Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-02-01
Committee Passes Up Local Rail-
road Accountants in Favor
OF ST. Louis Man.
WOULD HAVE SAVED MONEY.
Echo of Action of Council Which
Passed Up One of Best Systems
For An Outside Firm.

The city council might have saved
Salt Lake City $4,000 and at the same
time might have been ahead of its
present record about eight or nine
months The council authorized its f.
nance committee to spend $1,000 for an
audit of the city books and for sug-
gestions from its accountants as to
better methods OF conducting the city's
accounting system. The cost of the
special auditors employed has already
reached q little higher and higher.
promises to climb higher and higher.
A local accountant of undisputed abili-
ty entered bid to do the work in
three months time at o cost to the city
of $4,000. He waB turned down and a
firm imported from st. Louis to do the
work. Already the city has lost nearly
$4,000 and a year has been spent by the
auditors and they have not completed
their work yet and the finance commit
tee does not expect them to for more
than a month and even after that as
sistants Will be retained in the service
of the city at $40 per day each to assist
the salaried officials of the city IN maxi
ing the new system work smoothly.
BID NOT ACCEPTED.
In November of 1906 Councilman Fer
~ introduced resolution in the coun-
ell by which the finance committee was
authorized to employ firm of compe-
tent accountants to audit the City's
books. The council at the same time
set aside $1,000 or so ipuch thereof as
would be necessary to meet this eN-
perse. The finance committee asked
for bids for the work. There were
many responses and among them bid
from local man Of competency. rail-
road accountant. and better systems of
accounting than those in use by rail-
roads there are not. His bid was for
$4,000, guaranteeing to finish the work
in three months He planned 10 do
his work after office hours and any
city officer or deputy w.o might be re-
quired to go to his office in the evening
to aid the auditors was to have been
paid for his time out of the compensa-
tion Of the auditors. competent
force of railroad accountants was to do
the work under the supervision of one
of the best accountants in the Harrl-
man service, recognized generally as
such Among these accountants was
former auditor for the state of Iowa
THEY COME HIGH,
Westerman & Trader. public &C
couiltants of undisputed ability In their
line, also entered Il Dl0. IneI Dlu was
such that no man could ever tell how
much 1t would amount to. In It's terms
the accountant in charge was to be paid
SIb per day for seven hours work, as
slstants were To receive $40 for the
same amount of work and when either
member of the firm performed work
he was to receive $50 per day of seven
hours. No estimate OF the time that
might be consumed was made and
therefore no estimate of the cost to the
city was possible. Still, the finance
committee waded into the contract with
Westerman * Trader, not knowing how
large a figure the expense would reach.
This was IN February last The st.
Louis firm said that its low bid WAS
made because the company intended to
open permanent offices in this city, or
that the price would have been much
greater They figured that the pub
licity that would attend their services
to Salt Lake would be we'll worth the
difference between their regular price
and the low price made to the city.
After nearly 81 years work and at a
cost of $4,000 the eastern auditing
firm has not completed the work that
a Salt Lake man and his assistants
would have done in three months at n
cost to the city of $4,000 or $4,000 less
than the eastern men have aleady re-
cclved-and they are not through draw
ing their pay yet.