The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-04
Evil Exposed by Activity of Collector Donnelly in Pursuing Old Ac-
 counts.
Some $75O in Receipts for Payments Not Credited
 Is Discovered.
Payment of Porter Estate Was $532-Failures to Make Credits Would Be Detected By Striking Daily Balances.

l DCCCCCSu Dy SGLkIuS Daily Balances. l A serious weakness was disclosed ir
 the system of accounting in use, in the | office of the tax collector before the
 committee on claims. last night. Pub | lie attention might never have beer | focused upon the weak spot had ii
 not been that Collector John M Don- | nelly is making a. very strong effort | to collect all back taxes. Naturally l the pressure to obtain the money ap- l parentIy due upon back accounts brings into the office the receipted bills for any claims which have been paid, but not receipted.
 Inquiries by the members of the claims committee brought out the fact that the claim against the Porter es- tate. of which F. B. Hawley, is execu- tor, amounting to $532. has been paid.
 The receipt bears the date of March 9. 1906.
 Up to this time some s75O in such re- ceiptS have been handed to Collector Donnelly. The first that appeared was in the possession of Mrs. Mary J. Fitzgerald. sister of Former Alderman
 J. J. Morrissey, for $178.91. This pay
 ment. like the Porter payment, was
 not credited upon the city's books.
 Several other receipts have been
 turned in. upon which no credit is
 given.
 The Fitzgerald payment was prompt
 ly refunded to the city by Former Col
 lector Charles H. Gotthardt. The other
 deficiencies will also be paid by MT.
 Gotthardt.
 The defect in the system of account
 ing seems to be that there is no record preserved for the city upon the city's own books of any daily surplus of re-
 ceipts over expenditures.
 The custom in the past has been for the tax collector to deposit daily re- ceiptS in his own name. as collector.
 When a. considerable sum had ac- cumulated it was turned over to the treasurer. Any surplus remained on deposit. to the credit of the collector.
 By N"surplus'' is meant, in this con- nection, any sum of money which the collector finds in his cash drawer in excess of the sums credited in his books.
 There have been such surplus funds. it is said, during the term of nearly every collector, for many years past. From these funds, held in the names of the several collectors out of office, payments have been made, as in the case of Mrs. Fitzgerald.
 The weakness in the system of ac- counting appears to be that the city imposes no system that requires dai- Iy, or weekly balance sheet.
 It is the fact that Collector Donnelly does not permit a day to pass without finding a balance between his cash and his credits. This, however, is purely at his own option. It is because he chooses to keep his books and man. age the affairs of the office in a busi- nesS-liae way.
 In the matter of the Fltzgerald bill. which was of course paid before it was receipted. there must have been in the office of the collector in 1906, up- on March g. a surplus unaccounted for of at least s17S.91.
 Again, in the case of the payment receipted to the Porter estate, there must have been a surplus in the cash of $532.
 It is claimed, by accountants, that a surplus of such magnitude should be traced to it's source at the end of end of the days work. The checking of some 5000 bills would be laborious, but not more so than under the pro- cedure that would be followed by a banking house.
 There also appears to be no prov1s- | ion in the charter by which any sur plus standing in the name of the col l lector is made known to the city. Any | funds not claimed after a sufficient | lapse of years would as a matter of | course become the property of the col 1 ector.
 Fortunately the tax collectors of l have always been careful | and competent men. The city has nev- | ar suffered loss through the lax system l of accounting that prevails But the way is open in the future to less hon. l st. or less careful collectors and their l clerks to create shortages of serious that might go for years.
 The errors in making credits appear .o have been mostly made by the as- sistant collector, Frank Allen. It is said that most of the receipted bills pear his signature
 Absolutely no suspicion of wrong loing rests against anybody. It has ,Iways been true that in every year some accounts receipted for would not De credited.
 It is understood that the surplus un- Iotthardt. is more than enough to red.
 This means that there is no actual shortage. Certain sums are held by the ax collector in accordance with cuS- om from which the city will be re- rnbursed in cases where taxes. or as essments have been receipted, but not as in the Porter case. It was said about the city hall this , morning that the mistakes made from ear to year constitute the strongest f reasons why the personnel of the flee should not be made permanent. l |. While the present crude methods of ac- ! bunting are in vogue, it is believed hat the certainty that change in the ,rce will occur from time to time is a reat protection against mistakes accu- . ,uIating until their total amount is u ,rge.
 FIRE BOAT SAVES SCHOONER
 (SneciaI from United PreSS.) .