The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1874-01-07
The Comptroller Generals Report.

I'VE arc indebted to the courtesy o
.Comptroller-Gcneral S. l.. Hoge, 70
a copy of his annual Report made t.
the General Assembly, for the Fisca
Year ending 3lst October, 1878. L
is q valuable and interesting docu
ment, making with the accompanying
papers bulky pamphlet Of some
$50 pages, comprising reports of tho
receipts and expenditures Of The
State Treasury, statements of the
assets and liabilities of the State, cs
Inmates of supplies for the next hsca
year, and various statements, ab
:stracts, and reports upon the hnan
cial condition Of the several depart
,nents Of the State Government.
4 The Comptroller reports sl7G,956,
5O2.74 as the value of the taxable
I property of the State, being an in
crease of 9,475,4lo.o7 upon the pre-
vious assessment, and this increase
he attributes in q measure to the ef
forts which have been made in the
Department to secure increased ac'
curacy in the returns. An improve
ment in this respect he thinks might
be attained by extending the time in
which the County Auditors arc re
quired to mako their assessments
This period does not exceed ninety
days at present, in which time cacl
! County Auditor is compelled TO cx
amino some iorty-fvo hundred names
and somo five millions Of property
on five separate occasions, to make
out his abstract; which would be at
the rate of three thousand figures reI
hour for each day Of ten hours, and
for the space Of three months. lie
recommends an increase in the COM
pcnsaton of these officials, which is
now only 1000, per annnm, and it
appears from the Treasurcrs Report
that of the sum of $33, 900 annually
appropriated some s26,GC4 remain
unpaid. The compensation is mcagcr
when compared with that of the
County Treasurer, whose maximum
is 5000 for only about six. months
service. s..
The Comptroller calls attention to
the enormous sum of s64, ,0S5.52.5 re
turned as MALTA bona being in some
counties II per cent. of the entire
tax, and showing gross dcrellction of
duty either on the part of the Coun-
ty Treasurer or Auditor. He calls
attention also to the disreputablc fact
that the accounts of tho various
County Treasurers during the past
four years, show an Indebtedness of
the sum of s396,7O6.O2, by tho neg
lcct of its proper officers to account
for the same.
The Comptroller recommends the
appointment of competent official
who shall subject tho accounts Of the
various Auditors and Trcasurers to a
rigid scrutiny, and r.ndcr all proper
assistance to inexperienced officers.
He recommends an increase in the
bonds of the various County Audi,
tors and Trcasurcrs-that Of the
County Treasurer Of Abbevillc to s25,-
900, and of the Auditor to $500.
In the report Of County Commits
sioners of Abbevillc, the debt is csti-
mated at $4,000, the current cx,
pcnscs at $4,000, and levy Of 81
mills is recommended on the basis OF
1872 to pay the past Indebtedness,
and 2! mills to pay the current ex-
penses.
> From the report of Treasurer DE-
Pre-, it appears that tho AbbcviIlc
total State tax for thc.past year was
>SS9,116.sS.5, Of which some sl,2Go.3l
were nulla Jona-thc total County and
poll tax s5o,6S7.o4.1, Of which the
nuNa bona amount to sG37.G9.
The Comptrollcr pays q tribute to
the efficiency of the chief clerk IN the
Auditors office, Col. J. S. Fillebrown,
and his book keeper, Mr.. John l..
Little. IIe himself deserves high
praise for ability, efficiency, and in
tegrity. lie has introduced many re-
forms into his office, and has made it
model of system and method. His
official character has been unim-
pcachcd.