Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/176

 The Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the charges made against J. L. Brown as Auditor. Upon the report of that committee the House proceeded to frame thirty articles of impeachment against him.

Articles one to six charged Brown with collecting fees as Auditor and failing to render an account of such fees. Articles seven to eleven charged Brown with official misconduct in relation to the examination of the Bremer County and various other banks. Articles twelve to fifteen charged him with drawing various warrants for payment of clerks, for which no vouchers were taken. Articles sixteen and seventeen charged Brown with resisting the order of suspension and exercising the duties of the office after suspension. Articles eighteen and twenty-two charged Brown with official misconduct in relation to his deputy, Stewart. Article nineteen charged that he refused to permit the Governor to enter the Auditor’s office and examine the records. Articles twenty-three to twenty-seven charged Brown with exacting, from various banks, illegal fees for examinations. Articles twenty-eight to thirty charged him with exacting excessive fees for examination of various insurance companies. After a lengthy trial by the Senate, the Auditor was acquitted on all of the various charges made against him.

It required thirty-four votes to convict. On articles one to six, inclusive, and eighteen every Senator voted not guilty. On article twenty, but one Senator voted guilty. The largest vote to convict was on articles sixteen and seventeen which charged Brown with resisting the Governor’s order of suspension, and exercising the duties of Auditor after such order of suspension. Twenty-nine Senators voted not guilty on every charge. Governor Larrabee on the 23d of January, upon investigation, revoked the order of suspension and reinstated Brown. When articles of impeachment were filed against Brown he was suspended on the 13th of April, 1886, and Charles Beardsley was appointed to serve during the impeachment trial.