Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-03-09
a MISERABLE SYSTEM.

1t Is matter Of profound regret that
the Legislature j. about TO adjourn with
out having enacted into law few simple
business rules regarding The receipt OF fees
By State officers. The whole State has
been scandalized by the exposure of loose
and irregular, not to say dishonest, meth
obs of collecting, entering and discussing
tees by State officials. It has been admit
ted that there is absolutely no check in the
present system that would I've tolerated in
81 corner grocery business, Tor q day. The
Legislature has had full notice of the giar-
ing failure Of the present system. 1t has
40 excuse for having neglected to reform
it, rs it now stands, State officer per
forming service for which It fee is paid. is
required TO enter the transaction upon a
fee booS-not 50; wc helicve there is no
law requiring any specified form of fee
book 60 be kept, He - required simply to
collect the fee and pay It over to the Treas
urer. But suppose he does not do So Elk
cept by investigation his future to do so
cannot be discovered. More than this-thcre
are scores Of transactions which no ;nvcsti-
CATION can disclose. As single instance:
Suppose A in London orders from
State officer certified copy Of q given
document. or a certificate hat notary IS
n notary, or a transcript Of pleading, etc,
what Is there 10 prevent the official doing
the service emitting TO enter it and peck
citing the fee? Nothing 1t is wholly
unlikely that anyone viii ever hear of
\" again, and at best A" will never be
brought from London to testify, even if
by good luck the theft is found out Then,
too, the system at present in vogue requires
an investigation, costly one and long
search 70 discover ii all fees are paid in.
Even then it i spccu!ative-that Is to say,
the investigator can only 90 through the
documents on file and estimate what
should have been charged for each, and
ascertain if the aggregate balances the
sum paid in an official term. We sub
nit that this Is chiid'7 play; 4 most rec},-
les, and objectionable way Of doing bust
ness. Months ago We called attention to
these defects in the law We renewed
notice when the Legislature met, but no
amendment Of the law has been made.
Yet amendment would lc 10 difficult task.
Let ii he provided that Che officer doing
the service shall not receive the fee, but
that another shall. Thus, j, a." in Lon
don, or " B." in San Francisco, orders 4
service in the Office Of Secretary Of State
or Surveyor-Generai. or any other depart
ment, let him make the order upon the
Controller, who will enter it and transfer
it TO the proper department. In this way
"a " and - are put to no inconveni-
ence. It il rs easy for them to address one
official as another, and en- absolute check
Is thus established. In the matter OF fees
in the Supreme Court, different check
system would be necessary, but one can
easily be devised We submit that neglect
Of this matter Is little less than criminal.
The testimony given in the investigation
into the Supreme Court Clerks Office on
Friday reveals practice that emphasizes
the necessity for business rules being APP
piled. We have no disposition to PREJUDICE
the Mccarthy case. but aside from all ques-
tons of criminal intent, assuming the tcs-
timony Of Kilsby, Deputy Clerk, to be
true, looseness has pervaded that depart
ment that IS shameful, and the Legislature
would he fully justified in remaining in