Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-08-27
1BE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
Heads Of Departments Itemizs
Receipts and Expenditures
For Executive Council.
Projected Reunion Of the Old
Soldiers at the State Fair
Has Been Dropped.
Col. Olmsted to Commence Duties
at the State Normal
Next Week.

Special to TimeS-Republican.
Des Moines, Aug. 27.-The secretary
OF the state executive council is receiv-
ing the reports of state officials and
heads of departments giving itemized
statements of receipts and expenditures
for the period from Jan. /, 1900. to July
i, 1901. Reports have thus far been re-
ceived from the state treasurer, the
clerk of the supreme court the state
library commission, the custodian of the
capitol, the department of agriculture,
the secretary of the horticultural Soci-
ETY., the state board Of health and board
cf medical examiners, the dairy com
missioner the state weather and crop
service, the State Normal School and
the State Agricultural Society. 1t Is IN
tended that these reports shall be pub
lished in book that the people of the
state may know how their money is ex-
pended. This is done in several states,
for instance, Michigan. where there is
published annually large volume con-
tanning all this information. The re-
ports are in many cases voluminous In
some cases the items go into the min
utest detail, as for street car fare of a
clerk when on official business or the
cost of lunch at a depot while waiting
for train. Other reports only hit the
big places and show in bulk what was
done with the money. But the fact that
the different departments keep books
differently makes the whole somewhat
confusing. Unless one is more or less
familiar with the manner in which the
books are kept or has the patience to go
thru many pages of figures to work out
definite information the reports are un-
satisfactory. But perhaps after these
reports have been published a few times
and have been subjected to the criticism
to which they will fall they will be in
better form. At any rate it is some thing
to know that the state officials are able
to make such reports and show what
was done with the money in. every case.
A good deal OF the fuss made about
| the state fair management not giving
tfree passes to the soldiers appears to
have been among very few, as the
plans for a sort Of soldiers reunion at
! the state square today appear to have
miscarried. In fact the call for the meet
| ing was made by one who tho an old
soldier had so little thought of frater-
| rity that he had never belonged to the
Grand Army or had failed to keep in
touch with that organization. The old
soldiers hereabouts dropped the matter
after the first outburst of indignation.
The fact is that there have been so
many excellent reunions of the old SOL
diers this year in Iowa that some of
them feel they have had quite enough
without mixing up with the state fair.
| Col. j. G. Olmsted, inspector general
CT the Iowa National Guard is due to
commence his duties at the State Nor
NAL School next week, and he is looking
/ forward to the experience with pleas
ant anticipations. As rule the assign
ments to duty at schools and colleges
are not much desired by the returned
army officers, because of the fact that
membership in the companies is not
4 compulsory and there is no way to en-
| force discipline. But at Cedar Falls it
is different. There It is required of a
\ hoy that he shall enter the companies
and take the military course. Among
the 500 male students there are four
companies of infantry and two battal-
ions of artillery. There is no place in
the country pleasanter for an army Off
Ger, and the fact that Maj. Dinwiddie
had been there long time showed that
the work was pleasing to him and to the
school. For the present Col. Olmsted
will continue to reside in Des Moines,
but eventually will go to Cedar Falls or
Waterloo.
When the state treasurer received a
draft for 1862 from the receiver Of the
estate of the late Superintendent Gil
/ man. of Mount Pleasant, he referred the
matter to the attorney general for an
| opinion as to what should be done with
the money. 1t Is refund on the state
claim on behalf of the hospital inmates.
but whether to put 1t in the fund appro-
priated for paying the inmates or to put
il: in the general fund was question.
incidentally it may be mentioned that
while the state put in a claim for SIS, 100
and appropriated $500 to pay the in
mates who had trusted DIR. Gilman not
near all of the amount appropriated has
ever been called for. 1t is supposed that
claims will be made on this fund from
time to time for a number of years, but
1: is strange that persons having such
claims have not secured the money long
ego.
Mr.. Cummins and his friends are
learning to take the professions OF
friendship of some of the former antis
with slight allowance. An illustration
of how some of these new-made friends
are given to using the stiletto in the
dark and behind the back was furnished
this week when. on Sunday. dispatch
appeared in some of the most rabid ma
chine newspapers, particularly the Bur
llington Hawkeye, giving a pretended
account of what happened at the state
central committee meeting. This dis
patch was so mean that the per-
son who write 1t did not dare print II
here. The purport Of the article was
that "Cummins was weak" and that he
..broke his pledge to Committeeman
Clayton at Des Moines." and that he
was .'ruled by ultra supporters: !: anG
!, Chairman Spence as only a figure head
to do their bidding" was the result The
dispatch was evidently written BY some