The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-03
CITY NEWS.
FIGURES THAT TALK
What a City's System Of Accounting
Should Be Able to
Give.
Harvey s. Chase, Who Will Install
New System Here, Has to
Say.

In day or two the trained experts
of Jones, Caesar & Co., public ac-
countants of New York, will begin
their work on the city's books under
the guidance of Harvey S. Chase, the
eminent authority on municipal ac-
couting. It must not be understood
that Mr.. Chase will abolish everything
now in use at the city hall and install
brand-new system which may or
may not fit the local conditions. He
will take the desirable features of the
present system and devise a system
suited to the local conditions and con-
forming to the laws of the city and the
commonwealth.
AS a matter of fact, Mr.. Chase finds
much to commend In the Minneapolis
system. 1.-The mere bookkeeping of
the city is in the main well done"
says Mr.. Chase. That is. each de-
partment keeps it's books in fairly
satisfactory manner. In the control
ler's office, for instance, the books as
they are handled are in satisfactory
condition, but there Is a lack of CEN
tralization of all the city's accounting.
The controllers office should be more
important and the controller should
bookkeeping, but little accounting.
1.-The methods Of accounting be-
| tween the county, which collects all
the city's taxes, are loose and unbus1-
| nesslike; not any more so than with
| the majority of the larger cities of the
country, but they are far from what
| they should be. The system Of collec-
tons by the water department is ex-
cellent, but who can tell what this de-
partment is doing? Whether the 9TH
| er city departments receive their water
free or not there should be some way
Of showing exactly what they get and
the waterworks department. should
| !, f1,1l 20 y, of iS
| "To what do the managers of great
commercial enterprises turn for daily
and hourly information Of the condi-
ton of their affairs They turn to
condensed, accurate and promptly
madereportsa and there is nothing dubi-
Gus about those reports; they are abso-
lutely accurate, being taken from
scientifically devised system Of ac-
/ counts. .s.t5s5.g
! Crude Municipal Systems.
| THAT is not the case with munich
palities. My experience proves to me
that as whole the accounting and re-
porting of the great majority Of the
municipalities turnout this country is
crude, unsystematic, inaccurate and
out Of date.
sAs / told the aldermen, there is
much to commend in the work of the
Minneapolis offices. The system here
| by which the city treasurer pays
| everything by warrants is in advance
| of what I have seen in great many
L other cities, but the principal defects
Of the system are the lack of coordina-
ton between the various departments
and the absence of uniform and com
parative accounting by which it
would be possible to see almost at a
glance exactly what each department
II is doing.
4 Scientific accounting and reporting
Il Twill play a most important part in re-
4 lieving our, various civic governments
of the stigma of incapacity, or Of ex-
travagence and corruption. With
proper publicity it will unerringly dis
tinguish between the capable and the
incapable officials, between the pru-
dent and the extravaganza, the incor-
ruptible and the corrupt.
Honor Due Capable Officials.
''My experience teaches me that the
capable and honest official does not
receive the credit and honor due him
To be commended for good work Is
almost unknown to officials in these
days. Whenever some unsavory story
of municipal politics appears in the
public prints we are too apt to con.
denim all public officials alike. This
injustice should be stopped. Bu1
how else can these distinctions be
made except by uniform and compar.
alive public accounting and report.
ing?
faithful and honest public servant:
when an official receive the credit anc
), honor and the security In office t
which the results of his adm1ntstra
ton entitle him.
| T. +