The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-10-29
THE OFFICE OF AUDITOR-GENERAL.

The Auditor-General of Pennsylvania is
All important officer. The law imposes upon
him various duties relating to the public
treasury and the revenue Of the common
wealth, and the welfare of the State requires
that he should not only be honest, but entire
" competent to execute the duties O. the Of
fee. These duties are set forth IN Acts OF
Assembly that have been passed frem time to
time, and this officer is vested with power to
strengthen the revenues of the State and to
prevent dishonest use of the public moneys.
Il is his duty to annually eXaminsthe situa-
ton of the public treasury in relation to the
moneys therein and the deposits in the sew
eeral banks, and also, if he deems 1t necessa-
", to examine the accounts ef the State
Treasurer with the several banks and their
/ branches in which the public moneys are de-
p5sited. The officers of the hank are re-
quired to permit the a Auditor-General to make
/ this examination, and a penalty is imposed
upon the State Treasurer for his refusal to
exhibit to the Auditor General his books pa
I pers or documents, or the moneys reserved in
his Office to meet occasional demands.
The AuditOr-GeneTal is also authorized to
take legal measures to recovtTsall moneys
due to the commonwealth from every person
who shall appear on a settlement of his ae-
counts TO he indebted and he has Authority
/ to employ counsel for this purpose.
/ The accounts for all expenditures for the
State Lunatic Hospital are subject to the
! scrutiny of the Auditor General In settling
. these accounts, and the accounts for the CON
tngent and other expenses OF the Legislature
and other departments of the government, lie
has power to inquire into the correctness and
fairness of the prices charged, and to disal-
low all ovcrcharges.
All companies incorporated under the laws
OF the commonwealth for manufacturing and
mining purposes, OF for the Improvement OF
mining lands, are required to make an annu-
al report to the Auditor-General Of the whole
amount of capital stock authorized to be
held, the amount of capital paid in the total
Indebtedness. the amount of goods manu-
factured, or minerals and metals mined, and
general exhibit Of their operati0ns,for the
preceding year. 1t is then the duty of the
Auditor-General TO prepare a condensed
statement, in tabular form. of such reports,
and submit the same to the Legislature.
All accounts for public printing pass thro
the hands of the Auditor General, and he has
power to check extravaganza in this depart
ment.
He is required to have printed annually his
reports on Finances, on Railroads, Canals
and Telegraph Companies, and oR State
Banks and Savings Institutions.
The State Military Board, created by law
for the purpose OF auditing aud adjusting all
military claims incident to the organization
ana discipline of the National Guard, is com
posed, of the .Auditor-General, together with
ahe Adjutant General and State Treasurer
1t will thus be seen that the duties of the
AUditor-General of this State are various and
complicated. He should have capacity to
examine, interpret and apply the Acts of As
I sembly relating to taxation, and the material
interests of the State he should have execu-
tive ability to enforce the powers vested ia
him by law. Should the Office be filled Ivy an
incompetent or dishonest person it is easy TO
see that the revenues of the commonwealth
would be endangered and the door opened
for fraud and corruption,
While the law docs not require the Audit
or-General TO be learned in the law, it is of
great Importance that he should have a legal
training in order to understand thoroughly
the duties of the Office. The voters OF the
State have heretofore applied this general
. ny SeieCtlHE Rtnlitlnen OF legal ed
ucaton and experience. For the past TWEEN
/ ty years the Office has. in every instance
been filed by lawyer. Originally this Off
Ger was appointed by the Governor of the
State, but since 1881 he has been elected by
the people, and up to the present time the
people have always selected gentlemen from
the legal profession. The following en-
braces all who have held the ofSee by virtue
of election, and il is a coincidence that they
were all lawyers EphTaim Banks Jacob
/ Fry, Jr., Thomas E. Cochran. Isaac Senker
John +. Hartranft, Harrison Allen, Justus
Z. Temple, and William z. SeheIl.
OF the candidates for Auditor General pre-
( sented this year To the voters of Pennsyiga
, MIA the Democratic candidate, Col. Robert
/ L. Dechert, is not only reputable citizen
and distinguished soldier, but he is well
[ yersed in the principles OF the law, and has
practised his profession in the courts of Phil
adelphia county and in the Supreme Court
Mr. John a. Lemon, has had no such expe-
countant He was for many years employed
about the construction of railroads. and lat
teTly has been a railroad contractor.
We believe the independent voters Of the
State will respect the traditions of the Office,
and will not overlook a candidate vino is so
eminently qualified for the position for which
he has been nominated We predict for Col
Dechert an Overwhelming majority of the