Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1910 — MORE ABOUT THAT ACCOUNTING LAW. [ARTICLE]

MORE ABOUT THAT ACCOUNTING LAW.

Notwithstanding the fact that the non-partisan field examiners who have made theexaminations of township trustees, school boards and town and city offices in Jasper county have found five republican officials past and present, short in their accounts over $3,000, and every democratic official “straight as a die”—and a part of the time the democrats have had eight of the thirteen township trustees—the Republican continues to prate about the iniquitius of the state accounting law.'

It says the examinations have cost in this county; $1,141.08, and that they discovered $781.89 shortage in the accounts of Fred Karch, trustee of Walker tp., : $76.71. in the accounts of Moses Leopold, . ex-treasurer of the city of Rensselaer, and $67.50 in the accounts of Louis Paulsen. ex-treasurer of the Wheatfield school board, a total of 5926.10, which has been paid back, leaving the taxpayers still out $214.98 over what the examinations have cost. It doesn’t consider that the $1,425 found against ex-trustee Fell of Carepnter tp.. —the present republican candidate for county treasurer — or the $725 found against ex-trus-tee S, L. Luse of Keener tp. —a brother-in-law of Abe Halleck — as these amounts will only be paid after the courts have decided -they—shaßbej-says-tbe-Republi-W'.'T

I The advisory boards had absolutely no power to make good these amounts—funds; lost in the Parker and McCoy bank failures —and there is no question, about how the courts will decide when the matter gets before them. As ■ it is, not one in twenty of the taxpayers of those two townships knew that these amounts had not been paid hack, and in the case lof Carpenter tp. the present trusj tee tells us that he has not re- , ceived a penny of the dividends ■ declared in e the Parker failure, and it is presumed they have been paid to Mr. Fell. \ We think even the Republican must grudgingly admit that if the advisory board of Carpenter tp. —illegally it was—made good from the township funds the loss sustained by the trustee, that the dividends declared and paid by the bank belong to the township, and not to

the trustee whose loss was made good—jtemporiarilly, at least—by the advisory board. If any taxpayer of Carpenter tp. thinks that the 20 or 25 per cent dividends thus far paid by the Parker bank have been paid to the present trustee. Charles V. May, let him ask Mr. May about it. He tells us that he has not received one penny. Now as, to the cost of the examinations here. Only about

four years ago the republican city council hired experts to come in and examine the books of the city clerk and treasurer at an expense of between S6OO and SBOO. They discovered an error of some $35, we believe, in the accounts of the clerk, which was paid. That wife all, yet the examination-cost over S6OO more than was paid back, while the examination made under the state accounting law cost $100.70, and $76.71 was paid back, a difference of about S6OO in favor of the accounting law. If any taxpayer in Rensselaer or Jasper county ever heard any howl put up by the Republican about the great expense of that investigation we would like for them to hold up their hand. Still more recently—within the past two years—the republican j>oard of .cgijnty commissioners ordered an investigation made of

the county records to see whether ex-treasurer S. R. Nichols owed the $7,500 that he had been compelled to pay back over a year alter he had retired from office or whether a mistake had been made by the auditor in charging the various amounts to the treasurer.

An Indianapolis man who filed with his bid of $1,700 recommendations from well known and high-standing people of Iris city as to his'experience and competency, was turned down and the contract awarded to another expert who seems to have been an employe of J. B. Workman—who "examined” the taxpayers of Jasper county several years ago and whose operations here are still fresh in the minds of the people —whose bid was SIOO under Workman’s bid, which was for the full appropriation of $2,000. A saving of S2OO might have been made there and the contract given to an accountant whose references were gilt-edge, but he was turned down and S2OO more paid to one of Workmen's men who bore no recommendations whatever. Why? Let the taxpayers judge for themselves. But, as to Workman's examination—for he appeared on the scene and with an assistant made the “examination.” He reported that Nichols had owed all the money which he had paid back and also reported some $1,600 due from other county officials, not one penny of which has ever been paid back nor has the county commissioners or the county attorney made any effort whatever to collect these amounts. Did anyone hear any howl from the Republican about the expense of that investigation? Now don't all answer at once. Just hold up your hand if you did.

Here was an expense in the "examinations” of only two sets of offices-—city and county —of about $2,700, and $35 was paid back, while to use the Republican's own figures the total expense of examining all the thirteen township, trustees’ offices, the city of Rensselaer, school boards of Rensselaer, Remington and Wheatfield, was but $1,141.08, and 5926.10 has been paid back and more than $2,100 is still due. Do you want any better argument than this in favor of the accounting law? But the Democrat had no confidence at all in the examination made of the county offices in Jasper county before this law became operative. Few people had. We want to see an honest investigation made and hope the examiners will soon come here and make it. Their report will carry confidence with it no matter what it mav be.

• But# the Republican says, it is opposed to the $lO per day paid to the accountants. Men of education apd brains sufficient to make capable accountants cannot be hired for a song, and besides these men are' not employed right along every day in the year. They go out as sent by the state board. Also, as soon as the first examinations have been made of most of the Offices the force of examiners will he cut down probably to eight or ten. the future examinations will take so little time. The Republican is also opposed to the publicity given to shortages by the state board. As a matter of fact the state board gives out nothing to the public. Its records are public and the

newspaper reporters examine them, as they have a perfect right to do the same as we go in* to the county auditor’s or clerk's offices and secure items of news

in which the taxpayer? are interested. If. these state records were private if would lead to ‘all sorts of abuses.

It says the suicide of Mr. Todd, the ex-school treasurer of Flora, was caused by rhe publication of his shortage of S2OO, and in a pyyvious issue stated that Todd had no notice of the shortage, but the first he knew of it his wife read it to him at the breakfast table. The state board, however, says that it wrote him about the shortage immediately after the report of the examiners was made, and that Todd called at the office several weeks before the shortage was published in the papers and asked how he could pay it back without publicity. So it must be the state board or the Republican is mistaken.

Todd's shortage, it will be remembered was in charging himself with SIOO less on each of two occasions than he had received from the county treasurer. If it were an honest mistake it is peculiar thaL the amounts should have each been SIOO and that he should not have made mistakes the other wav as well.

Regarding the merits of the controversy over paying for examinations in Newton county we know ny/hing. but where the Republican/charged that the examiners had put in 45 days in examining the books of the town of .Morocco alone, at an expense of S9OO, the state board says it was but six days and the expense was but $120; We think the latter is in a better position to know the facts than the Republican, however.

One thing that the public has no doubt noticed ere this is-that the most howling against this law has gone up from communities where it has been found there was the greatest need for honest and non-partisan examinations, such as we are assured of under this law, for when the examiners go into a county they have no enemies to punish or political friends, to shield, and it is this feature and the fact that the examners go in pairs—one democrat and one republican —that gives confi lence in their findings. As the law was a non-partisan measure and the examiners are equally divided between the democrats and republicans, one can scarcely understand how it enables Governor Marshall to build up a big democratic machine, as charged by the Republican.