The Grit-advocate., 1904-09-16
TIT STATE SAVES MONEY.

oan state officers been doing they ONCE
In January 1903. Not all of them could possibly be In
cluded in summary brief this must necessarily
BE- but general idea be given OF the amount OF
yearA
The Governor
That part the governr's work. which is probably
important, already received most extensive
notice, only in the newspapers OF Colorado. but all
the United States 1t is not here to refer
to his record in preserving law and order and protecting
life liberty and This work. however. has not
occupied majority of his time The is by
law a member nearly every board. Under this
administration boards have had frequent regular
meetings. The has been present and has pre-
sided almost every of such meetings during his
term OF these the important the Board OF
Equalization the Board of Land Commissioners the Board
q Audit the Board of Capitol Managers and the Board of
Charities Corrections In connection with the latter
all the institutions have to be visited and supervised
Besides the numerous board meetings there is much
routine work III connection with the governors office AS
with the previous biennial period this routine
work has just about doubled The has done
all In businessike having his regular Office hours,
during which accessible to all corners. with
little red was at all consistent with order and
decorum.
Secretary Of State.
One of the most important offices is that OF the secre-
tary OF Besides the regular routine work of the
pfce-keepng records OF various sorts-he has charge
Of the brand department, which is most important in
state having such large cattle interests; and he is also
the purchasing of the state for nearly everything
except printing. The business of the brand department
has from to year, and is constantly becom-
ting more important and difficult 1t has been kept
strictly up thorough working order under
the present incumbent, and, of course has more than
Maid expenses.
In his capacity purchasing the present
1ry shows that expenses for supplies and incdentas
have been Practically in two during his admnisra-
t,on. Under his predecessor the cost of supplies and
ncidenals for the first twenty months was more than
$4,000 present secretary the has been
about $4,000 The Office force has been kept low
was consistent with efficiency.
Auditor and Treasurer.
AS the finances of the administration conducted
largely by auditor their offices
be considered together. AS members q the Board of
Equalization the Auditing Board these officers have
aso supervision of the raising and expenditure of
together with the governor the attorney general and the
secretary of state.
AS preliminary, it be said in brief that the
administration inherited from its predecessors claims
against the state aggregang $250000 for money
advanced keep the institutions from closing their
doors OF this amount Governor Thomas had borrowed
$4,000 from the Denver clearing house. and the rest
had loaned by individuals and local banks At the
beginning of the administration the Legislature
appropriated general incidental fund" Of $251,500 in
addition to the usual appropriation for incidental expenses
which amounted 100000 This socalled general Incl
dental fund intended to take Of the outstanding
debs and payments of it strictly limited in the
appropriation bill to the first four months. '
Instead Of being used to back debts. intended
this fund used grab fund.-. Large amounts OF it
for extra services" and postage Some of it
used months after the payments out of it had become
Illegal pay expenses of session of the Legisa
ture. Briefly, of it used for the purpose for
which it had been intended by the Legislature and less
than $4,000 Of left when the Orman administration
ended In other words the incidental expenses" of the
orman administration had been between s275.OoO and
100000.
For the Peabody administration an appropriation for
general incidental purposes made of s70000-about
oneourh much had been actually used by the Orman
administration 900 less than recommended by
the outgoing auditor in his biennial report
The loss than provided for the incidental
of either of the two previous administrations
If those appropriations insufficient without the grab
fund.- could expected that while $50 900 not
100000 in 1901 had be supplemented
by about 100000 of the grab fund.- $4,000 could
be enough in 1902
BY economy close supervision by the Board
$4,000 and there is still
left enough amply the remaining incidental
has been by a Democratic administration in
Colorado.
Land Office
When this administration began chaos reigned supreme
in the land office. The register in control of it.
except very limited The clerks appointed
by various members of the land board and did not con-
slider themselves subordinate to the register and acted
accordingly. No complete record had kept years
of receipts and disbursements. There separate
ledger accounts with firms which had leased