The morning times., 1896-08-30

A plan was perfected yesterday and
adopted, under sthe operation OF which
,snere VIII be ne longer possible a Ia kitty
OF the methods tH dIsposing OF the police
@ @UUuit INES, AMI no successor to Dan
Willams Will fiRd II possible, if disposed,
10 err IN the sa me way he1did. ~ >
IL mas been al matter OF surprise since
the developments tp the Williams case
that any one, VITO ts not a bonded officer,
should have been entrusted with public
money which, IN the aggregate, would
amount to $4O0,or $500 monthly, without
iChe imposition of a single check upon his
ACTIONS The state OF affairs and the dis
cushion OF II an& the wonder over 1t ha We
caused the adoTeiOn OF measures whereby
cohector is obvated, but which renders,
the superintendent OF police absolutely Sc
cure against the loss uf more than a single
days receipts.
REQUIRES DAILY DEPOSITS.
The method is to hav We daily deposit, be-
Tore the close of business, Of the receipts
AT the police court, ana with this is a
formula that checks the proceedings at
each stage until it reaches the United Sta tcs
Treasury
The clerk of the police court figures
Ilrst IN the transaction. He will here
aiter, at the close of each days proceed
.lngs, prepare statement of the amount
which his docket shows should have been
coiiected. To this he appends his official
certincate, under seal. This is made in
trlphcate, and the fines collector adds
70 each copy his own acknowledgment OF
the amount which he receives, which must
correspond with the amount certified to
by The clerk. These statements, with his
acknowledgment, the collector OF fines
keeps until the hour when he is to close
the transaction, when he delivers one to
the collector OF taxes, one to the District
auditor and the other to the superintendent
OF police.
The next move in the transaction is to
obtain from the assessor an authorization
10 the tax collector o receive the amount
held by the police official, specifying the
nature OF the collection and the amount.
THE NEXT STEP.
The deposit Is then made. for which the
collectors OF taxes returns a certificate
Uf deposit, which certificate In exhibited
tothe asscsSor as evfieDee thattbe amount
OF that days receipts of fines is In the
hands Of the legal custodian when the as
SCISSOR issues duplicate RECEIPTS. the original
to be held by the deposition and the other
to he delivered by him to the auditor.
To Official surveillance does rot end here,
although the depositor's duty is closed.
The daily report made by the collector Of
taxes to the auditor, which reaches the
s"teSt pIiitlut pu EbbiulHS
It's date, is compared with the duplicate
receipt signed by the assessor. to show
whether or not the figures correspond as
to that item. and later. whcn the receipt
Of corresponding date shall tie received
from the Treasurer OF the United States,
the amount will be agai Il. compared as a
further check, and final accounting.
This latter formality as to the COM
parison OF reports is not new, it having
been always the custom to check them
before the addition OF the fines account
but 1t is mentioned to show the complete
course OF the. court collections. as they |
wend their way to the United States |
Treasury. |
IT'S SFIRST TRIAL.
The trial OF this method was made yes |
terday for the Grst time when NJ W. |
QuiDiOn, who Is temporarily serving as |
fines collector, made the deposit OF the |
accumulation OF abe fines of the previous .
three days in amounts as follows: August
26, S23; August 81, $50, and August, 20,
$1s.34
This precautionary measure, which, at |
first glance, seems TO be somewhat COM
plcated, is in reality, quite simple, aud
Will require but little time to execute
The offices OF the assessor, the collector
Df taxes, and the superintendent OF po-
Ice are all on the same floor. aud the
office OF the auditor on the next floor
above at the Distyact Building, and the
lime employed in completing the trans
action ueed, therefore, be but few
minutes, and the system is believed by
he officials interested, to be perfect.
When Williams, alleged defalcation can
as warning asRinst the continuance OF
he system under which he was enabled
20 escape detection, the District officials
determined to institute reform at Cnce,
and the foregoing plan, which has the in
1orsemeDt of the police court, the col
ector Of taxes, and others interested,
was the result.
NO LAW TO GOVERN.
AS a matter OF fact there has been no
aw whatever to authonze a supervision
~ any body OF Williams collections. and
his phase of the affair has caused doubt
n the minds OF many whether he could
,e held upon any more serious charge
han breach of trust.
1t was attempted at one time to main
ain check upon him, but the absence
II n provision OF law neutralized the effort
md it was in measure abandoned, but
I IS safe to predict that the system in
yesterda will undergo no change |
Dtil that or some other equally effective
emedy can be applied by Congress.
II IDN APPED HIS DAUGHTER.