Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-08

the want of the knowledge how to force
i journal entries through the cash book, the
/ booking has been very faulty ana totally un-
1 ineligible, as the following two instances
For the annual report of the City Treasurer
| for the year 1876 YOU Will ind among
/ ing of suspense account $4,000. charged to
| The city for past due Muscogee Railroad
| bonds which had been paid for by the
security on the Mayors notes; swhen
| in 1879 these transactions with the
| banks were hquidated, the grand total OF
/ the loans and interest was adjusted by COM
| books. Then from the result thus obtained, the
| taxes due to the city were deducted, also
/ have been booked, or without even crediting
| tax account for them; and the final balance
I due to the banks was then paid in cash, and
charged to the debit OF bills payable,
booking we have here the very dangerous
| precedent of taxes to the extent OF thousands
| of dollars having been paid into the City
| Treasury. for which no stub voucher can be
| shown, and for which even tax account was
/ never credited.
Now. take the second case. which is still
| more remarkable.
During April and May, 1879. the city bought
| on sundry occasions altogether S32, 500 old city
| bonds, at the average price OF 1414 per cent,
| and borrowed thereon $40 500 from the Savan-
| nah Bank and Trust Company.
! This transaction was liquidated in october,
| 1880. The bonds were ordered to be sold, and
| realized an average price of S41s per cent. !;
/ the loan was PAID, and the bank returned 10
/ the city a balance of s., 603 u due the latter
| Now note, please, how this transaction is re-
/ corded in the books. In the first place, the
1 purchasing of the bonds. the loan from the
! bank. and the sale of the bonds, are nowhere
/ entered or recorded, but in October, 1880,
/ when this transaction was settled, as stated
/ above. the bookkeeper credited the liquida-
I wifi
/ on the bonds, and debited interest account
/ with the interest due to the bank, and these
two entries constitute the sole record OF this
/ transaction.
! | do not mean to infer from these remarks
/ that the city suffered eventually nits finances
/ by this process. | want merely to show you
| in what crude, faulty and unintelligible
manner such important transactions have
| been entered.
Now, it is possible to conceive how in
troublesome times like those through
| which the city then passed some per-
| sons may be found who thought
| 1t prudent, and on that ground advisable to
/ conceal such transactions, and who, therefore,
/ are prepared to justify this faulty booking
! on that ground.
Be this as it may. it is not my province to
| say whether such an excuse be admissible, al
! though am quite prepared to add that such
1 booking would not be tolerated by any
| spectacle commercial house; but looking at IL
| from an unbiased point merely, it Is well for
| you to consider the possible i'll consequences
]
/ toned, remember that there is but one step
| from faulty booking to false entries.
| All books, but above all those OF corpora
! tiOns, should be kept in such clear and self
| explaining manner, that every transaction
Oan be readily traced and verified from begin
| ing to end.
TAX RECEIPTS AND STUB BOOKS.
The receipts given by the Treasurer for
| taxes, licenses, executions, etc, etc. Except
| in some rare cases. are all unnumbered. 1t
would add to the efficiency of this department
and would, moreover, tend to facilitate the
means of control. if all such documents, with
| their corresponding stubs, were duly num-
| bered, as bank checks usually are.
1t has been the nyariable custom to destroy
or tear up any receipt that had been spOilt by
some clerical error, or by some other cause.
| Now, as the only evidence of all monies re-
| ceived by the Treasurer, Is none other than
| those receipts and their corresponding stubs,
you viii readily see, that It Is opening the door
| TO irregularities and undiscOyerable abuses.
| by allowing any of these receipts to be destroy
| ed for any cause whatsoever. All spOilt re-
| ceipts, therefore, should be produced as vOuch-
ers and such they should be pasted
| the blank page of the book, opposite to their
! corresponding stubs, and il should not be al
| lowed ever to cut any blanks from the back of
/ the books to replace any spOilt ones. In this
way, and this way only, can an efectual and
! absolute control be exercised. and irregulari-
| ties OF a certain class be prevented.
can show You cases. where the Treasurer
Issued the usual receipt, filled in the cores
pOnding stub. received the money. and then
Cancelled the stub Notwithstanding. Why?
Because he handed over the moneys to the
Marshal to be accounted for by the latter.
Such grave irregularities. and many others,
| become impossible as soon as all receipts are
numbered, and have to be accounted for,
either by their corresponding filled up stub, or
produced as cancelled vouchers.
CASH VOUCHERS.
/ merely want to bring to your notice that
it seems to be a universal practice to make
certain kinds of payments (such as interests
due to bankers, balances due on the exchange
of bonds, etc.. the vouchers of which do not
bear the Mayors signature, nor the audit of
any committee. OF this class of vouchers |
find moreover, in December, 1881, two vOuch-
ers reading thus:
Paid to City Treasurer
For incidentals for 1850 ............. 1886 81
For incidentals for 1881 ...-..-..... 260 IS
which are both unsigned. But as all these
vouchers passed the scrutiny of the Finance
Committee, 1t is but fair to suppose that they
are in order.
Before leave of with the Treasury Depart
ment, have still a few remarks to make with
regard to the issue of the
NEW PER CENT. BONDS.
In the annual report of 1880, you will find
1t mentioned that Sll5, 200 new bonds were is
sued for coupons, etc, namely:
For old bonds purchased and destroyed .$73. 900
Leaving new bonds exchanged for old
These $4,000 old bonds have been pnr-
chased and paid for as follows:
Duflng Ioff....... ....-.......$ 1000
During 1873. ......................,. 66'4O0
During 1879. -............ ~ 5000
Aggregating. ........................s $4,000
They were bought at discount, and repre-
sent a cash value of SIS, 467 10. and this amount
mas been charged during these respective
years TO the city, in the same manner as if it
had been paid out for due coupons, or inter-
est, etc.
Now, as the city has been debited during
1871. 1878 and 1879 with the cash value of these
$4,000 old bonds, and as q like amount of new
bonds were issued in 1850 in the place of these
old bonds, destroyed las the report says. it
would seem natural to suppose that the city
ought also to have been credited with the
cash value of these $4,000 new bonds: but,
strange to say, there is no trace of any such
credit or credits to be found in the books;
neither do find an entry or entries of the
remaining $4,000 new bonds which,
as the report says,were issued in exchange for
old coupons. This phenomenon has been
somewhat explained to me by the Chairman
of the Finance Committee who were then
acting, viz: That these $4,000 new bonds
were probably absorbed by a corresponding
amount of overdue old coupons.
Be this as it may, the hard and stubborn
fact remains, that the books show no evidence
whatever of this being the case; on the con-
trary, they are totally dumb as to when and
how these Sis, 200 new bonds were appropria-
ted.
In point of fact the city during the memora-
BILE years of 1879 to 1882 inclusive, issued
$3,409,000 new bonds without making a single
entry or record in any of the books in the |
Treasurer's office as to when and how they
were appropriated. and the only memOran-
DUN of our entire bonded debt is none other
than is contained in the annual report of the
Mayor.
The bringing forward of this important fact
is worthy of your most earnest consideration
with view to its possible remedy.
CITY MARsHAL's DEPARTMENT AND ITS RELA-
TION TO THE CITY TREASURY.
As you are aware, all executions are issued |
by the Treasurer, and, after having been duly |
signed by him, they are turned over to the |
Marshal for collection. These signed dOcu- |
ments, therefore, are nothing less than signed |
receipts for uncOllected taxes.
On taking charge of these vouchers, the |
Marshal is expected to sign an acknOwledg-
ment of having received them. This formal |
ity, however, has been sadly neglected-some |
times years passing by without its perform !
ance.
Twice or three times month the Marshal |
is wont to hand to the Treasurer his cOllec- |
tOns. accompanied by detailed statement of |
same, and this is all in order; but there are
hundreds of instances where the Treasurer |
received the taxes from the tax PAYERS when |
the executions were in the hands of the Mar
shall. Sometimes the Treasurer would give |
his usual receipt for same and account for the |
money in the usual way, while at other times |
he would turn the money over TO the Marshal, |
to be accounted for by the latter. Now, IN ali |
such cases, and they count up by the hun
dreds. the executions for which the Marshal |
had given his receipt became thus void |
On my inquiry, where these Cancelled vouchers |
and that in all probability they had been des- !
troyed, without the Marshal being able to |
show any discharge for them.
The Marshal would then enter these as scan |