The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-15
THE srIxRUD CASE.

Recently there have been developed GER
tain facts and explanations which put the
personal character of Mr.. Stixrud, late city
engineer, in better light than it appeared
at the time Of his dismissal from the serv-
ice of the city last November. 1t would be
too much to say that under the fullest i'm
formation Mr.. Stixrud is entirely justified;
but this much it is only fair to say, name
ly, that Mr.. 6tixrud's intentions appear to
have been entirely honest and that he did
not get or attempt to get from the city q
penny more than was actually due him.
certain accounts or bills in which the
charges for s'time" were in excess Of the
time actually put in. When the discrep-
ancy was discovered by the Board Of
Public Works and brought to the notice
of Mr.. Stixrud, he admitted the fact, and
was summarily dismissed. At the time Of
his dismissal, Mr.. Hebron, a member Of
the Board of Public Works, publicly de-
clared his confidence in Mr.. Stixrud's per-
sonal honesty, at the same time condemns
ing his methods of bookkeeping, and
voting for his discharge from Office.
It seems that in Stixrud's accounts the
overcharge in the matter of "time" was a
sort OF Omnibus" plan to include car
fares, use of instruments, cost of minor
drawings, etc. Instead Of reporting these
miscellaneous items in detail, their aggre-
gate was loosely calculated and charged
up on the general account as ''time." This
was the practice Of Mr.. Stixrud's prede-
cessor in Office. and it was continued by
him, as he says, after consultation with q
member of the council
Of course, for such loose and mischiev-
Gus method there could be no excuse,
but it is at least a justification of Mr.. Stix-
rud's integrity, that when his bills were
finally itemized he was awarded by the
auditing committee q sum exceeding by
fourteen dollars and some cents the
amount Of his bills as originally rendered,
and in which the wastage for "time" was
made to cover the minor miscellaneous
account. Mr.. Stixrud has suffered, and
suffered severely, not because he robbed
VCCooSS
the mischievous methods Of his book
keeping made him appear a corrupt
and dishonest man. In this connection it
is at least kind to recall the facts which he
pleads in his own justification. namely,
that he was newly in Office; that he had
not yet had time to reorganize the clerical
service of the engineering department,
and that the accounts were made up by
the chief clerk Of his predecessor in con-
formity with the uniform practice of the
Office since its creation, several years ago;
that he had the advice of a member of the
council, and that, as the report of the
auditing committee shows, he really
cheated himself in his original bills, upon
which the charges against him rested.
The whole circumstance goes to illus
trate the character of the 'sold system, !"
which is so admired in certain quarters.
Under that system it was the practice of
the engineering Office to make overcharges
for slime" to cover all minor miscellaneous
charges; not only this. but to turn in and
collect pay rolls in excess of the amounts
actually paid to the signers. The more
fragrant of these methods Mr.. Stixrud had
discarded, and it was upon minor detail
in which he was officially advised that his
fatal mistake was made. It was under this
beautiful ''old system" that the city was
robbed, and victimized in every depart
ment. Under the new system these plum
dering practices are wiped out, as the Silk
rud case very forcibly illustrates.