Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-09-27
Double Entry by Evans.

Double Entry by Evans.
To fully comprehend the giganti,
fraud which Evans and his gang hav,
perpetrated on the people OF Pennsyl
vania it must be borne in mind tha
the three last drafts, amounting t,
s67S,743.24, which were paid into th,
State Treasury by Evans, were no
for suspended and disalowed claims. ;
The vouchers for these claims were il
the Office of the Auditor General an,
required the intervention of no specia
agent for their collection. Wbcr
Evans made application for th,
vouchers they were refused by Audi
tor General Hartranft, on the grounC
that the claims which they established
had never been "disallowed" or "sus
pended" and therefore did not com,
.vi.hia tho isttsr es sPisit OF tho -reso
luton Of the Legislature. Evans
however, insisted on getting thcs,
vouchers, in order to increase hi
commissions, and it was only after
peremptory demand from Gov. Geary
that General Hartranft SURRENDERED
them.
The account of Evans for commits
sion is made up of two fraudulent
kinds of charges. He first claims 1
commission of ten per cent. on 1910,
7ll43, which had been paid before h,
became Special Agent, and he mex
collects claims for s67S,7I3.24, which
had never been suspended or disullow
cd, but which should have been settleC
by the Auditor General without /,
charge of one dollar TO the Common
wealth. Deduct these two amounts
Of Sl,9l9,7ll.43 and S67S, S,743.24, anC
the just claims of Evans for commi
sions will be S32, ,lOl, and not n dolla
more.
In delivering up the vouchers in BIZ
office to Evans on the illegal demand
Of Governor Geary, General HartranfI
exhibited great weakness. Governor
Geary had no right to ask that these
vouchers should be placed in the
hands Of bis attorney in fact. The
Auditor General is in no sense the
subordinate of Governor Geary, and
should have stood by his own inter
probation of the resolution which gave
Evans control over suspended and
disallowed claims. General Gedry
and General Hartranft both seem Ia
have forgotten that the government
Of Pennsylvania is not run according
to the Revised Army Regulations.
But having delivered up the vouch
ers TO irresponsible hands without au
thority of law, the Auditor Genera
shoudhavc exercised enough vigilance
to look after them occasionally, and
see what progress Evans was making
in his collections. That he was utter
ly negligent Of his duty in this regard
is proved by the fact that he was
wholly ignorant Of the condition of the
claims until the exposure was made
by Assistant Attorney General Nc
Clure. The truth is that Auditor
General Hartranft has been too much
of an absentee to make himself ac
quainted with tho duties of his Office
or to properly discharge them. For
his accommodation the Auditor Genc
rails office should have been removed
to Norristown six years ago. Coming
to Harrisburg at infrequent and ir-
regular intervals he could not become
familiar with his important duties.
We dare affirm that there is not q
clerk in his office who is not this day
better qualified TO perform the du.
ties of Auditor General than Gen.
eral Hartrant. This Evans case il.
lustrates in striking way the loose
and negligent manner in which the
Office has bcen conducted. Absentee.
ism has been the bane here as well as
in so many other departments of the
government. There are so many
men who struggle for the cmolumcnts
of office, and are vain of the honors ol
public station, yet who do not apprc.
ciate the Importance of the duties
which they assumed. No sooner are
they elected than their duties become
irksome, and are turned over 10 sub
ordinatcs, while they renew the strug-
giles and intrigucs for political prefer
mont. There is only too much evidence
that Auditor General Hartranft be.
longs to this vicious class ofpoliticians.
Had he performed the duties of his