The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-07
THE AUDITOR AS A CHECK.
His Function i'm County and Town
ahip Reform PInn.

zone OF the chief reasons for the extrava-
gance now prevailing in the management oS
county and township business, said Will
liam Dudley Foulke, sis the absence of any
correct and uniform system of keeping ac-
counts by which errors and illegalites may
be detected and also the absence of any
competent authority whose duty it is to call
the attention of the proper officers and of the
public to illegalites and extravagant ex-
pendtures where they exist Extravagant
sums are often appropriated by the County
Commissioners for county attorneys and
other employees hired TO transact county BUSH
ness. There is great waste in the expendi-
ture for county supplies; there is extrava-
gance in the matter of extra allowances to
officers who are regularly paid by law, as
well as to contractors. Money is paid Oh
contracts which are not performed and IL
excess of the amount actually due and there
Is no means Of detecting these frauds and
irregularities because there is no system Of
bookkeeping by which they may be exposed.
1t is safe to say that there are no two
counties in this State inawhich accounts are
Kept in precisely the same way and it is
therefore impossible to compare the expendi-
lures of the different counties for specific
purposes. The only way to correct this eviI
is to give to some competent one the right
TO prescribe a uniform system of bookkeep-
lnS ana 10 see that II is enforced. The Re-
Nlsed statutes already do this in respect TO
state institutions, and the proposed bill to
secure uniform system of keeping the ac-
counts OF county and township officers aims
10 make the same provisions Tor county and
township accounts. The auditor of state at
TENDS 10 this business for the state rstitu-
tons Why should he not attend to it in
Inc case OF county ana township officers?
The auditor believes that with the aid of an
additional deputy he can properly perform
this work, and we therefore saw no need of
creating any special board or special officer
10 90 1t, since an officer was already provided
by the Constitution of the State upon whom
this duty could be properly imposed. The
act therefore provides that the auditor of
state shall order and enforce a uniform sys-
TEN OF keeping accounts by county and town
snip otncers so as o form check on their
mutual actions and lead TO the detection of
illegal and improper expeditures and other
funds.
1T is also believed that additional security
VIII be furnished and much evil prevented If
the state auditor is authorized to make
inspection of the accounts of county officers
without notice. This is the plan provided
for by the national banking act in respect to
hank examinations. salute authorizing
ago in Wyoming, and in that small State,
with its sparse population, more than $50 600
has been saved since the appointment of a
state inspector in addition to a large amount
of fraud and illegality prevented by the
consciousness on the part of the county Off
GERS that all their acts are subject to in
spection at any moment. BY the proposed
bill the auditor of state is authorized to
make this inspection and examination and
may summon witnesses touching the sc-
counts of county and township officers and
regarding the management of public funds.
The county officers are also required to
render statements to the auditor of state
at least once year as to the accounts kept
by them in the management of their offices,
setting forth the items with particularly.
And whenever he learns Of any erroneous
system of bookkeeping, or of any errors in
the accounts of county or township officers,
or of any illegal expenditures, or of other IL
LOCALITIES in the management of the county.
or township funds. ii is his duty to report
the same to the county council at its next
meeting, or, in the case of the township, to
the Township Advisory Board, as well as to
the prosecuting attorney and the attorney
general. 1t Is not intended by this act to
give the auditor of state any final power
over county business. 1t is to be his duty TO
examine and call attention to illegalities and
to report them to the proper county ana
township officers, who are 10 have the right
TO prosecute the offenders, recover the money
lost and prevent the recurrence of waste Op
extravaganza in the future. 1t is believed
that all this can be done at very little eX-
pense to the taxpayers. The payment of a
salary of $1,000 to one additional deputy,
together with necessary stationery and trav4
cling expenses. are thought to be all that
is required And there can be little doubts
that such supervision of county and towns
ship accounts will result in the saving Of
hundreds of thousands of dollars to the tax
payers of this State