and bribery was held in Goderich Wed­ nesday and Thursday of last week. The crown sought to prove that Higgins and Booth, both prominent men in their respective communities Hensail and Wingham, conspired with and eccepted a bribe from Gor­ don Young, former county treasurer now serving a prison term, to falsify their 1932 auditors’ report and thus conceal the true state of the county’s financial condition. Jn a special au­ dit this summer and fall F. P. Gibbs C.A., unearthed an $11,00'0 short­ age. R H. Greer, K. C., Toronto, em­ inent criminal lawyer was the chief examiner for the defence, which was represented by R. S. Hetherington, Wingham for Booth, and J. G. <Stan- bury, of Exeter for Higgins. Crown Attorney Holmes represented the crown. County Clerk Holman was the first witness called by the crown. His evidence revealed the fact that iMr. Booth was present at the June meet­ ing of the county council, which he had addressed. Witness said he (Holman) had been in office for 18 years, when cross-examined by Mr. Greer, and that he first learned of the treasurer’s shortages when the county solicitor told him and when Mr. Booth addressed the June meet­ ing of the Council. Mr. Greer: “Was there any con­ test when Mr. Booth was appointed? Answer: “No.’’ “Had he ever any duties or of­ fice of any kind in the County-’’ “No.’’ “Did anyone ask about his qual­ ifications?’’ “No’’. Mr. .Higgins’ occupation was a dealer in poultry and he had no previous knowledge of bookkeeping as far as the witness knew. It was customary to appoint an auditor who bore a good reputation without ask­ ing for qualifications. In 19312 Booth joined Higgins. Mr. Greer: “Did you have an in­ terview with Mr. Booth about the payment of the length of audit with Mr. Higgins and yourself in which Paterson came in about payment for taxi, and as to additional expenses' in connection with the udit?” “There was discussion with the thee persons.” “Do you remember telling Mr. Ra­ der that in your opinion the county of Huron shduld not e compelled to pay the additional coats or bringing Higgins to the meeting?” “I don’t remember.” “This examination centred around the payment of $312 to Higgins of which $5 was paid to Patterson for taxi to bring him to Goderich and $7 for Higgins for coming to God­ erich besides $20 alleged to have been paid by the treasurer. Mr. Holman was on the stand for nearly three hours. The clerk was ■shown a letter he had written to O. Geiger then reeve of Hensall respect­ ing a letter which he (HOlman) had written with respect to payments al­ legedly coming to Higgins. He nlso admitted attending a conferen.ce in his office when these payments were discussed, but repeatedly said he could not remember any of the con­ versation. The Geiger letter was written to the treasurer, who had re­ ferred it to the clerk to answer. Mr. Holman admitted he had recorded in his minutes that Booth had ad­ dressed the .Council last June on the audit, nor nothing of what had been said, but admitted the accuracy of the newspaper report read to him by Mr. Greer. Mr. Holman, who is 77 years of age, a former county au­ ditor, school teacher for 40 years and county clerk for 16, asserted positively that, he had never receiv­ ed nor kept any county money. He admitted that wardens previous to 1933 had signed orders on the treasurer in blank and that these orders were “kept in stock.” Rev. F. W. Schaffter, of Brantford formerly of Wingham, was allowed to give character evidence for iMr. Booth whom he had known for sev­ en years as a parishioner, church warden, superintendent of the Sun­ day School at St. Paul’s Church, at Wingham of good reputation and un­ questionable business honesty. Repeal Evidence J. H. Taylor, bank manager, re­ peated his evidence given before the special examiner in September that in 1932 he had warned Warden L. Rader that he (Taylor) was suspic­ ious of the treasurer’s honesty. He admitted he had not said anything to Booth or Higgins on this score. Given Protection After being given the protection of the court, for the reason that his concurrent sentence of one year’s imprisonment has been appealed by the attorney-general, Gordon Young first crown witness testified that in March of this year, when Higgins and Booth were conducting an audit of the county books for 1932, they had come to him and told him that he was short in his accounts. Booth according to witness, had said to him that it was not necessary for Young to make up the shortage, as he-offer­ ed to do, but that his time and that of Higgins was worth $1IO< per day extra for the additional amount of work that would be required to straighten out the books. “I asked the auditors where they had found the $i500- shortage they reported to me ond they told me it was cash received by me and not de­ posited in the bank,” said Young. “What did he say to that?” ask­ ed the crown attorney. Witness—“That ended the conver­ sation. That same day I drew the money from my own private account to pay them.” Q—“Where were the auditors?” Al—i“They were both in my office. I paid them in $10 and took no re­ ceipt.” Q—“Were you asked by either of the auditors how the shortage came about?” “No.” Q—“Did you tell Booth some­ thing?” —“Oh, yes, I told him it had oc­ curred from entries in the cash book.” Install New System Witness went on to say that he had not seen Higgins again, but first Booth had returned three times and had helped him install a better sys­ tem of bookkeeping. Q—."Was the payment of the $1510 ever mentioned?” “No.” To Mr. Grter, in cross-examina­ tion, Young admitted that the coun­ ty the year previous had paid Hig­ gins extra money over and over and above the regular fee for overtime spent in auditing. Young said he had paid Higgins $20 out of his own pocket, because Higgins was short and needed the money to pay his ho­ tel bill. Witess said the later re­ covered this money from the county. This was in 1932, when Higgins was making the 19f3)l audit. “I had a discussion with Holman about it,” said Young. “I told him I had advanced the Higgins the mon­ ey and later I saw Warden Rader and arranged with Holman to get an Order from the warden for $50'. $30 of this wan for extra clerical work That particular order is on the file. It is not a secret.” Further explained^ Young admit­ ted he had Booth tell the Council last June there was a discrepancy in the amount of outstanding cheques. Counsel read a newspaper dispatch to him, in which it was stated that reeve after reeve had said in open Council that they had implicit faith in their treasure!* and that the whole trouble was due to slipshod methods of bookkeeping, Auditor F. P. Gibbs detailed at length how he had run down the shortages in the treasurer’s accounts Those of cash receipts were very easily detected, he said, for in many cases receipts had been issued and the information recorded on the stub, but the money had never been deposited in the bank. Money stolen by treasurer by cheque was more difficult to trace, because of the bank system of entering a number of cheques on debit slip and charging up but one account, In many cases the debit slips had been destroyed. It would have been rather difficult to find the shortages arising from the improper issuing or cheques if he had not had the privilege of look­ ing at Young’s private bank account, which was given by Young but not available to the county auditors. Judge Costello refused to allow the crown attorney to put the ques­ tion. "Would it possible for a green or inexperienced auditor to have de­ tected these shortages.” His honor said he would answer the question for himself. Testifying on his own behalf on Thursday afternoon, William T. Booth, Wingham insurance agent and Bible class teacher, charged with accepting a bribe and with conspir­ acy, admitted taking $50 from Gor-» don Young, convicted county treas­ urer, but insisted thatdt was for “ex­ tra work” performed in connection with the audit, and not refrain from revealing shortages in the treasur­ er’s accounts. Booth also admitted that he learned of shortages of $<528 during the course of his audit, but considered it a “Christian .act” not to report it, inasmuch as the treas­ urer had promised to make good the shortage. “I wanted to give him a chance,” said witness. When court adjourned in the evening Booth was still on the witness stand. The crown rested its"- case early Thursday afternoon and R. ,H. Greer K. C., defense counsel moved for dis­ missal and the ground that a prima facie .case had not been imade out. 'Judge Costello ordered the trial to proceed. Under cross-examination Booth admitted that he knew very little about bookkeeping and audit­ ing, his answers to questions put by D E. .Holmes, crown attorney, con­ tinually getting him into “hot wa­ ter.” It was a pertinent and interesting story which Booth told'on the wit­ ness stand one which perhaps goes deep in the search of a, reason for revelations which have been made in recent months in connection with the investigation into finances. Councilor’s Suggestion Booth said it had been suggest­ ed to him by one or two citizens of Wigham and by a county councillor that he apply for the position of county auditor last January. His previous experience consisted of one or two audits of the church books and of the Wingham arena. He met his fellow auditior, Robert Higgins, whom he had not known before, by appointment after having received notice to report and the two report­ ed to the county clerk’s office. He said he had been told the audit would take three days, whereas it actually took seven days and seven nights. The compensation set by council was $45 for each auditor. “On a Thursday evening of the se­ cond week of the audit last March,” related Booth, “I had a conversation with Young (the treasurer) in his office at about 10 o’clock. I told him we had discovered a shortage of $<5)28 in his accounts, receipts from tax arrears, peddlers’ and auction­ eers’ licenses, etc., which he had not deposited. I told him the books were in a terrible condition, and that there was also an apparent surplus. “You ennot carry on like this any longer,” Booth .said he told Young. You have a shortage on one hand and a surplus on the other. It is your responsibility. We are willing to stay here and help you, but this mess has aireddy kept us here one week too long. My time is worth $10 a day.” Had Better Resign Witness said Young followed him around. He wanted , to know the rdason for the shortage* and said: “I guess I couldn’t have deposited all the money, but I’ll put it back. I guess the job’s too big for me, I think I’d better resign,” “Well, if you don’t get a better system of bookkeeping that’s the best thing for you to do,” Booth testified he replied. Booth then quoted Higgins, the second auditor accused, as saying: “If you have not the money to put up now you had not better draw your salary for a few months. That's my advice. You had better go along hpme now and have a .good sleep and forget about it for tonight anyway.” “The next morning, continued Booth, “while I was finishing up a draft of my report, the treasurer came into the office and said: “Boys I have.been oyer to the bank and the banker has agreed to help me out.’ We agreed he was taking the right course.” Crown attorney—-“Did he give you any money?” Booth—“Yes, he put a $10 bill on the table in front of me,” “Did' you put it in your pocket?” “Yes.” “The next morning Higgins came to me and said: “Bill I have just had a talk with Gordon Young (the treas­ urer) out in the hall. I told him the best thing he could do was to pay us for our extra work and that by the time we had finished we will have earned another $50.” ' “On Friday, March 10, about 4.30 p.m. after we had finished the aud­ it and were about to .go home, Young came in and took some more money out of his pocket. ‘Here, boys,’ he said ‘I /want to pay you something for the extra time you have spent on my books. Bob ('Higgins) if you are not too busy you .might come up some time and give me a hand at straightening things out.” “I received another $40' from Gor­ don Young. Higgins got the same,” continued Booth. “Nothing was said about concealing anything from the Council.” Paid for Extra Work The witness explained that he had himself returned to Goderich three times to help Young strike a bal­ ance. He said he knew Higgins had been paid by Young in previous years for “extra work” while auditing. He said Higgins told him that. Much of the evidence of the day revolved around what had taken place in County Council on the day he made his report. Booth addressed the Council for an hour, but the clerk had not even recorded the fact in the minutes, not alone what was said.-Newspaper clippings were quoted fay defense counsel at length to show that “reeve after reeve had expressed implicit faith in their treasurer’s honesty and integrity” and that Booth had actually inform­ ed the (Council that there was “some­ thing wrong” and that he would stand by his report, revealing a dis­ crepancy of $1,400 in outstanding checks, notwithstanding what pre­ vious auditors had reported. Witnesses examined were F. P. Gibbs, C.A., Reeve A. J. Goldthorpe, Warden Ballantyne, George James, county cartaker; .Miss Jean Clement, deputy sheriff and Reeye I. Wright, of Turnberry, who said Booth had come to him after the treasurer’s ar­ rest and said he thought he had per­ formed a “good Christian act” in not disclosng the shortages. Booth also had reported to him that he had taken $50 from Young for “extra work.” After Wright had informed I him that Young had “spilled the beans” and involved the 1932 aud­ itors Higgins and Booth. Records Destroyed Miss Jean Clements, deputy sheriff testified she saw Gordon Young, con­ victed treasurer, coming up the cel­ lar steps from the furnace room with a large empty waste paper ■basket in his hands. "He brushed right by me,” wit­ ness said. “He didn’t want to talk to me.” Miss Clements said she previously had observed bits of charred paper coming from the chimney and set­ tling on the courthouse lawns. George James, caretaker, told of seeing a pile of cancelled checks, Was Seriously Troubled With Boils All Over Body RURDOCK Bitters Per the pe*t 55 years MANUFACTURKD ONLY BY THE T. MILBURN CO., Limited Toronto, Ont. deposit and debit slips on the floor of the treasurer’s office when sweeping it out on the morning of the fire. That afternoon the chimney fire was reported to him and he hurried to the building. He found charred corn­ ers of checks and other 'records on the floor and Inside the furnace He said he went immediately to the treasurer’s office and learned that the documents he had seen there in the morning had disappeared . R. H. Greer K. €. defense counsel, objected to admission of this evi­ dence. D. E. Holmes, crown attor­ ney said he was not seeking to link Booth or Higgins with the fire, but that he was laying a foundation for future evidence. Booth and Higgins are charged with conspiracy and bribery, it being alleged 'they each accepted $'50.00 to falsify their 1932 auditor’s report and conceal information of a short­ age. Cross-examined by Greer, F. P. Gibbs, C.A., who made the special audit which revealed an $11,0'00 shortage in t'he treasurer’s accounts repeated his charges of obstruction. Young, the treasurer, he said,, left him to his own resources to “find what I could.” “He bitterly resented my coming to make an audit and said he didn’t see the need of it,” said witness. “When I asked him about the miss­ ing records he said he gave them to the caretaker. He was very evas­ ive.” Can’t Tell Amount Auditor Gibbs said his investiga­ tion of county books was “unfath­ omable.” “The amount of money which Young took in and never ac­ counted for is so big I can’t put my finger on it,” he said. Mr. Gibbs said County Clerk Hol­ man did everything he could to ob­ struct the audit. He failed to pro­ duce warden’s orders for issuing of checks. “Holman was very curt with one,” complained the auditor. “I asked him for invoices which should have been stapled to the order to pay. <1 couldn’t get them. Every­ thing was in a confused condition. .He handed me bundles of papers rolled up, containing records of var­ ious year.” The auditor in his evidence com­ plained that he had been unable to get the auctioneer’s receipt book from the clerk, who had refused to give it up. Before court adjourned for lunch this book.' was delivered to the crown attorney by a court atten­ dant. Warden Ballantyne and Reeve A. J. Goldthorpe were other crown wit­ nesses. Their evidence related to the appearance of Auditor Booth be­ fore County Council in June last. The defense so.ught to prove that Booth on that occasion actually re­ ported a shortage in the county’s accounts and evidence to substan- tate this was adduced. SORE FEET do cause other ills— Use Cress Corn Salve. At Grieve’s Drug Store. Mr. D. Stein* Leduc, Alta., writes: “I had serious trouble with boils, liy arms, legs, neck, in fact, my whole body broke out with them. I tried salves, ointments, poultices and many different medicines, but they did not help me. Then I tried Burdock Blood Bitters and was surprised at the results. I only took two bottles and the boils disappeared and I have never been troubled with them since.”