The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-02-21

? that if the balance now alleged to be
5 due from me to the state were &C.
: tually due, it would about represent
the total amount outstanding from all
l sources in possible revenue Of 81
: oo0,000.
/ As to his clerks, Col. Brown ar
swers, THE law makes it the duty OF
5 the chief clerk to keep the books of
: office, ard act in the place of the comp
, troller when he is absent. l had some
| thirty odd clerks, all of whom were
, in one way end another employed in
keeping the books. The clerk whose
particular duty was to keep the &C
counts in the ledger is designated by
law and paid as the bookkeeper; but
, the chief clerk is by law bookkeeper, as
, having charge, under general or special
direction of the comptroller, of the
inside business books, records, papers,
checks or moneys belonging to, or re-
ceived in the office. There was clerk
known as receiving clerk, who re-
ceiveu moneys, checks, etc, from out
sike parties making payments to the
office and prepared receipts to be
signed by me. He afterwards turned
over the moneys received in the form
of money or from collections of drafts,
to the chief clerk. This was the syS-
tenn. The chief clerk had the custody
of the moneys as part of his duty IN
der the law. l had no other bonded
clerk to entrust them to, and desired
no other except by way of relieving
the chief clerk of heavy drudgery,
when sometimes his services were
needed in other duties. The receiving
clerk, just referred to, was his special
assistant, selected by himself, with
my approval, who relieved him of
much Incidental labor pertaining to
the depositing OF moneys in the treas
ury. [ imposed no duties on the chief
clerk other than those proper to be de-
volve1 on him under the law.
"The chief clerk had and l think
gave the combination of the safe lock
to his special assistant. He gave me
memorandum Of it once on slip of
paper, but never tried to work it as
l thought it bad plan to have too
many working with the cash. 1t was
sometimes but not usually, necessary,
to keep money in the office some time
1efore it could be properly paid into
the state treasury"
AS to opening letters and receiving
funds coming in and making applica-
lions of them, Col. Brown answers:
"Most frequently the chief clerk and
| another clerk opened them together,
one clipping the ends Of the envelopes
For some time the corresponding clerk
assisted at this. Afterward the work
growing, detailed another clerk TO
take the leading part of this work, the
chief clerk acting with and directing
him PoOoittnnaOc hxT 1oil fhnn
turned over i'll the first place to the re-
ceiving clerk and each class of matter
distributed to the proper subdivision
of the office. 1 frequently opened let
tiers myself, especially if the hand writ
ing or external marks excited my in
tereSt, or if l was expecting
something of immediate Importance.
1T there were deficiency charga- |
BILE to my term, think it would now
show up at the tax department. If |
any deficiency does exist, say [ am |
not legally chargable with it, beaause
it must arise from my being charged |
with drafts or the proceeds of drafts |
never received by me nor by any one |
in such manner as to make me prop |
erly responsible therefor" x
"On the 1st day of January, 1883, l |
commenced making a descriptive list |
Of all checks, drafts. money orders,
ETC., received thereafter at the Office |
for taxes up to the expiration of my |
term, at which time it was checked |
over by my chief clerk with the chief |
clerk of my successor, and accepted as
correct, the several classes of funds as
checks, orders, cash, ETC., being then 7
and there delivered as called for by
said list. This was done in order that
there might be a distinct line of divi-
sion in the business and books of the
Office, coincident with my retirement
and the installation of my successor.
L cannot now give the footing of the
list mentioned, 1t is in the office, and
is a permanent official record"
AS to settlements with the banks he
says: Il checked over the bank state
ments myself, embracing all the bust
ness had had with them during my
term, and found-them correct and
balance
The cash received on postoffice Or
ders was the only money personally
handled during my term. The total
amount of these postofice orders col
lected and deposited after the eXpira-
ton of my term was a little over
$4,000.
AS W lllO pOSStUlllUy |
coming down from his predecessors
(Col. Darden) administration, and if
one existed, then why it was not dis
covered by Boil. Brown he answers:
IF, as you seem to suggest def
cheney was handed down from my
predecessors administration, it might
have been temporarily obscured at the
time mentioned, by payments in hand
from collectors which could not be
then deposited or were not. In that
case it would necessarily crop out at
the end of my term, when the foot
ings were made, and would seem to be
my deficiency"
The foregoing are abstracts from
only few answers to the many inter-
rogatories propounded, but serve to
give general idea Of their character
as whole.
In answer to this question: did
you yourself know the true condition
of your account at any time during
your term of office, or at its eXpira-
ton, and did you know anything of
the existence of the deficiency until it
was developed by legislative COM
mittee?" Col. Brown replied: Being I
satisfied that the record of traosac- \
lions, coming strictly within the linn ;
its of my term would furnish the
means to determine infallibly the state /
of my account at the close, and hav-
ing confidence that the moneys re-
ceived were being faithfully and cor
rectly handled gave myself no par
ticular concern on the subject. Near
the close of my term l directed that /
the footings of all transactions show
ing my debit should be brought up to
date and compared with disburse-
ments, so that might turn over to /
my successor clear set of books in |
every respect and well organized |
office. As this had not been COM
pleted at the end of my term it was
my distinct understanding, founded |
upon my repeated directions, that the |
ex-chief clerk would see to it at once |
upon the occasion of my successor. l
thought little more of it, however,
until it was reported there was def |
cheney in my account.
There were twenty-one interroga-
tories.