July 17, 1890.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



517 



Mr. Terry said that his recollection was somewhat indefi- 

 nite, but his impression was that Mr. Lewis was to have 

 the income or profits from the Stud Book up to the sum o£ 

 $1,500, hut that any amount which came in above that sum 

 was to go to the club: that is to say, if the profits should 

 amount to $1,501, the SI would not be Mr. Lewis's but the 

 American Kennel Club's. Mr. Schellhass said that at the 

 time of Mr. Lewis's appointment he had been connected 

 officially with the club only a short time, and that he had 

 not known officially what Mr. Vredenburgh's arrangement 

 with respect to the Stud Book was, but unofficially he had 

 always supposed that Mr. Vredenburgh was publishing the 

 book and taking the surplus as his remuneration. As to 

 the arrangement made with Mr. Lewis, Mr. Schellhass said, 

 his recollection was indistinct; he would only say that his 

 remembrance of the contract was that Mr. Lewis was to 

 take the book for what there was in it; and in the event of 

 any loss he was not to hold the A. K. C. for either salary or 

 loss. As to whether all the profits, however great, were to 

 go to\Mr. Lewis, Mr. Schellhass was not very positive: but 

 he did remember distinctly that in no event was the club to 

 stand any loss. 



Mr. Lewis himself being asked what the contract was, 

 said that he could not tell definitely how much he had re- 

 ceived from the American Kennel Club, but that Mr. Vre- 

 denburgh's books would show: he had, however, taken the 

 publication on the same basis as Mr. Vredenburgh had 

 done. Being given an inquiry similar to that sent to Mr. 

 Terry, already noted, Mr. Lewis replied as follows: 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Replying to your letter of this date, in which you ask if I 

 had an "exhaustive contract" with the A. K. C. for editing 

 the A. K. C. S. B., would say, most emphatically, no. I took 

 charge of the book on precisely the same terms as did Mr. 

 Vredenburgh and drew the same remuneration as he did up 

 to Feb. 1, 1889, after which date I drew a stated salary. 



_ T , A. D. Lewis. 



Hempstead, July 14 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



During the past year communications have from time to 

 time appeared in the columns of the sporting press contain- 

 ing reflections upon the management of the American Ken- 

 nel Club, and grave doubts as to the financial soundnesss of 

 that organization. Occasionally denials have come from 

 some officials of the club, but, unfortunately, they have 

 been too general to fully refute the statements 'which drew 

 them out, many of which had an air of truth, and doubtless 

 ca.rried conviction to those who only look upon the surface 

 of things. 



As an officer of the A. K. C. I consider it right and proper 

 for me to put before the breeders of this country certain 

 facts with which I am conversant, that they may be able to 

 judge uuderstandingly whether or not the affairs of the A. 

 K. C. are rightly conducted, and whether it is prosperous or 

 on the verge of insolvency, as some have intimated. Also, 

 to throw light on certain seeming discrepancies in the fiuau 

 cial reports of the club. Those who know me will need no 

 assurance that in writing this I am actuated purely by a 

 sense of duty and a love of fair play. The affairs of men 

 connected with the A. K. C. do not concern me; it is to the 

 club only that I owe allegiance. I shall study to be as con- 

 cise as possible, and leave speculation to others. 



At the last meeting of the Advisory Committee, in New 

 York, I examined the books of the treasurer. Mr. Vreden- 

 burgh, with the purpose of determining whether his re- 

 ported statement, made early in 1S90, was a true one or not. 

 Here 1 will say that, considering the communications already 

 alluded to. there was some reason to suspect that the ac- 

 counts had been "juggled," or that by connivance some 

 friend of the club had managed to swell its funds about 

 $1,000. To be more explicit, considering the published state- 

 ments it certainly seemed possible for Mr. Belmont to have 

 entered into an arrangement with Mr. Lewis, by which the 

 latter was to renounce his claim to the profits from the 

 stud book— of nearly 81 000— and leave the same in the treas- 

 ury, to be made good by Mr. Belmont. In other words, 

 there was a possible chance that Mr. Belmont desired to 

 make the A. K. C. a present of about $1,000, and was forced 

 to trickery and fraud to accomplish his benevolent purpose. 



With this far-fetched theory in mind I went over the 

 treasurer's accounts. I found that Jan. 11, 1S89, the A. K. 

 C. had a balance on hand, from receipts of club dues only, 

 to the amount of §285.39. In the stud book account on that 

 date there was a balance of $912.89, from receipts of its in- 

 come only. These sums added together constituted the 

 balance on hand, "from all sources," $1,228.28, which was 

 duly reported in the January number of the Kennel Gazette. 



It appeared that it had been the custom for the treasurer 

 to report, at the A. K. C. meetings solely his own accounts 

 as treasurer of that, club, which were entirely distinct and 

 separate from stud book income. To report 'the latter was 

 the duty of the stud book committee. On Jan. 11, 1889, for 

 the first time Mr. Vredenburgh included in his report to the 

 A. K. C. the receipts in the stud book department. This, 

 $942.89, explains the sudden and considerable increase in the 

 funds of the A. K. C, and near that sum was supposed to 

 have been donated surreptitiously by the president. 



Now, in February number, same year, of the Kennel 

 Gazette, we find reported a balance of $333.45. This is but a 

 continuation of Mr. Vredenburgh's account as treasurer, 

 carried on to Feb. 16, 1889, and it included further receipts 

 from dues and prefix fees, also expenses incurred. This 

 amount was combined with the receipts from all sources; 

 hence his two reports at the annual meeting. 



It appears that Mr. Vredenburgh was in charge of the 

 stud book sixteen months, for which he received a salary of 

 $1,100. or $68.75 per month. Mr. Lewis, it seems, did not 

 ta!ke the book, on speculation, as has been frequently stated, 

 but was appointed on the same terms and under the same 

 conditions as those which had been accepted by Mr. Vreden- 

 burgh. This is the statement made by the treasurer, by 

 Mr. Lewis and by Mr. Terry. The books of the treasurer 

 show that Mr. Lewis drew exactly the same summer month 

 as did Mr. Vredenburgh, Here is Mr. Lewis's account in 

 brief: April, 1888, to Jan. 31, 1889, ten months' salary, 

 $6S7.50. During 1888 he drew $406, and I am informed that 

 in order that the stud book might have the benefit of as 

 large a balance as possible, until it could afford to pay the 

 rest of his claim without inconvenience, he drew what re- 

 mained, amounting to $287.50Jin different amounts, from 

 Jan. 28, 1889, to Nov. 30, 1889. Thereafter Mr. Lewis made 

 a new arrangement with the club whereby he was to receive 

 a salary of $1,000 per year. 



I have this morning received from Mr. Vredenburgh the 

 following statement: "The A. K. C. has at this date, July 9, 

 a balance on hand of $2,141.35. The total liabilities are 

 $178.09. Few of the assets of the club can be estimated. The 

 furniture of the office is worth about $120. There are bound 

 volumes of the stud book, which if sold at the regular price 

 —and it is likely that they some time will be— would bring 

 over $1,000. There are also files of the Gazette, other printed 

 matter, electrotypes, artist's drawings of dogs, etc., which 

 may bring $100, and they mierht bring near $1,000." 



A word as to the Gazette. The treasurer informs me that 

 it has cost for the last six months $983.34 to print, bind, 

 wrap and mail, together with all other expenses of every 

 description. For the same period the receipts have been 

 $1,071.60. During the next six months the expenses will be 

 a trifle less. There is now due the Gazette for advertise- 

 ments $1,257.97; bills for which have been sent out this week 

 This sum, if paid, will defray all expenses for the balance 

 of the year, and probably leave a margin of nearly $300 profit, 

 without considerinQ any other income. 



And now to the end. On Jan. 1, 1887, the A. K. C. had a 

 capital of less than $100. It has bought the Kennel Reqistcr, 

 for which it paid the sum of $500. It has never received any 

 financial aid, has had only its legitimate income, and to-day 

 it has a cash balance of nearly §2,200. Its total debts are less 

 than $200; and there is due it from parties, every one of 

 whom are believed to be perfectly reliable, over $1,200. Dur- 

 ing the present year the Gazette is ahead of Us expenses- 

 and probably at the end of 1890 it will have a balance on the 

 right side of $200 or $300. 



The foregoing statements I submit, without comment, to 

 all interested in the affairs of the A.K.C. The books of the 

 club are open to all delegates, and if there is any one who 

 questions what I have written he can easily reach the truth. 

 T , „ J- Feank Perki\ 



Boston, July 9. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



To the many correspondents who have sent me commen- 

 datory letters regarding what was published last week over 

 my initials regarding the Kennel Club accounts I desire to 

 express my thanks. To do what is right, is only every man's 

 duty, but thanks are always appreciated and these letters 

 have been very pleasant reading indeed. At the same time 

 I feel that I have to express my personal thanks to Dr. 

 Perry and to Mr. Vredenburgh for asking me to again go 



how any fair-minded non-partisan could fail to have doubts 

 on the subject, who had not received from some independ- 

 ent source irrefutable proof of the correctness on one side or 

 the other of the case at issue. Had I not had a look at the 

 books last April I think I would have been a partisan and 

 that against, the A. K. C. My particular line of business, 

 dealing in a great measure with the correctness of records 

 aDd extending over a long period of years has, or at least it 

 ought to have, trained me to the proper weighing of evidence 

 and this is the way I looked at the thing. 



Certain charges of malfeasance in office were made against 

 the leading officials of the A. K. C. Made by a person, it 

 must be remembered, who had peculiar ad vantages for being 

 in the possession of positive information on the subject. In 

 response to these charges there was no specific denials, but 

 in place thereof a seeming effort to decline according infor- 

 mation. In my own case, when 1 wrote for some paarfcfeulais 

 Mr. Vredenburgh replied that he had not time to give me 

 what I wanted. I wrote again asking some five or six ques- 

 tions calling only for a few minutes of research to give the 

 figures in response. These I obtained without delay Mr 

 Leslie also wrote, and Mr. Vredenburgh replied that he had 

 neither the time nor the inclination to give him what he 

 asked for. Now, however much Mr. Vredenburgh may have 

 been pressed for time, I think it was certain! v very impolitic 

 for a person in his position to say he had no inclination to 

 accord information such as was asked for. Then came the 

 unfortunate editing of Mr. Vredenburgh's statement at the 

 annual meeting and Mr. Belmont's statement at the May 

 meeting, both of which were to the effect that Mr. Belmont, 

 had not put any money into the A. K. C. treasury 

 When I mentioned this to Dr. Perry and Mr. Vredenburgh ' 

 the former laughingly remarked, "We must be careful" of 

 these hypercritical critics, Mr. Vredenburgh." But it is these 

 very things that have to be noticed when weighing contra- 

 dictory statements. Then we had the ruling of the advisory 

 committee that no one should be allowed to look at the 

 books without their permission, all of vyhich in combination 

 could not fail to create a feeling that where so much disin- 

 clination was manifest in suppressing information and in- 

 vestigation there was something to suppress. 



Against that side of the case we had to place this. A 

 committee had investigated the accounts of 1889— not of 1888 

 remember— and pronounced them to be correct. Also that 

 there would be no harm in Mr. Belmont's presenting $500 

 or $1,000 to the club he took so much interest in, if it was in 

 straightened circumstances. If he had done so and it was 

 made plain in the books, it would have been a very hand- 

 some thing indeed and could not have failed to redound to 

 Mr. Belmont's credit and been properly recognized by a vote 

 of thanks. But it was not the alleged giving of the 11,000, 

 but the giving it in the underhanded manner as stated, that 

 was reprehensible. If it had been done in that way it would 

 have been deception. What threw doubt upon this state- 

 ment of the $1,000 addition was that there was no necessity 

 for any such manner of aiding the A. K. C. There was no 

 kick against Mr. Belmont at that time. He had only a 

 short time before made his handsome offer of a guarantee 

 for the establishment of the Gazette, which had been re- 

 ceived and accepted with thanks, and if he had gone further 

 and said that as the club was not then very strong he would 

 place in the treasury $1,000 as a fund to start with, it would 

 have been hailed with applause. The strongest point 

 against Mr. Peshall's statement was undoubtedly the fact 

 that the way of putting in the $1,000 was not probable for 

 lack of necessity in the method said to have been adopted 

 So that the residue of the case was this: Mr. Peshall must 

 be accorded credit for opportunity of knowing his alleged 

 facts, and the action of the A.'K. C. officials lent color 

 thereto; the auditing committee was that of the 1889 ac- 

 counts, not of 1888. Per contra, there is but the improb- 

 ability for lack of necessity for doing what was alleged in 

 the manner stated. I think there was room for doubt. At. 

 least that amount of doubt which would let a man go into 

 the jury box unprejudiced. I felt that evidence was neces- 

 sary to prove the correctness of one or the other of the 

 statements, and after fully examining the evidence. I freely 

 and willingly sided against Mr. Peshall. 



It is probable that Mr. Peshal will reply to my letter of 

 last week, and I am fully prepared to see him shift his 

 ground because it cannot be very pleasant to have all his 

 castles in the air come tumbling down with such a run. 

 Life is too short to continue a discussion against theories as 

 opposed to facts, and it is my desire to end the whole busi- 

 ness as speedily as possible. Mr. Peshall said two weeks 

 ago that if he was wrong there was no apology too great to 

 be demanded of him or for him to make. I propose, there- 

 fore, that he make an appointment, next Monday if possible 

 and I will go with him to the A. K. C. office where I will 

 exercise my right, as per resolution of the Advisory Com- 

 mittee, to look through the books once more, and from 

 those books I will answer every one of Mr. Peshall's ques- 

 tions. In order to see whether those questions are answered 

 I would suggest that we be accompanied by the editor of 

 Forest axd Stream. I suggest this because if left to my 

 friend Peshall and myself we will get into some of our end- 

 less discussions, whereas all we need is questions and 

 answers— oh yes, and the apology. J. w. 



Editor Forest and Stream- 



If Mr. Watson in his endeavor to answer the charges that 

 I have made against the management of the A.K.C. of jug- 

 gling and huggermuggering the accounts, would confine 

 himself to the articles or letters that I have sent to the 

 sporting press, and not drag in either casual or convivial 

 conversations, perhaps conclusions reached would, at least, 

 be more satisfactory to not enly those interested in the wel- 

 fare of the A.K.C, but to your readers generally. The con- 

 versation to which he refers, if I remember, occurred either 

 very late at night or very early in the morning. We were 

 sitting at opposite sides of the table with glass bottles be- 

 tween us that perhaps were not so full, or were not as need- 

 ful of stoppers as ourselves: and, if I remember, the end of 

 the table as well as ourselves was not only graced, but en- 



tertained by and with the presence of Brother Win slow. In 

 this conversation Brother Watson unfolded to me the en- 

 velope which contained thereon the figures made and income 

 given by Mr. Vredenburgh of the A.K.C. accounts from Jan. 

 2 to Jan. 11, 1889, amounting to $122 and some odd tents. In 

 this conversation I might have said the month of June, but 

 I evidently intended the month of May, as will appear from 

 the following taken from my letter of June 20, 1S90: 



"Mr. Lewis was to assume the. duties of editor of the Stud Book, 

 was to compile the pedigrees, and do all the work as editor of the 

 Stud Book. He was to publish the Stud Book quarterly, was to 

 pay all the hills and expenses thereof, as well as one-half the 

 office rent, and for his services he was to receive the entire re- 

 ceipts coming into the office, as well aR the proceeds of the sale of 

 the book. If after paying all of these bills there was not hing left, 

 Mr. Lewis agreed that he would make no claim upon the Ameri- 

 can Kennel Club. This was substantially our contract, and it was 

 faithfully, honestly and efficiently carried out. At the meeting 

 o£ the American Kennel Club, which was held May 8, 188S, the 

 Stud Book Committee reported this change to the club, and at 

 the same meeting Mr. Vredenburgh made bis report as treasurer, 

 showing the balance on hand in the American Kennel Cluh to be 

 the sum of $128.01. After this Mr. Vredenburgh went to Europe, 

 and he returned on Monday, Dec. 3." 



Consequently there is no point to be made in the first con- 

 tradiction made by Mr. Watson in his letter to Forest And 

 Stream in the last issue. 



In reply to his second contradiction I will say that I was 

 chairman of the stud book committee, and at the meeting in 

 May, 18S8, the chaiige made by Mr. Vredenburgh's resigna- 

 tion as editor of the stud book, and the appointment of Mr. 

 Lewis as editor, was reported to the meeting, as will appear 

 from the published reports. From April 1 until the end of 

 the year 1888, Mr. Lewis published the stud book under an 

 exhaustive contract made between the stud book committee 

 and himself. Mr. Vredenburgh at the time was well aware 

 of that fact, and is now, and any statement he makes to the 

 contrary is simply done, to cover up the hnggermuggery 

 heretofore stated of the management. Three weekly issues 

 of the sporting press have appeared since my letter, and no 

 denial of my statement as to said exhaustive contract and 

 terms thereof has yet been made by either Mr. Lewis, who 

 was the editor, Mr. Schellhass or Mr. Terry, who were the 

 other members of the stud book committee, and the only 

 explanation that has appeared is what Mr. Watson says 

 in his letter that Mr. Vredenburgh told him what Mr. 

 Terry and Mr. Lewis would tell him. If Mr. Lewis 

 and Mr. Terry were willing to comply with Mr. Vreden- 

 burgh's statement, the denial would have appeared long 

 since; in fact it would have been furnished with the same 

 eager promptness for publication in the sporting press as 

 was the denial of the so-called auditing committee; and 1 

 will now say that the denial would have been squelched 

 with equal promptness. If Mr. Vredenburgh will prom ptly 

 publish the denial of these, two gentlemen, and that Mr. 

 Lewis was drawing $68.75 a month as a fixed salary, I 

 will with equal promptness not only convince vour readers 

 but these two gentlemen themselves by evidence over their 

 own signature of their error. 



As to the third conclusion in contradiction made by Mr. 

 Watson in answer thereto, which I believe will be sufficient 

 to convince the dog men of the country that his conclusion is 

 not well founded, I will say that Mr. Vredenburgh has kept 

 and does keep the books; and that whenever a treasurer of a 

 public club does not court, aud, in fact, invite the most 

 searching scrutiny of his accounts,when the same have been 

 questioned, as his have been by members of local clubs and 

 the sporting press, that when an investigation is made in the 

 way in which it should be made, and the shell is broken, 

 that in 99 times out of 100 the meat in the egg is usually to 

 be found, almost generally always, somewhat putrid. I 

 stated shortly after the account containing the item S1.22S.28 

 was published that it was not earned by the club, that it had 

 been book-keeped in, and I am now as fully convinced that I 

 am right, notwithstanding Mr. Watson's last letter. 



These accounts have never been audited; the auditing 

 committee that was appointed under Mr. Anthony's resolu- 

 tion, and which was made palatable by Mr. Vredenburgh's 

 suggestion, simply looked at the books that were preseuted 

 to them by the treasurer, and added up, perhaps, the figures 

 given to them by him. There was no comparison of vouchers 

 with items charged, there was no looking through bank 

 statements, returned checks, etc , that an auditor is ex- 

 pected to do; and evidently this committee was hugger- 

 muggered by the management when the private books of Mr. 

 Lewis were imposed upon them. 



A man named Webster, who lived some years ago, defines 

 in his dictionary the. word "auditor" as follows: "A person 

 appointed and authorized to audit or to examine an acoount 

 or accoiints, compare the charges with vouchers, examine 



the parties and witnesses, aliow or reject charges, and state 

 the balance." This definition is the usual andaceepted one 

 pertaining to the duties imposed upon an auditor, and I 

 don't believe that any one of the distinguished gentlemen 

 who acted upon this so-called committee will now claim 

 that they audited these accounts. Every one of them knew 

 that not. only myself but others had questioned, aud that 

 the sporting press had contained articles questioning the 

 accounts, especially the delegate from the N. J. K. C, who 

 was well aware that I had protested against, that item of 

 $1,228.28, and yet upon the most casual glancing over of 

 books, he, and the other members of this so-called auditing 

 committee, attach their names and certify that they ex- 

 amined the accounts and found them correct in every parti- 

 cular. I will not state that this report made by the auditing 

 committee emanated from coagulated hebetudinosity, but 

 that the gentlemen were easily satisfied we must all admit 

 And we find that within a few days after this report is pub- 

 lished that two members of said committee, when applied 

 to for the items going to make up this $1,228.28 which had 

 been carried as a balance from the preceding year, and had 

 been talked about, and written against by the dog men 

 and sporting press throughout the country until it had 

 become more popular and notorious than the negro's 

 gig 4-11-44, were unable to give the items. Mr. Vre- 

 denburgh down to and at the so-called annual meeting 

 held without a quorum, evidently had some doubts 

 or misgiving himself about this balance of $1,228.2S, because 

 in reply to a question by Mr. Watson, as appeared afterward 

 in his own reporfof said meeting, he said the balance hap- 

 pened to be $1,228.28. Now it is an old maxim, which we 

 perhaps obtain from the Arabians, that figures never lie, 

 while we do know that sometimes under some circumstances 

 that sometimes treasurers are mistaken. They're not al- 

 ways and under all circumstances infallible or altogether 

 accurate, and it is for these reasons and under these circum- 

 stances and usual for clubs and other public bodies to ap- 

 point an auditing committee whose duties are now so well 

 defined; not only by the aforesaid Webster, but by custom. 

 The casual examination of the books which was made by 

 the sc-ealled auditing committee and the fleeting examina- 

 tion made by Bro. Watson do notshowsuflicieut scrutiny of 

 the accounts to satisfy a skeptic, or even convert a captious 

 critic to a skeptic. I would like to become a convert to the 

 views expressed by Bro. Watson and become thoroughly con- 

 vinced of my error in this matter, not only that thereby I 

 might be enabled to offer a sufficient apology for the grievous 

 wrong that I have done this A.K.C. management, but that 

 I could convince not only myself but the advisory commit- 

 tee that I had regained my normal condition. Will Mr. Vre- 

 denburgh publish over his own signature the itemized 

 expense account for the year ending Dec. 31, 1888, the item- 

 ized receipts for the same period, and then give us the items 

 to make up "Peshall's gig"— 12-2S-2S— and not only therebv 

 oblige a host of dog men throughout the country, but "a 



