The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-08-18
sizes the honesty Of purpose and In
1eErity OF officials
r,...r ~ thr Stofc

sizes the honesty Of purpose ana IN
1eErity OF our officials
Revenues OF the state.
II Is gratifying to state that TIN
revenues OF the Commonwealth arc yer,
rapidly and materially growing II
1895 the First Auditor estimated TIL,
receipts OF the State for the year 100
At four and onc-quarter million dol
lars; 1t ncm hnstars likely. TINT thu
revenues OF the commonwealth Tor thi'
Sehr Will nearly tqtinl nve million dol
lars. Prosperity seems to rest upon al
or the people in every quarter OF the
Commonwealth The commences Of this
State liz ANNUALLY Increasing. new IN
dustries are being established, Inn
proved means Of transportation are
being created, the wealth of the mine
and the forest. heretofore dormant, are
being converted to INNS use. with q
CONSEQUENT increase In Industrial ac-
eivity amongst our people. The enor-
NOUS development in the State nov
going on and the greatly increased
eevenue OF the commonwealth, make II
more Imperative that the recommends
tions Of this committee for at iinnie-
6iate and far-reaching Reconstruction
and Improvement In the system of ac-
counting now employed IN our State
offices be adopted. The unrelated ac-
counts inauEurated in the separate
Offices may nave been sufficient for
the needs OF former years. but Car
Rapid commercial evolution and IN
creased wealth require more accurate
accounting in our state offices and a
more perfect and Uniform system of
checks and balances between the sew
eral departments
Present system. Of Accounting and Need
for Reform.
This committee cannot too strongly
urge the necessity for q complete re-
construction OF the system of account
ing now practfced In nearly all of the
States offices. AS at present consu-
tuted each department conducts its
financial affairs independent of every
other department: in many cases there
IS no attempt to employ checks and
balances between one another. There
are no checks upon many of the
sources OF revenue and no auditing
which conlpels the payment into the
treasury of funds properly due the
State. The Bookkeeping employed in
many of the departments is but little
more than mere memoranda, and no
attempt is made at double entry book
Keeping. no balance sheets can be made
out at stated periods. and few of the
usual metiods used TO detect the errors
in enttit; ire used. There have been
kept no controlling accounts for the
purpose OF naintniring correct ball
ances and 20 ascertain If the proper
G mounts lad either teen received or
dis brrsed. In scine of the departments |
the reports made t. the General Assem- !
bly, are arbitrary. aid many of them
couid not be verified In detail by our
exper. accountants
We are pleased 10 state that the |
State Farm. Virginia Fenitentiary and
the Laurel Reforni School have adopted
a proper system Of Bookkeeping. Their
accounts are accurately and simply |
kept. and their financial condition can
easily he hscertaincl at any time.
REPORTO ON TIKI; SEVERAL OFFICES.
First AUDITORS Office.
The examination of this office ex-
tends from October 1, 1893, TO the pres
ent year. Under the present system Of
accounting In this office 1t is impos
sible to take balance sheet or to |
apply the usual test of double entry
bookkeeping for the purpose of de-
tecting errors The system employed
seems to be one that conforms to no
fixed rule or principle of the common
1y accepted methods of correct book
keeping. the accounts Kept being large
~ arbitrary and many of them lacking
the correlation which we believe to be
necessary to correct system of keep
ing accounts. While we find nothing
in the records of this office that leads
us to believe that its affairs were not
honestly administered or that the State
had suffered any loss since the Shep-
perd dedication. at the same time we
think 1t proper to say that. If errors
exist. they would. under the system
of accounting employed. be difficult to
discover. Nor do we see any reason
why defalcations like the one above
referred to might not occur at any
time. should the employees of the gov
eminent be sufficiently dishonest to
mako the attempt
Trcnsurer's Office.
We are pleased to report that the
Office of the Treasurer of the State is
In a satisfactory condition. and that
the accounts have been verified and all
Of the securities have been examined
and reported correct.
Second Auditors Office.
We found that this Office lacked a |
proper system OF accounting. and more
especially was this true with the ac-
counts of the Miller Fund: but upon
tho suggestion of our accountants the |
Second Auditor has adopted proper
system of keeping these accounts.
Office of the Secretary of the Common
:. -wenIfh.
An examination of this ofTics. showed
thar tie records were kept with care
ana ieatness, but the. the Accounts
dcaang with the financial matters were
erudelg kept, and could he much i'm
provsd. Upon the suggestion of our
accountants, an improved system Of
accounting has already been inaugu.
rated in this Office.
Corporation Commission.
The examination of this Office showed
that there was room for Improvement
In the system OF accounting employed.
We believe thai this was due to the
fact that the commission was new. and
had not fully arrived at the proper
~aE OF keeping its accounts. Its ac-
counts ares In much better shape than
they were at the beginning.
Department. Of Agriculture.
We regret 10 report that we did not
fnd the affairs of this department in a
satisfactory condition. The bookkeep-
Ing was Of such character that it did
Yr,f n,lE et1 4.