The courier., 1901-11-30

Of the present treasurer To COM
pare him with Bartley and Hin and
Msserve To his credit. No state treas
urer of Nebraska has been content
within the memory Of the prescnt-day
politicians with his salary. in the same
way. let us say that the governor has
been content with his salary. AS soon
as Nebraska treasurer is inducted
into office all sorts Of men who need
money are at his elbow with hints Of
the perfectly legitimate methods by
which his predecessors fortunes were
built All kinds Of men have been
elected To the office: democrats. repub-
Leans. pOpulists. blond and bruins,
scrupuIous at the beginning of their
term and unscrupulous but cautious at
the conclusion.
Considering the temptations of the
treasurer's office and the tenacity Of
the traditions which have heretofore
influenced the performance of the func-
tiOns of treasurer. Nebraskans of
whatever party should insist upon
strict and exhaustively correct reports
from the state treasurer. No eXplana-
tions of the reason why a partial re-
port is offered should be accepted by
the Nebraska public. Treasurer Stue-
fer says that he has not taken any
thing except his salary since he was
sworn into office. Then there should
be no ambiguity in his report about
which his political opponents may ask
embarrassing questions. According I"
the reports he makes a better showing
than any of his predecessors. This Is
not exactly what the citizens of Ne
braska desire. They rejoice that the
report shows a probability that the
treasurer is not receiving interest on
"A great deal of the money of the state;
certainly not so much as any preceding
treasurer bestowed upon himself, but
they wish to be assured as nearly as
they can be by a report concerning the
whereabouts of every dollar belong
ing to the state. Their experience
with state treasurers has made them
very suspicious and trifie nervous
and unreasonable about the conduct Of
a state treasurer. Therefore he should
avoid the appearance of evil, and be
not unwilling to prove to the most in
credulous that he is not receiving an
income from money which belongs To
the state. The republican party has
lust got upon it's feet again after a
g. Il tg
dishonesty of a state treasurer and
state auditor. There are the strongest
reasons in history and present policy
as well as in the interest of public
morality why all state officers should
be held to strict account, and made to
render exact obedience to the letter
and spirit of the law. Disaster and
confusion overwhelmed the party when
the extent of Bartley's misconduct was
known For months before he was
arrested. politicians knew there was
something rotten in Denmark and most
of them could have touched the spot.
The laissez faire policy prevailed. A
treasurer of the opposite party was
elected and revealed the shortage,
when the republicans might have
called BARLEY to account and got the
credit for it themselves. The OppOsi-
ton papers are of great service to a
party in revealing the points and the
persons which will have to bear the
brunt of the attack in the first cam
paign Mr. Stuefer seems to be "a
scrupulOus treasurer, comparatively.
IL is imperative that he be an absO-
lutely scrupulOus treasurer.