The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-29

state the account without serious incon-
venience and vexatious delay.
| ITO remedy these defects would sug-
| gest that the following provision, which
| was recommended by the Secretary of the
treasury in the estimates for 1901. be in
corporated, and its passage urged, in the
District bill for 1902, viz:
| That hereafter all estimates and reouisitions
affecting the revenues of the District of Columbia
| shall he submitted through the Commissioners oil
| the District, and all payments from appropra-
lions. any part of which is charyeable TO the said
revenues OF the District of Columbia. repay.
inents TO appropriations and collections increas.
| ing the revenue. shall be made through the Of
| fcials OF the District Except in the case of the
sinking fund which is otherwise specifically pro-
vided for by law), and all accounts pertaining
! thereto shall be settled by the Auditor for the
! state and other Departments
During the year several important
/ changes in methods were instituted which
have resulted in simplifying the work and
expediting the business OF the Office.
! The retained duplicates Of vouchers.
which had been previously kept in numer-
! ical sequence with briefs of their purport
recorded in personal ledger wherein an
: account was opened with every person
receiving a payment. have been rear
! ranged in alphabetical order on the Ir.n-
! ciple of the card index, but with this diff
/ ference, that the vouchers themselves be-
! ing used, the work of transcribing is
avoided, and only guide cards are en-
! ployed. All vouchers of payments to one
individual being thus assembled together,
nothing in the way of facilities for refer
+, ence is left to be desired.
The personal ledger having been Gis-
pensed with under this new system of
keeping the files, the clerk in charge las
been assigned to other duty SO that the
practical result is almost equivalent to an
increase of one in the clerical force
The general ledgers have been recon-
| structed upon modern lines. SO as 10 show
at a glance the condition OF each appro-
! priation in aggregate or as detailed under
subheads. with all repayments: the sum
| total of acquisitions and disbursements;
| the balances of the various tax levies, and
| the state of the general revenue account
| of the District of Columbia
"Other reforms also in routine methods
I have been instituted which prevent delay
! and make it practicable to audit all &C
| counts daily presented, except in the
| cases of contractors for large amounts
and miscellaneous items, with whom. for
| their own convenience monthly OF semi
monthly settlements are made.
Much extra labor and earnest thought
have been expended in these efforts 10
moderninze our accounting system by Mr..
Alonzo Tweedalc. the chief bookkeeper
and the gratifying results which have
been accomplished are due in grea: iar:
to the zeal, intelligence, and unflaggtng
industry which have characterized his
performance of the important duties with
which he is charged.
THE work of The office has been steadily
growing for long time past. and the year
just ended has shown no abatement in
this respect. There were 140S0 claims
audited, and 44,2s9 checks issued. an In
crease of 20 per cent in the former and
per cent in the latter, as compared with
the record of the preceding fiscal year.