The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1909-03-11
HENDERSON. N. c., THURSDAY, MARCH H. 1909.

DduR vault. our committee DplleVeS
this is the only absolutely safe and
practical means of protecting these
securities, until the State shall have
provided more commodious quarters
with modern vaults
We examined with care the methods
OF bookkeeping adopted by the In
surance Commissioner. As the trans
action of his Office consists OF a large
number of small items aggregating
makes it tedious to check up each
item, and we believe more modern
and easily understood system of book
keeping should be installed under
which balanres should be made at
regular periods. and we are glad to
note that the Insurance Commits
sioner is installing certain changes
of bookkeeping along the lines sug-
gested by the expert accountant who
| was EN- ployed by the Auditing Com
mittee with the consent and at the
expense OF the Insurance Commits
sioner Which latter fact the audit
ing committee failed to report to the
Legislature. The expert accountant,
in his letter to the auditil e commit
tee, stated he could not make an
absolutel y correct statement of this
account without going back and
checking up the entire business of the
office since its esta blishmrnt in 1889.
This we believe erroneous. We have
examined the books and find that
prior auditing committees have
checked up the books since the pass
age of the authorizing such checking
up, and evidences of such checking
are shown by the books themselves
And there is noevidence in any of the
books or suggestions in any of the
! records in the office of any improper
conduct, or any failure to collect fees
and taxes, or any failure to account
for moneys or funds OF any character
which have come into the hands OF
the Insurance ommissioner, but the
contrary appears to be the facts. 1t
will br noted that the Auditing Com
mittee at their last examination, not
only checked by an expert the books
for the preceding year, but rechecked
them for the year prior thereto, al
though they had examined the Office
the year before, a. appears by their
; endorsements upon the books certify
ing to their correctness.
The letter OF the expert book keeper,
adopted by the Auditing Committep
as part Of their report, states "that
no cash book has been kept, showing
the accurate receipts and disburse-
meuts of funds handled during the
period of their investigation"
We find this statement to be very
misleading, in that it conveys the i'm
preston that no record was kept of
the cash received nor of the funds
| jisbursed. Such is not the fact, and
we do not believe the auditing COM
mittee could have intended to be so
understood.
1t is true that he does not keep a
book which he calls Cash Book, "
| or which accOrds in the technical
method of the keeping precisely with
what is termed II "Cash Book. in the
modern expert s> stem of buok-keep-
ing.
Said Commissioner does keep, how
ever, in permanent record form, a
full, complete and detailed record of
all funds which come into his office,
which in exhibited to this Commit
tee. and which we carefully examined
1t is called by him Day Book. 1t
is a we'll bound, substantial record,
kept in ink, and which the said com
missioner enters contemporaneously
with it's r. ceipt, every item OF cash
paid into his office bv che'.k or other
wise, each of such entries showing
The date of payment, the person or
corporation paying the same, the
amount paid and to what fund it be-
longs. If. As in many instances is the
case, the payment includes amounts
due to different funds and also fees
due the Commissioner, the entry
shows clearly and accurately to d
cent, how much of it is due to each
separate fund, and how murh is due
the Commissioner asfaps.
These amounts are then carried
from this book to the separate ledger
accounts which he keeps with eacl
fund. with each insurance company
doing business in the State, and eacl
item participating in any of said
funds
The Commissioner has not hereto
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