Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-01-10
M Sat nrdayss Daily.


Az his record as q meraber 81 the board
OF dental examiners for the bast six
years and al full history 81. 4 liis CON;
liection with the board can 81 read in
his official reports, copies 81 N hitch are
on file iii the office 81 the governor
Hof the state and at the Office Of the;
doctor n declared Dr.. F. a. Lewis when
asked Tor 9 statement regarding the
article IN Des Moines paper stating
that the financial affairs Of the board
are and have been for some time irl
badly complicated condition. DR..
Lewis was formerly for three years
secretary and treasurer Of the board,
but was succeeded September 1, 1903
by @. 8. Searles, 9of Dubuque. 8,
A portion of the article referred to
in the Des Moines paper and which
called forth the above statement is as
follows:
Baffled the Accountant.
"Of the fact that, the fduciary trust
OF the dental board is discharged with
fidelity and that the board has turned
over to the state treasury all OF the
funds which have come into its hands,
over and above legitimate expenses,
is not questioned by any one. But the
manner in which the books Of the
board are kept has bafled the account.
ant for along time. il-, {
ITO such an extent, was there alb.
sence of data and information on
which to base an examination that the
accountant, in his report to the execu-
tive council just filed, covering July
IL 1903, to July 1, 1904, says Of the
dental board:
81 was unable to obtain vouchers,
receipts or order with which to check
the entries made in the books Of the
! secretary and treasurer, consequently
had no way to prove the correctness
of the various entries pertaining to
che. expenditures of the board.
BY a comparison with the books
of the state treasurer, found the
amount turned over to him cores.
ponded with the entries made in the
books of the board
Frequent changes have been made
In the office of secretary and treasurer
Of the board and each new officer
charges as the reason for not complet
ing the record the failure or refusal
of his predecessor to deliver to him
the necessary vouchers, orders and re-
ceipts. showing the. expenditures Of the
4 board.
The methods In force so far, as the
financial transactions of the board are
A concerned show no Improvement oyel
d last year. ,.,9, Al
Not Able to Keep Accounts Properly
i 1.-THE impression conveyed by the dr.
ticle," continued Dr. Lewis, lis thai
the board of dental examiners never
has been able to keep their accounts
4 properly. The facts are these: was
elected to that Office when the affairs
;. of the board were In the worst possible
!, condition. appealed to Governor
4 Shaw to have the matter investigated
4 This, however, was not done till Gov
ernor Cummins took the matter iii
state accountant, recommending thai
certain things be done in the way d
accounting. Immediately gave an &C
! counting as suggested but the othel
members Of the board did not ant
! never have done so. My report Il
Il Governor Cummins was made June 30
4 1903, and can be seen on file In the
! governors Office.
81 did not succeed in getting the
! other members of the board to adop
businesslilxe methods of accounting TIL
May /. 1902. From that time all money
:. expended was accounted for by vouch
ers, itemized and sworn to- The books
and property Of the board we're turned
over to DR.. Searles August /, 1903
after having been audited by an audit
ing committee each year. I hold Gov
ernor Cnmmins' receipt for my repor
. filed at this time, covering the entirl
4 period I held the office Of secretar,
and treasurer.
There has been no publicity givei
the matter by me for the reason tina
. it was my duty to report to Governo
Cummins, being appointed by him am
it was his duty to take such action a
! he saw fit regarding the publicity o
! his official reports.
$ Article Misleading.
! "The article in the Des Moines pc
per is misleading in that 1t states tina
. was secretary and treasurer durin
the year 1904, whereas DIR. Searle
), held the Office during this time. Thi
is the period when the difficulties Il
t accounting mentioned by DR.. Heer, be
i gin and they seem to have CONTINUES
into the term of Dr. Brewer, who nos
8 holds the office. I have in my posses
q sion letters from the latter showing
de1iharata dferapard of thn law In IN