Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-20
NOW AT WORK ON POST OFFICE
ACCOUNTS.
Nothing Sensational Discovered-May
Suggest Certain Change in
Methods of Accounting.

peditious and safe basis possible. AS
business man Secretary Shaw felt that he
wanted to see the latest and safest sys-
TENS of auditing applied to the department
of which he has charge. That was his
motive then and now.
The committee has carefully investigated
the systems in the offices of five of the
six auditors, and is now at work in the
Office of the auditor for the Post Office
Department. The committee began work
in the various offices about the 10Th of
January, and when it has completed its
inquiries in the office of Auditor Castle
will begin the formulation of a report to
Secretary Shaw. This report will contain
recommendations looking to changes of
general and minor nature How many OF
the recommendations will be adopted by
Secretary Shaw and finally become regu-
lar systems is not known even to the
members of the committee.
Nothing Sensational Discovered.
1t is stated today on positive authority
that the committee has encountered moth
ing that could be distorted into a sensa-
ton. that in not one of the six offices has
there been discovered any evidence of
fraud or intention on the part Of the treas
ury employees to commit fraud or lay the
foundation for fraud The work of the
committee in the office of the War Depart
ment may be productive it is said, of
greater changes than elsewhere, but no
crookedness or even laxity of officials was
discovered. The committee, after a most
thorough overhauling of that office, discov-
cred that there had been one duplication of
a check for large sum. but this was
purely an error, and was detected before
going out. The former check had been paid,
and If the duplicate had reached the firm
to which 1t was issued it would have been
Yaf p nod 10 ooi1 no Grv~, IT,
the claim had been paid. Some negligence
was charged in this case. and a number Of
employees of the office We're called upon to
make explanations. member of the COM
mittee stated today that there was not the
least indication of an attempt at wrong
doing in connection with the matter, and
that those who had been responsible for
this and several other mistakes had been
and would be sufficiently punished
The committee has been asking a num-
Der of questions in the office of Auditor
Castle, emitting nothing that would throw
light upon the methods of auditing the diff
ferent accounts in that establishment. The
Treasury Department has nothing to do
with the auditing of some of the accounts
that are Immediately connected with the
Post Offce Department. and is therefore
not looking into matters connected with
that department. The committee will take
up today the method of auditing In the
money order department. There Is no ex-
pectatlon OF finding where material changes
sional authority. When Auditor Castle
came into office he overturned the old sys-
TEN in connection with money orders and
established a new one. This one has SO
far worked better than the old one but is
far from satisfactory yet
In Regard to Postage Stamps.
In one particular the committee is likely.
1: is said. to recommend further safeguards
in accounting in the Office over which Mr..
Castle presides. That relates to postage
stamps. The stamps are printed by the
bureau of engraving and printing. When
81 postmaster orders stamps the order Is
sent to the bureau to lie filed. The amount
sent to the postmaster is checked there
and the postmaster later checks the amount
received by him 20 the Post Office Depart
ment. Some of the members of the COM
mittee feel that there is room for danger
and that there should be more care in
thls particular instance, but these are the
views of individual members of the COM
mlttee, and when the whole committee
meets to pass upon the office of Mr. Castle
the recommendations may be changed Mr.
Castle himself admits that the system of
stamp checking could be bettered.
n member of the committee said today
that the committee would probably follow
soma suggestions made for a number of
years by Mr.. Castle about improvements in
accounting in his Office, but Mr. Castle is
system Com
greSS has enacted laws.
AS to Money Orders
In his annual report to the Secretary Of
the Treasury for the fiscal year ended
June 30, 1900. Mr.. Castle said:
The rnoney-order business Is growing
rapidly, hence the amount of cash belong
ing to the patrons of the system in the Gus
tody of the government. and for which it is
responsible is increasing year by year. The
dangers incident to this custody and re-
sponsibility, which are distributed among
10000 postmasters. who sell and pay money
orders. demand watchfulness and care to
overcome the standing temptation to fraud
forgery, dsfalcation and embezzlement
which confronts all these government
agents In one very important particular
ms WatchfuinesS IL seriously inefficient At
least s'3Ooo.Ooo money-order funds are, by
the present accounting system, at all times
noniinally in the hands OF postmasters un-
accounted Tor. The postmaster who sells
money orders transmits TO this office his
report of such sales weekly semi monthly
or monthly, as the case may be
These reports are necessarily held here
for a period averaging five months before
the money orders which constitute vouch-
crs verifying the amount of the postmas-
ters' receipts can be assembled from all
parts of the world, assorted by states,
towns and numbers and then checked
against the report. Not until all this time
has elapsed and all this work has been
done can we possibly know that the post
master has correctly accounted for his re-
ceipts. Meantime there is abundant op-
portunity to the dishonest for heavy en-
bezZlements which, as a matter of fact, are
constantly occurring. II Is believed that
TO banking business is or can be carried on
successfully In this loose manner. An a Iii-
tional safeguard would consist In recurring
each postmaster to send daily statement
to this office. showing in brief his receipts
from the sale of money orders during that
day and his disposition of the same. These
statements would here be posted and after
ward verified as soon az possible nv the
regular reports sent in. While this would
not be perfect protection against loss II
would be long step in that direction
I'm two preceding annual reports / have
recommended that the life of money orders
be limited by law to three months from
the Last day of the month of issue instead
of twelve months. the present requirement..
again reiterate that recommendation as a
matter Of great convenience to this office.
and unQuestionabiy decided Improvement
IN the public service"