Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-05-22
.TEsE AsvEsTzG.sTEo.s:
ssHo is Irresponsible:
'yEhe Evidence.


Auditor of Belmont County:
! \. Yes sir.
q, How long have you held thai
lpositiOn?
\. nave been here since the l3th
/, 4 ftl,eav Of November, 1877.
l. "a, Haze you naaiieau examination
of the books % the office III relation tC
itiiel bo,ftis and coupons OF the several
roads 8ft the County, and thediscTep.
1 ancy aHparent. theron? .-Ff
j D., q. AeSSir. .. --... .........
| 0. II YOU have any knOWiedLe as tC
thow The discrepancy occurred between
tine amount charged Oh the Auditors
books for the redemption of bonus and
coupons Oh the Warnuck and SOn!er-
ton roads, with the actual amount of
bonds and coupons paid state it?
i. have no knowledge as 10 how
the discrepancy occurred; 1T was in eX-
iisteaee when we came into the office.
q, How do you know that?
a. know it from the fact that we
have in our possession vouchers cover
Iing every credit and every eaarge to
these various roads, since we came
into the Office; the total amount of
tcredits TO the Treasurer, land these
1eredits are all charged 10 the various
rCads) exceed fhe actual amount Of
bonds redeemed somewhere in the
lneighborhoCd of SI2,GU0. -...
q. Have you at any time discovered
any fraudulent ban,G or coupons in
lthis otficeo --.T sst lat mi -. -.-..-.
A. None except The cour0r OH that
| five hundred dollar BOND mentioned
by Mr.. LOngley.
@. Have you gone over the books
and compared the bonds and coupons
with the Register, aRd satisfied your
self in relation to this discrepancy?
i. | have gone over tie books and
com pared the bonds with the credits,
and also the outstanding bonds. SO that
am satisfied that the discrepancy
exists"
Q. Have you any data upon the
books by which to determine the time
when the Discrepancy took place?
"A. We have NOT examined Is 10 all
Of it back of 1871, we know that the
discrepancy is prior to the time when
we came intoth office, and probably
six thousand dollars of it on the Som
erton road, certainly five thousand is
prior to the August settlement of 1870.
Q. How do you determine that fact :?
A. We determine that fact by TAX
ing the bonds as they fall due and
calculating the interest, and we find
that the number, Of bonli$ that were
redeemed, and the cQuI oaS due, We're
probably five or six thousand dollars
tshort of the amount credited to the
Treasurer for redeeming these bonds
upon that road. ~ a.. .....
| @. Do you mean that, at that time
the Treasurer mad credit for more
bonds and coupons redeemed, than
there were bonds and coupons falling
due?i.fi, e. .,- -ys :.....- ID. 8 .... ....
A. | mean partly that, he had re-
ceived, at that time, credit for redeem
ing not less than five thousand dollars
of bonds upon that road, which were
mot redeemed;. very nearly that
Iamount that were not due at that
time.
/ Q. From what books in the Office dc
4 you determine that? --@sai T-
1 A.sFrom the Auditors Register OF
monies credited 10 the Treasurer and
charged to that road, on the one hand,
and the bond Register on the other,
comparing tire bonds with the Bond
Register at the same time. s..
Il @. Have you examined the books oi
) the Auditor in relation to otter funds
Of the County, to see whether the error
1 might not have occurred in some other
fund by animproper credit being given
to the road funds? ?.r4.. r... .
/, a. That question WAS raised at the
time the Commissioners were here in
November, and we then and after.
wards made such comparison. AT thai
) time we compared all the vouchers fOl
the various County funds, and found
) tflat those funds were charged with
/ the moneys properly chargeable tC
/. them. In the building fund where il
would seem most likely that such an
error could occur, we compared al
moneys borrowed, with fhe moneys
paid or moneys credited to the Treas
urer in payment oflthe; Commission
ers' notes, and we, found that they
agreed exactly. SO that it could moi
be in that fund. We examined all the
funds as. weif as we could in the time
that We had then and since, and dom
see that this deficiency might have go
into any other fund BY any means, O
the bills chars cable to other fund.-
r have been charged enormously tothest
MeAdamized Road funds. 10
: |, @. Have ,you. any theory as to how
this discrepancy could have occurred
4 A. There are various ways by whiel
+ the thing might occur. ''-3' o..
@. State them? i 30 -sit @
I A. 1t might occur by the Auditor
! through an error, crediting the Treas
e lurer with more vouchers than he, tn
: Treasurer, actually produced, and as
p consequence leaving the money in hi
: hands, but il dom seem very probable
ii that it could occur in that way. Sucl
e a thing might occur.
: @. fit occurred in that way -WoulC
the Treasurer's and Auditors account
tbalance? r,s .l.r3t t.sf ..
! a. They could not balance as a mat
q ter of course, unless they were doctor
led. The Treasurer of course woulC
!. r.lhave the moneysand would detect tn
: error Another way by which i
o might eccar would be blythe Treasure
g or Auditor Or. the Commissioners, o
o all Of them, failing t0sec that thes
q bonds and coupons were properly can
: Ecelled, and leaving them $50 that an.
party could take them and have then
:, lISticSifS'i OhSl ttSseiii; any Pdtey VIII
:. lmight have access TO them by an,
s means, l think that, in this chse, thes
i are the onlyiways by which it is prob
able that tsuGh q thing could occur.
@. Have yOi! noticed the bonds AM
o coupons in relation to whether the
e are so cancelled as not to be liable t
y be presented again !? -. %.
i ii. ! have the coupons, (and [ rele
. now to those taken up. during Nh
" ylClark's time) I have never examine
d to any great extent, but / think thai
le1 of those'I have examined, not one ha
were cancelled in any way, prObabl
, are not, yet, The. bonds were NOR
" generally cancelled than the coupon,
r FbutI Should think at the time L eH
o anlinedthese bonds, that at least one
a fourth of them were not cancelled.
- lShOuld think that there are thirty c