The Adjutant General and the Missing $40,000
Ortis Hamilton was charged with embezzling state and national military funds—and an audit found 90 percent of the Washington towns checked so far were also short.
Seattle — Closely following upon the heels of the startling disclosures of the peculations of Ortis Hamilton, until recently adjutant-general of the national guard of Washington, but who today stands charged with the embezzlement of state and national funds aggregating between $30,000 and $40,000, comes the even more astounding declaration that out of 18 per cent of the Washington cities and towns which have been checked up by expert accountants, 90 per cent of them have been found short in their accounts.
Olympia — Pursuant to the desire of the defendant for quick action in the prosecution of the state's case against former Adjutant General Hamilton, under arrest for the embezzlement of state military funds, Hamilton was arraigned Saturday morning, after spending his first night in jail. He waived examination and was held for trial at the superior court, bonds being fixed at $10,000, which he so far has been unable to secure.
“out of 18 per cent of the Washington cities and towns which have been checked up by expert accountants 90 per cent of them have been found short in their accounts.”
A century later, the same questions about public money and accountability still define local government: who watches the books, and what happens when the person trusted to keep them is the one accused. The detail that 90 percent of audited towns were short suggests the problem was systemic, not a single bad actor.
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