The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1880-01-15
Shortages"

Shortages
we mentioned last week that Mr.. N. G.
Taliaferro, Penitentiary Storekeeper. had
been found sshort" In his account with the
State, on final examination Of his books
and accounts on the eve OF his going out OF
office, to the amount Of 100000 1t Is sta
ted that the committee whose duty It was
to examine the accounts Of the storekeep-
er had been mislead and deceived by that
officer, and his ''shortage" SO covered up
that it was not discovered until a change in
the office had been deci1ed by the Legisla.
ture. 1t is further stated that the State will
not lose anything by this "shortsge''- at
Mr.. Taliaferro is able to make 1t good, and
II not, then his securities are amply res pom
sible. This is all very well so far as the
dollars and cents are involved. But how
stands the case In law and morals? The
transactions which have resulted in this
shortage" are nothing more or less than
frauds. Mr.. Taliaferro was guilty of fraud
when he deliberately implicated his private
business with lis public business, out OF
which grew an absorption of the State q
money by his individual affairs. He had no
more right to pervert the funds of the State
to his private uses. than he had 10 take q
crowbar and break open the vault Of bank
and extract money to meet his pressing
wants. The moment he touched dollar of
the funds entrusted to his care as sworn
officer OF the Commonwealth, for any other
purpose than that to which the law directed
them, he became criminal, and was answer
able to the penalties of the law he had viola
ted. Not only so, but the moment he broke
through the moral restraint,-whlch was
even higher than the statue law,-presumed
to control the action Of men, and the observ-
ance OF which is the basis Of the confidence
OF the community-his conscience must have
told him that he was guilty OF criminal
wrong-doing, and that he was unfit for the
place he held. The fact that the State may
lose no dollars and cents by the shortage, %
as the fraud is politely called, does not in
the least mitigate the crime. The statute
law and the moral law were violated, and
the interest Of society and government de-
mand that the penalties attached thereto
should be suffered.
1t is offered in extenuation of the misdo.
ing of Mr.. Taliaferro, that he had always
maintained character for the highest 10
tegrity, and enjoyed the most implicit cor
fidence of his acquaintance and bushes as
sociates. That may be so, and yet not JUS
tify the systematic deception he practiced
in covering up the shortage" by borrowed
checks, and misleading and decelving not
only the committee whose business it was to
examine his accounts, but the State at large
whose trusted servant he was.
"A similar case has just been made known
in New York, but there they call it .tframd
and not shortage" Mr.. Benz. C. Bogert,
Treasurer of the Produce Exchange, which
position he had held for twenty years, was
regarded as the very pink of honesty, and
enjoyed the unlimited confidence of the
business community. Like Mr.. Taliaferro,
no one suspected him of being capable Of
fraudulent practices, and like Mr.. Taliaferro,
be managed to deceive the public by keeping
false account of his transactions, and COW
ering up his shortages" by criminal subter-
fuges. Everything went smoothe with Mr..
Bogert until the Comm ittee of Finance of
the Produce Exchange determined to change
their deposits from one bank to another This
brought the matter to crisis. The false
account Mr.. Bogart kept showed that there
wac $31 1000 to the credit OF the Produce
Exchange. This was the amount which
should have been there, but when an exam
inati0n was made there were but $500. Fur
ther investigation proved that the defalca.
ton amounted to 49,, 200. and that the
frauds had been going on for three years,
during all of which time Mr.. Bogert passed
IN the community as a man without stain
upon his character. While Mr.. Bogert's
property is sufficient to save the Produce
Exchange from loss, this did not ease Mr..
Bogert. Nothing but deadly dose of lauda-
mum would satisfy him, and this he took
and died from the effects of it in house OF
ill-fame, twenty four hours after the ex-
posture.
While we should not like to hear that the
late Penitentiary Storekeeper had solaced
his conscience by the same method adopted
by Mr.. Bogert. there is one thing that should
not be lost sight OF 1t is, that any perver-
sion OF public funds is a violation Of law,and
that the laws are made to be respected and
obeyed, by all classes Of citizens, whatever
their standing or position. There has been
too much sentimental liam about the State
Capital in dealing with those who have
proven untrue to the trusts confided to
them. The public interests demand that the
requirements of the law shall no longer be
defied, and that moral delinquences which
amount to crimes and palpable frauds should
be treated as such, and those guilty of them
be brought to the bar of justice.
VIRGINIA BONDs.-A correspondent
writes to US as follows:
''Please explain the meaning OF the terms
used in financial reports-as '6's deferred"
'consols and peters, &c. Where one UNI
derstands these terms as applied to bonds
ninety.nine do not"