Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-04-12
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.

Present Auditor in His Attempt to Sc
cure Clerk Hffe Under False Pretences
Auditor McCardy's WilfuI Violation
of Law in Refusing to Prepare Tinan-
cial Observation-Disclosures Bond for Pub
fishing the Tax List---The Nice MIDDLE
Which every Sharp" Auditor Has In
augurated.
The board Of county commissioners met
in adjourned session at 10 o'clock yes
terday forenoon, Mayor Dawson in the
chair.
A communication was read from ex-
Auditor s. Lee Davis in reply to the i'm
putations of carelessness in keeping the
books of the office made by Auditor Nc
Cardy at the last meeting of the board.
Following is the full text of the article:
ST. PAUL, Mimi, April IL, 1881
To the Honorable Board of County Com
missioners of Ramsey county.
GENTLEMEN: At the last meeting of
your honorable board, you received a
communication from my successor in
office, in which he has taken the pains to
call your attention to the condition in
which he claims to have found some of
the books and records in the office of the
county auditor. L consider it duty
which | owe to the public as well as to
myself, that l should reply to that letter
and make some explanations in regard to
the matters therein referred to.
The present auditors first sly dig at me
is contained in the following extract:
"The books are posted (by him) from
various memoranda found in the office.
They should have been posted up before
being turned over to me-" This paragraph
appears in his report of the commission
erss' financial statement, and my reply to
that is, that | know OF no other memo
randa from which he could obtain the
figures except the day book, journal and
ledger, together with other records that
were fully written up. He also claims that
all the books should have been posted
up before his term of Office commenced.
He we'll knew that 1t was physical i'm
possibility to have those books posted by
the 7th day of March. In counties where
the transactions are as large and numer-
Gus as they are in Ramsey county no set
Element can be made IN seven days; it re-
quires about that length of time to check
up the payments and receipts, and as
much more to make out the settlement
sheets and post them up. Twill here state
that | made the March settlement of my
predecessor, but never took the pains
| to report that fact to the county board
and the public.
The present auditor also says that no
| ledger accounts were kept of ''county
| bonds "real estate" aboard of educa-
ton, county abstract books" "unpaid
coupons, ""unpad warrants, - "taX levy"
etc. That statement | gracefully ac-
knowledge to be true, but is it necessary
to keep such accounts in the manner re-
ferred to? The ''bond register of Ram
sey county, in itself, was to me las well
as ali of my predecessors sufficient in
which to keep the properrecord ofall bonds
and coupons issued, as well as all bonds
and coupons paid. We never saw the
necessity of keeping any other record for
| that account.
So far as keeping ledger account with
''real estate" is concerned, | Will say that
neither myself or any Of my predecessors
ever considered Ramsey county sufficiently
| engaged in the real estate business to JUS
tify the opening of such an account.
There is good substantial record in the
auditors office which shows what real es-
tate the county owns. We always con-
sidered that record sufficient for that pur-
| pose, though if the present auditor de-
| Sires ledger account of the same, there
can be no objection to his opening one,
for if Ramsey county should at some time
during the next two or three generations
sell the court house square it might be
well to have that real estate ledger &C
count already opened in which some un-
| born county auditor could make the
| proper entry Of the transaction. In re-
| gard to the "Board of Education" &C
| count will state that that fund was kept
| in the ledger under the head of Getty
| Revenue though the amounts were al
| ways separate and distinct from the city
tax fund proper The collections and
disbursements on account of that fund
could be always readily ascertained by re-
| ferring to that account. That account as
kept IN the manner referred to was plain
| and ineligible enough for anyone.
The attention of the board was also
called to the fact that no
ledger account was kept of the county
| abstract books" That is so, but at the
same time all transactions in connection
with that source of revenue were kept in
the ledger account of county revenue"
where they properly belong, and to which
account all entries under the head of
abstract account" would have to be
transferred at each settlement, in case
such nep account was opened. l can't
see theAse of posting the receipts paid
| on account of abstracts to any other fund
than that of county revenue.
He also finds no ''unpaid coupon &C
count on the ledger. That account was
kept by me as was the bond account, upon
the "bond register" All coupons issued
with bond attached were plainly entered
on the register; all coupons paid were
plainly cancelled and entered on the same
record. "Unpaid warrants" is another
account which he reports to you as not
being upon the ledger Well, that is also
true, but as always kept up four differ
ent records relating to county war
rants, from the time the original
bill was allowed and audited
to the cancellation of the amount issued
in payment of the same, | did not con-
slider it essential or necessary to keep any
further accounts. The register of county
warrants shows each and every warrant
issued and each and every warrant paid,
also each warrant unpaid. 1t requires
but very short time to ascertain the
1f