Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-02-04
MIR. EIemIng's shortage

The result of the examination of the
books of ex>County Treasurer Fleming
illustrates the unbusiness-l methods in
which the county's affairs have been con.
Quoted, if nothing else. No business
man or private corporation would for a
moment tolerate such incfliciency or irreg
ularties as have been disclosed in Mr..
Flemings accounts True, he signifies
his willingness to make good the def>
cheney, but the fact still remains that he
was. to say the least, very careless of the
trust placed in his hands. And in this
connection the supervisors are to blame,
as well At stated intervals during his
four years as treasurer, the finance com
mittee checked up Mr.. Jennings &C.
counts, as well as the other county offs
GERS, and reported them all right. 1t a dis
crepancy of 81, 72s 80 can occur between
the cash received by the treasurer and
the amount turned over to the county in
four years. involving lnnumerable errors,
without detection, the auditing of accounts
by the finance committee looks more like
a farce than anything else.
The investigation just closed was or,
dered by the board on the suggestion of
Supervisor Norton, chairman of the
finance committee, who suspconed that
everything was not as it should he. The
committee secured the services of Deputy
rnr( laot al ayt, ri n nj "A nd
he performed his work in a thorough and
satisfactory manner. The Union at
Temps to shield Mr.. Fleming from Censure
by giving garbled statement of the facts
in the case. While Mr.. Fleming is a
republican, and the maladministration of
his office is chargeable to that party, the
ARGUS desires to make no political capi-
tai out of the affair, but simply wishes to
give the facts as they exist. 1t is all
nonsense for the Union to talk about Mr..
Fleming, Saving the county hundreds of
dollars interest money" He did nothing
of the sort. any more than other treasur
ers have done.
Each year previous to the time for the
annual tax levy to become due, the coun>
ty Is compelled to borrow money to meet
current expenses. AS fast as the taxes
were paid Mr.. Fleming would apply the
money received on the notes, thus stop
ping the interest. But is there any great
financiering In that2 He couldn't keep
the money at his office, and it would draw
no interest at the bank. What other
course could he consistently pursue but
pay off the notes2 If any credit is to be
had for saving the county interest money |
it should be given to County Treasurer
Schafer, who has had the rate of interest |
reduced on several loans negotiated for
by Mr.. Fleming. No. the ARGUS can see
no cause for compimenting Mr.. Fleming
upon his management of the treasuHcr's
office, but it is charitable enough to state
and candidly believes that his honesty
cannot be impugned in the least.
Mr.. Fleming's case should be lesson
to future finance committees to be more
thorough in their examinations of officials.
books, as they are in a degree responsible
for the safety of the county's funds. If
the committee had done its work properly
during Mr., Fleming's first year as treas.
urer his irregularities would have been
discovered in time to warn him against
future errors, and the modification Of exN
posure at this late day avoided