The Washington times., 1903-06-25
Whose lsthe Responsibility 2
irregularities" in Accounting Should
Be Made Impossible.

Be Made Impossible.
The report of the subcommittee of
the Board of Education, directed by
the latter to investigate an irregular
lty IN the settlement of Miss John
ston's claim against the District, has
been adopted by the Board of Educa
ton as its own and forwarded to the
Commissioners of the District for
further action. We quote from the
report as follows:
The evident attempt to connect the vice
president Of the board, General Harries, with
the irregular transaction merely because his
name was attached to the requisition in APP
proval thereof is without justification and
gTatutous- The signing Of our acquisitions is an
act done by the president Of the board, or in
his absence, by the vice president. as an ap-
proval Of the supplies asked for In the pres
ent instance the supplies for which the requisi-
ton was made were such as are used and
needed in our schools, and the presentation Of
the Tequisition by the secretary for approval
would in the course Of the regular business
OF the Office, receive the presidents or vice
There the duties Of the latter ended.
We have no means of knowing
what the committee had in mind
when 1t referred to 'the evident at
tempt to connect the vice president of
the board, General Harries, with the
irregular transaction" But. while
noting with satisfaction that the
committee admits frankly the or
regularity" of the transaction. we
are surprised that it fails absolutely
to place the responsibility for the
"irregularity" upon anyone in par
tlcular or to suggest means by which
such irregularities" can be made i'm
possible in the future.
No one, as far as we have been
able TO ascertain, has attempted TO
connect General Harries' name with
the transaction in such a wav as
to reflect upon his personal in
tegrity. We hold, however, to the
notion-old-fashioned, perhaps. but.
in our opinion, sound-that the sig
nature Of an official to a public docu-
ment means, or should mean, some
thing. 1t Is no excuse, we think. to
say that the act of signing a name to
e voucher or requisition is merely
perfunctory one. If it were. we
might as well have such papers signed
by an Office boy, or, better still. not
at all. 1t would save both time and
trouble and offer an excellent oppor-
tunity for petty officials to juggle
with the accounts.
Nor Is it any excuse, we believe.
TO say that it IS physical impossi-
bility for an official in high position
to know the contents and meaning Of
every paper he signs If he hasn't
the time or disposition to aequaint
himself with the nature Of the docu
ments submitted to him for signature.
be had better resign and let some one
else do the work who has both time
end disposition to perform the duties
of the Office. We know that we shall
be charged with demanding what Is
impracticable. But we deny that II
is. Where, indeed, we may ask, is
there a bank or business concern that
could hope to be successful if IT were
to adopt as fixed principle the dan
erous notion that signatures mean
nothing and are simply perfume
tory7" The country would in time
be overrun with Watsons, and over
run at a rate that would make the
denizens of a rabbit warren pale with
envy.
There is another feature Of the
transaction which the committee fails
to note with an amiable, not TO say
flippant, disregard for the rights of
the taxpayers. We refer TO the ad-
mitted fact that Miss Johnston's bill
was for 1926 and that she was paid
$500. Was this due to an outburst Of
generosity on the part of some one
anxious 10 befriend Miss Johnston at
the expense Of the Districts What
became Of the STAT
The Commissioners Of the District
are to be congratulated upon the
prompt action taken by them this
morning in sending the report Of the
Board Of Education to the Corpora
ton Counsel for further action. They
would have laid themselves open TO
the seyerest criticism had they not