The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-06-25
Disc BHgARY rAcls AaD FIGURES.
TIVE EAHN,NGs NOT SO LARGE
AS ExPECgED.

tHN. 49, AShS- HN.ra. IFtl
Firs, Qnar,sriy Report Under the
New Management-The Profit Con-
s'sis Chiefly of ssock on Hand.
The following is the quarterly re-
port OF +. NJ. Nixon, State Commits
sione-. as TO The operations of the
State D~lspensary for the first quarter
under his management
COLUMBIA, s. c., April 80, 1895.
To His E~xceItency, Gov. John Gary
Evans, and Hon. ID. III. Tompkins,
and James Norton, State Board of
Control
homo to present yopr honorable body
my first quarterly statement of the
conditions and operations Of the State
~dispensary, covering the period from
February the let to April Both, inclu-
sive.
On February the LIST, the day l as
sumed charge as State commissioners,
my predecessor, ex-Commissioner
Traxler, turned over to me the follow
ing goods on hand at State ~dispensary:
Wines, liquors and malt
$40, 1887.
Bottles, barrels, demijohns,
boxes, corks, sealing wax
and other supplies. -. :. 14,4O6. 10
Machinery and Office fixtures 2,5S9.9 VI
Horse and wagon. ......... 5000
Making a total OF. ........ $685. 46.43
This amount of $62. 246.43 appears in
ex-C commissioner Traxler's last QUA
terly statement-under the head of
assets-as stock on hand. The term
!" stock, " as used in this connection, is
misleading. 1t Is calculated to mis-
lead some to the conclusion
| that fhnra Nun .On horl ~ ho -- II
took charge, wines, liquors and malt
goods to the amoun OF $62, 246.43,
when, as a matter of fact, the wines,
liquors and malt goods which he
turned over to me amounted to only
$45, l99.67, inclusive of the So, GIL. % Of
contraband goods which merged INTO
his merchandise at the time of his last
stock taking. The difference between
the g 2,246.43 "stock" and the
A 5,l99.67 merchandise on hand, rep
resents the value of the bottles, corks,
machinery, horse and wagon, I as
indicated in the above tented state
ment. The greater portion Of the
$40, 1857 fully three-fourths), as
STOCK on hand, represented'case goods,
with 90 cents per gallon added to the
original cost of the liquors, to cover
cost Of bottling, boxing, labor and
other expenses incident to preparing
IT, for market This was an improper
and urbusiness-like method Of taking
the stock but as my predecessor kept
no supply nor other representative ac-
counts into which to charge his pur-
chases Of bottles, corks and other sup
plies, nor profit and loss account, into
which to- carry all losses arising from
this source, | withdrew my objections.
and accepted stock as thus taken.
OF the $45, 54S.40, cash in State
Treasury n in safe ON February LIST.
as per Mr.. Traxler's report, mson an
examination of the Legislative COM
mtttee, appointed TO examine the ac-
counts, it was ascertained that tho
State Treasurer's books showed $IO5.22
less than Mr.. Traxler claimed. Tue
amount due for merchandise pur-
chased by him prior to the expiration
OF his term of Office and failing due
the time my induction in Office and
shortly.afterwards, was 1874, 2S6. O2. At
ter paying these accounts, as well as his
additional liabilities of 81, 7O3. 10, his
cash balance was reduced to SO, 453 81.
quite a discrepancy exists in the
apparent net profit which he claims to
have accrued since the beginning of
operations in July, 1893, 10 the close Of
his last quarter.
BY reference to his last quarterly
report, which is hereto attacued,-you
Will observe the claim Is set up that q
profit of $l5l ,295. 81 has accrued. Such
is q manifest errcr. The net profit ON
January 3lst was Sill, $50. 81 S39. 335.-
90 less than claimed. This latter
profit ($lll ,959.S2) is subject to a still
further revision and reduction, from
the fact that the county dispensers
0 show nearly $4,000 less than the
amount which Mr.. Traxler claimed
WAC dina hu fhnrn o. ~
These differences are b.ing rapidly
adjusted, n l am giving them that
Jealous attention which the exigen-
cles OF the case demands. | would
impress you with the fact that, in
bringing down this profit to Sill ,959.-
81, L ave made no reduction on ac-
count of the increased price which
MIR. Traxler placed on the $45, 1919. 81,
merchandise on hand February LIST.
Had | done so, the net profit would be
still further reduced to the amount of
3d. 0O.
The error in arriving at the profit
was made by computing the States
profit on ,"""ds remaining unsold in
hands OF tf.oAvarious county dispensers.
"A vast and almost uncomfortable
amount of work, in the shape of over
hauling the books, of the State dispen-
sary from the beginning of operations
TO the close of the last quarter was
necessary, in order to present an in
tell1gible, c~omprensivc and business
like report to your honorable board at
the close of this quarter. And when
you take into consideration the TACT
that | had the undivided time of INV
p 'esent chief o%ookkeeper for only the
last month OF the quarter in the prose-
cution o. this work, | feel confident
that you will conciudc hat the Gun
OF work accomplished is immense. AS
before stated, | am now turning nv
attention to an adjustment of the dis
puted balances which my predecessor
claimed was due by the various county
dispensers when he turned over the
business to me on February LIST, and
hope to be in IL position by the close
OF the of the summer 10 report a com
plete and satisfactory adjustment of
tne same. III is u work that requires
accuracy and painstaking care: snd
you can gather an ADEQUATE idea of tbe