MICHIGAN. 



379 



dred and one, and every fifth year thereafter, and 

 at such other times as the Legislature may direct, 

 the Legislature shall provide for an equalization 

 of assessments by a State board on all taxable 

 property except that taxed under laws passed 

 pursuant to section 10 of this article." 



The amendments having been adopted at the 

 November election, the Governor called another 

 special session, to begin Dec. 12, in order to carry 

 them into effect by appropriate legislation, giving 

 as a reason for a special session that the existing 

 Legislature, being thoroughly familiar with the 

 subject, could deal with it much more expedi- 

 tiously than the new Legislature at the regular 

 session. 



Invalid Laws. In October the Supreme Court 

 declared the sugar-bounty law, granting manu- 

 facturers one cent a pound from the State treasury, 

 to be unconstitutional. 



A section of the tax law was declared uncon- 

 stitutional. It was designed to act as a statute 

 of limitation and to bar owners of property from 

 disputing in any way the validity of a tax sale 

 under which their property had been sold, unless 

 question was raised within six months after service 

 of notice of purchase. The decision is on the 

 ground that there are provisions in section 143 

 that are not only beyond the natural limits of 

 the title, but are directly antagonistic to its 

 spirit. 



A decision in the court of Kent County in a 

 garnishee case holds that no public official can 

 assign his salary before it is earned. 



Fraudulent Transactions. Discovery was 

 made in 1899 that new military goods which had 

 been bought to supply the troops for the Cuban 

 Avar and had not been used had been sold by 

 officials for $10,500, and then bought back for 

 about $60,000. An investigation by the grand jury 

 brought out the fact that on July 17, 1899, at a 

 meeting of the Michigan Military Board, a reso- 

 lution was adopted authorizing the sale of all 

 military supplies, and in furtherance of this scheme 

 four or five letters were sent to various parties 

 offering all the tents and quartermaster general's 

 supplies for sale. On July 19, a letter was received 

 from Chicago, purporting to come from the Illinois 

 Supply Company (per Edson C. Cobb, manager), 

 offering $10,500 for the goods without even having 

 seen them. The offer was at once accepted, the 

 goods were sent, and Cobb, without opening the 

 cars or examining the goods, forwarded them to 

 the Henderson- Ames Company, of Kalamazoo. At 

 the same meeting of the board at which the reso- 

 lution to sell supplies was adopted, another reso- 

 lution was adopted, and in pursuance of this the 

 board proceeded at once to buy of the Henderson- 

 Ames Company, of Kalamazoo, goods almost iden- 

 tical with those which had been sold to the Illinois 

 Supply Company. The gross amount purchased 

 was more than $60,000. Subsequently it was dis- 

 covered that the Illinois Supply Company was a 

 myth; no such company ever had been in exist- 

 ence; that Edson C. Cobb (manager of the com- 

 pany) was an employee of the Chicago Beach 

 Hotel Company, at Chicago ; and that he was close- 

 ly related to at least one of the principal stock- 

 holders in the Henderson-Ames Manufacturing 

 Company. The goods were followed through the 

 hands of the cartage company at Kalamazoo, who 

 acknowledged that within two weeks they began 

 shipping the same supplies back from Kalamazoo 

 to Lansing, where they were traced to the quarter- 

 master general's department. 



For connection with these frauds, indictments 

 were found, in December and in January, 1900, 

 against William L. White, Quartermaster General; 



Howard A. Smith, Assistant Quartermaster; Ar- 

 thur F. Marsh, Inspector General and chairman of 

 the Republican State Central Committee; and Eli 

 R. Sutton, Regent of the University of Michigan 

 and member of Gov. Pingree's military staff. 



The same grand jury brought indictments 

 against other officials and others, namely: Edgar 

 J. Adams, Speaker of the House of Representa- 

 tives, two indictments for bribery; William A. 

 French, State Land Commissioner, offering bribes; 

 Charles Pratt, agent for a law-book concern, offer- 

 ing bribes; Representative D. Judson Hammond, 

 of Pontiac, soliciting bribes; Frederick A. May- 

 nard, ex- Attorney-General, misdemeanor in retain- 

 ing portion of his chief clerk's salary. 



The alleged bribery was in connection with an 

 antitrust bill and a bill for purchases, from the 

 State treasury, of the national system of reports 

 of the courts of the several States for each county. 



White and Marsh left the State when it was 

 known that indictments would be out against 

 them. Marsh soon returned, but White not until 

 November, 1900, when a reward of $1,000 was 

 offered for his apprehension. Marsh was brought 

 to trial March 20, and after a trial of fourteen 

 days was convicted. His attorneys took steps for 

 an appeal. Button's trial was in May and June, 

 and he was acquitted. Smith, having testified in 

 the Marsh and Sutton trials and incriminated him- 

 self, pieaded guilty when his case was called in 

 October, and was sentenced to pay a fine of $1,200 

 on or before Oct. 22, or be committed to the county 

 jail for two years. When White returned he was 

 tried, convicted, and sentenced to ten years in 

 prison, where he was taken, Dec. 4. The next 

 day Gov. Pingree pardoned him and Marsh, whose 

 appeal was pending, making the condition that 

 each should pay a fine of $5,000 in five yearly 

 installments to the treasurer of Ingham County; 

 should he refuse to receive it, the money should 

 then go into the State treasury. The State had 

 been reimbursed by the Henderson-Ames Com- 

 pany, the bondsmen of White, and the accused 

 themselves or their friends, for the amounts em- 

 bezzled. The Governor gave among his reasons 

 for the pardons that the company had not been 

 prosecuted, and that the sentence of White was 

 excessive, since the State had been paid. There 

 is some question as to the validity of the condi- 

 tions attached to the pardons. 



An incident of the Marsh trial was the with- 

 drawal of his counsel, when Judge Wiest refused 

 a continuance, with the statement that there was 

 no chance in his court for justice, or something 

 to that effect. Judge Wiest decided that they 

 were guilty of contempt, and fined the two lawyers 

 $250 and $200 respectively. Near the close of the 

 year he summoned Gov. Pingree to answer for 

 contempt on account of criticisms made on his 

 course in the trials in an interview with the Gov- 

 ernor, published in a Detroit newspaper. He had 

 previously asked the Governor to have his conduct 

 investigated by the Legislature. The Governor 

 refused to appear to answer for contempt, and 

 the case was continued to January. 



The Governor asked the resignation of the offi- 

 cers implicated early in the year, and appointed 

 O'Brien J. Atkinson to succeed W T hite, Ford Star- 

 ring to succeed Smith, and F. W. Green to Marsh's 

 place. He also asked the resignation of the Ad- 

 jutant General, on the ground that he was guilty 

 of negligence, but the Adjutant General refused 

 to resign. 



The State cases against the ex- Attorney-General, 

 the Land Commissioner, the Speaker of the House, 

 and others were put over to the January term 

 of 1901. 



