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Virginia General Assembly Senate. Records of the committee investigating the Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries, 1918-1926. Accession 29316a. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
Transferred on 10 December 1976 from the Senate Clerk's Office, Richmond, VA 23219.
A special committee, appointed by Governor Trinkle, was created by a Joint Resolution in 1924 to investigate charges of extravagant and unlawful expenditures and immoral conduct of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The charges were that the Department Game and Inland Fisheries spent extravagantly and that there was inappropriate conduct onboard the chief oyster boat, the "Commodore Maury," by Commissioner McDonald Lee. The members of the Committee were R. Holman Willis, W.O. Rogers, Q.C. Davis, W.H. Cato, and C.R. Warren who all signed the majority report. Two other committee members, R.H. Stubbs and R.W. Bragg, signed a minority report. The Committee did not find Commissioner McDonald Lee guilty or responsible for the charges. The Committee did suggest some changes to the Department including the sale of the Commodore Maury and the abolishment of the Field Secretary. An act of the General Assembly passed March 24, 1926 (Chap. 295: 1926) created a Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries. The commission consisted of five members appointed by the governor and the chairman of the commission was to serve as the administrative head of the Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries, replacing the Commissioner of Fisheries. The commissioner still appointed game wardens, subject to the approval of the commission.
Records, 1918-1926, collected and created by the committee investigating the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Includes financial records of the department, depositions, and a transcript of the committee proceedings. Of note are the reports, ca. 1926, which include the majority and minority reports of the Committee, as well as a statement from Governor E. Lee Trinkle.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.