Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-07-17

The persons thus designated are under ollira-
tons to the late Auditor of Accounts for expos
inc the defects in their former financial system.
The half has not been told. even now. II is far
more deficient than has been represented. rs the
writer expects to show on proper occa,on.-
Ar present he proposes merely to correct some
which have arisen respecting
the Act relating to public accounts passed last
fall
Something should first be said as to the enor-
gencv which rendered such an enactment ne
cessirv By the law Of IS y the Treasurer
was required TO furnish the clerks, beforehand
with money sufficient to dclray the expenses of
the several courts and of the county elections.
For the moneys so obtained. as wei - for other
pnbic money received by them, they wcrc re-
quircd to account once in year. about the lst
Of September. Directly after this the elections
are holden. and several county courts commence
their ressi"nS To provide for them the clerks
drew upon the Treasurer. with no further re-
striction than their liability to refund Che uncX-
pended balance WHOM thnir accounts were settled
the succeeding year. Unless their or4ut~ were
cXurb'aut n 10 excite >uspic ion. the Treas
urer could not refuse to honor them. II they
We're disposed to fleece the public, they could
have done it with impunity. and according to
law by using the state money without compan-
sation Tor year. more OF less; in fact until
they had rendered their accounts and the Audi
tor had time to settle them, which might not be
for months. And before they could have been
compelled 10 refund what they had oyrrdrawn
for one year, they might provide the means BY
oycrdnWlng for the expenses Of another year.
Without any corrupt design, however. the
state might be made to suffer materially under
these provisions. Every clerk should Of course
draw for enough 10 be sure against all probl-
bic contingencies, and would b, tolcraby certain
to have q balance in his hand; and soma, who
erred in their calculations. might very iunOcCnl-
~ have Il large one. They might through mad
vcrtance have larger one than they We're
aware of, Their accounts for their own scryi-
COS were 70 b. paid ont c.! tn" funds and were
not aSccrtained, and their account of funds re-
ceived was not TO b. settled till the close of the
year. II would not be surprising if one, who
was not a careful accountant, should discover at
last that he was in arrear, not only beyond his
expectations, but beyond his ability to make good
without time. Without adducing instances. it
is enough 10 say that thousands of dollars which
mad been received by the clerks during the fiscal
year OF 10, (endng Aug. 3D. were in urrear
1t the session of the Legislatures; that largo
portion OF the clerks accounts were still unset
lied ana that the most troublesome, and difficult
ask of the present Auditor, has been to adjust
those accounts, and obtain a liquidation of the
balances due ON them. The Treasurer was So
rously embarrassed in consequence, and the diff
nculty, which had increased every year. threat
encd 10 become worse. 4 strong conviction
was tet on every side, that some measure should
BE- taken for Immediate relief. The act under
consideration was the result.
II provides, in the first place, that money should
be furnished to the clerks only to pay the jurors
| and witnesses,
| II was urged by some, that the whole system
| of cash payment should b. abolished. The oh
jections to the system of drawing orders. with
which the late Auditor has made the public ia
miliar, were urged by others. They were felt to
be specially applicable to the fees of the Jurors
and witnesses, and it was ascertainc1 that these
persons often could not realize their order with
out a heavy discount. A recurrence to the for
NOR system a far as they were concerned, would
no doubt have occasiuncd extensive anl we'll
grounded dissatisfaction. The provision for
paving them in cash was accordingly retained,
! Most ofthe objections to paying with orders were
to bear with less force in relation to the account
/ for court expenses They are few in number
not over twenty-one orders have been drawn at
any term since the act took effect The cost to
| the state is comparatively triiing; less probably
| than it would be to pay them in cash, since the
charge for drawing orders may be less than any
reasonable percentage for distributing the money.
As another measure to obyiatc the evil spoken
of. the act requires the clerks TO render an ac-
count of the money advanced them, and pay over
the surplus uncxpended in ten days after each
court rises This removes the temptation In
draw for needless amount for the sake OF using
. it a year more or less, well as the danger OF
/ mourning through inattentun debt to the state
( beyond the debtors ability to pay There is no
pretext for waiting until any accounts are adj