The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-08
UNIFORM PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

City Treasurer Bremen, in insisting on
the compliance by the city comptroller
with the requirement of the city charter
that the accounts of the two Offices should
be compared periodically and seen to
agree, will have rendered a public service
of even greater scope than that which re-
lates Immediately to the offices concerned,
if his action is followed by calling atten-
ton to the growing need of uniform ac-
counting in public Office.
No one doubts that Comptroller Nc
Cardy is a coed bookkeeper, or that his
keeping of the accounts of the city is
conscientiously performed. Yet no one,
except, perhaps, Mr.. McCardy himself,
believes that he is infallible or that the
interests of the public service require
that he shall continue to occupy the po-
sitior which he has arrogated to himself
of an official censor. We may agree with
him that his particular form of account
ing Is as great an affair as he tells US it
is; but it remains none the less true that
on any intelligent system of public ac-
countability, neither Mr.. McCardy or any
other public officer should be allowed to
have a system of bookkeeping peculiarly
his own. The books of his office should be
so kept that any intelligent public officer
or private citizen might examine the same
and find exactly what the condition of the
city accounts are without any aid from
him Ap1- e,,cl rv-cten, &c il understood
only by those engaged in maintaining it
| is a private and not public system, and
should not be tolerated.
The agitation for a uniform system in
public accounting is advancing steadily.
1t probably will not be long before it is
| found in operation to a considerable eX-
tent The existence of such an official
as public examiner in itself bears testi-
mony to the public feeling that there
should be a much closer and more init
mate knowledge available to the people
of the exact condition of the accounts of
public offices than now exists. The re-
! quirement of the charter which City
Treasurer Bremen has invoked in the
case of Comptroller McCardy is, too,
form of expression of the public demand
that public accounts shall be simplifed
| and made uniform.
In the current issue of Public Policy"
the public examiner of the state of Wy
oming, Harry B. Henderson, contributes
a very exhaustive examination OF the
advantages of uniformity of accounting
in public Office. According to him the
methods of keeping public accounts in
the several public offices of a given state
should be so similar that, for instance,
the treasurer of one county might enter
the Office of any other county treasurer
and be at once able to keep the accounts
and perform the duties as successfully
as the true incumbent. How far the plan
should extend, in his opinion, he makes
plain in the following extract taken from
his article:
How far should it extend? To every
county, city town. borough, village,
school district or other political subdi-
vision. and last, but not least, to every
officer of the state and all of the state
institutions 1t should be so complete as
to embrace every department of gov
eminent within the state. Each depart
ment should have records and report
blanks especially prepared and should
report upon call to the officer having
supervision. on a date already passed.
Under this plan 1t will be possible to
compare the receiDts and disbursements
in every department. of government
With those Of the previous year, and the
finances OF one county with a neigh
boring county or city. Further. the re-
port will show the sources of receipts
and purposes of Disbursements
1t does not need even common intelIi-
gence to understand the great gain to
those who pay the taxes and support