The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-04-21
THE "CHRISTIAN AUDITOR. 9
Report Of the Committee to En-
anime His Books.

anime His Books.
A Damaging Showing.
The joint committee appointed at the gen
eral session to examine the books of the
Auditor and Treasurer yesterday submitted a
report, of which the following is copy:
| Accounts and Vouchers aud other Official Docu-
| ments Of the Auditor and the Treasurer, (
! New Orleans April ~ 1875
| To the Honorable the President of the nate and
| the Speaker o. the House OF Kepr. sent atlves
and Members of the General Assembly OF Lou
isana
Your joint committee appointed at the reg.
ular session OF 1876 as provided by sections
1875, 1910, 1862 and 1858 OF the Revised
Statutes, to examine the books, accounts,
vouchers and other official documents IN the
Offices of the Auditor and Treasurer, and to
make full and Diet lied report there beg
leave to submit the following partial report:
| Itmay appear remarkable to those unac.
auainted with the magnitude of this examina-
ton, that at the end of fully three months
since the committee was appointed, it should
still be unprepared to make full and final
report covering the entire subject
But in the opinion of your committee, to
meet the demand of the public interest al
to discharge the whole duty imposed upon
the committee, thorougs investigation, and
nothing short of a thorough investig alton.
would fulfill the purposes Of their appoint
ment Accordingly We entered upon this IN
vestigation with the purpose OF surveying
the whole field with our own eyes. and dis
IL ks,n tr,1o Il nj
the Auditor and Treasurer's Office, and the
manner in which the business of these offices
is conducted. This conviction and scope OF
inquiry have imposed upon your committee
a labor Of months instead of days. and
though the partial report which is now offered
discloses important facts. sufficient to attest
the industry Of your committee, yet the field
is scarcely half explored and the work hardly
half done.
| Your committee, considering the law and
the powers conferred on them, aud being i'm
pressed with the importance Of the work ia
be done, employed experts, experienced IN
their profession, to aid in this examination,
and with a view to fuller calculation Of Ger
tain transactions in the Auditors Office, We
found it necessary to interrogate wit
nesses, of whom we have examined consi-
derable number, and file their testimony
herewith as part OF our report.
We first call attention to the loose and
Imperfect manner in which the books of thu
Auditor are kept.
THE BOOKS OF THE AUDITOR.
The Auditors books, in the opinion Of
your committee. are not kept IN sucn man
ner as the necessities of the department re-
auire. They may be neatly and intelligently
written. and bear on their face the appear
ance of being correct, but they do not stane
the test of investigation.
The system of keeping them is faulty
The system is faulty because it 'es no
afford ready means Of testing their correct
ness.
10 the experienced accountant it sounds
strange when informed that the principle o
double entry is wholly ignored by the Stat
Auditor in keeping his acc cunts 1t Is fact
and an unpleasant one to contemplate, tina
the financial affairs Of the State, involving
numerous intricate transactions, which, takel
together, embrace millions OF dollars. depent
for proof ss to correctness upon the integrit.
Tor infallibility against mistakes OF those II
charge Of the accounts.
There is no direct and sure way provided
by which to detect ordinary mistakes or omis
sions, or errors of design. There is nelthe
formula nor principle of double entry any
+ where manifest in any of the books.
From various indications it is apparent tina
the work of the Office is not properly kept up
} Certain accounts with the tax collectors tina
> should have been settled in December are ye
unadjusted, because, as IS stated, the clerk il
charge of the delinquent lists has not had tim
to complete the ex animation.
Such an excuse seems rather bald in tn
face of an annual expenditure for clerk hlr
| alone Of more than $25, 900.
Il Thn an fnr00Qn0u
his annual reports, as will be shown turtle
. on. sufficiently attest the disorder and want Q
system in the mode of keeping his accounts
n The system of keeping accounts being faulty
serious errors are liable to occur that escap
detection.
. Three hundred and ffty.eight thousan
t five hundred and eighty -seven dollars an
? thirty-three cents of warrants are reported
be outstanding more than there ought to be
+ as ascertained by calculation upon principle
= acknowledged to be correct (See exhibit A
The clerk in charge Of the books Of ou
standing warrants testified that the report c
outstanding warrants is absolutely correct, 9
shown by the books. The chief book keepe
9 testifies that the warrant book shows at a
q times the amount of warrants overdrawn.
q admits that the balance of cash in the trea;
urv added to the amount of warrants owe
drawn gives the actual amount of warrant
It outstanding.
By applying this rule and taking into COZ
) sideration that 1882 724 81 of warrants hay
4 been funded, it il shown that the amount 9
warrants reported outstanding January
o 1875, is overstated by s35s,5S7 80. Yet tn
Q item of outstanding warrants is declare
S under oath to be absolutely correct
Here is an error OF magnitude. The none
is not in the treasury, and therefore the TAU
o must be in the Auditors department IT
Is question was asked the book keeper, on tn
J. 81 of February, how he accounted for tn
discrepancy, and he replied, ~ cannot te
now" Two months have interviewed. an
vet the question is not fully ans vered
The sum of s32, 434 81 of this discrepane
is accounted for by the statement that tt
! Supreme Judges had drawn from the treas1
- ry upon their own warrants this sum wltho'
g the warrant of the Auditor. Tue Audte
: having no official information Of this transa
= ton, made no entry of it, and hence did n
T r port the same