The San Francisco call., 1898-04-23
TREASURER WIDBER's DOWNFALL

I PON the practical features of the defalcations
 of Treasurer Widber there is but one comment
 \O to be made. Either the officials whose duty it is at intervals to count the money in his hands and l check up his books have been asleep or they have been sngulary unmindul of their duties and respon- abilities.
 According to all accounts Widber has been going the pace that kills for over year. He began by taking from the Treasury a small sum of money to make good deficit which he had created in the funds of his fathers estate The success which at tended this operation apparently emboldened him to make further demands upon the taxpavers His own confession shows that he has been stealing exten- 1 slyely for months. The testimony of his deputies and associates shows that during that period his dis soute habits well known to habues of the City Hall and frequenters of the tenderloin He has been known to be a race-track gambler and an associate Of bad characters, both male and female heavy in vestor in real estate, owner of fast horses, and speculator in mines Yet 1t has never occurred to anybody to question his financial standing nor in qure into the source from which he has obtained the money to plunge so desperately
 During the period of which we speak one of his deputies has turned up defauter This individual was saved from prosecution by Widber himself, who made good the amount of his stealings. Notwith- standing all these suspicious circumstances, calcu- lated to put the most careless man upon inquiry, the fact appears to be that the Mayor Auditor and Su- pcrlor Judge, upon whom the law imposes the duty of examining the Treasurers accounts once month, have passed his bags of money as to label and have skipped over his accounts as perfect balances Nothing quite remarkable as this has ever oc- cured III municipal history. Tax Collector Austin stole $25oooo, but the money consisted of protested taxes, which had been deposit at the local bank in his Deputy Treasurer Cassebohm stole S2o,ooo but he was caught within two three months after the money had been abstracted. Widber, according to his confession, has been stealing for than year.
 Section o4 of the consolidation act makes it the duty of the Mayor, Auditor and County Judge to examine the books of. the Treasurer once month and to "see and count over all the moneys remain ing in the hands of such Treasurer" It is quite ev- dent that this duty has not been performed. No at tempt has been made to "see' the money in the hands of the Treasurer. On the contrary the Mayor, Auditor and Judge have accepted the labels his moneybags in lieu of the evidence of their eyes. It IS not difficult, therefore, to locate the blame for the dedication If the surety bond given by Widber does not yield a sufficient to make good his shortage, the officials respon- sble for this gross negligence should be forced to disgorge. The taxpayers ought not to lose cent. Nor, if the law IS enforced, the taxpayers 1ose should the surety company discover some ex- cuse for refusing to pay Section 4II7 of the Poli- tical Code says: Whenever, except in criminal prosecutions any special penalty, forfeiture lia- bility is imposed any officer for non-perormance or mal-performance of official duty, the liability therefor attaches to the official bond of such officer and to the principal and suretes thereon"