Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-21
CASH RECORD MIXED
Apparent Shortage in Juvenile
Court Accounts.
BAD BOOKKEEPING SYSTEM
Loose Methods Alleged in Handling
Support Moneys.
REPORT MADE BY AUDITOR
Entire System Declared to Be in De-
plorable Condition-Employes
Not Bonded.
REPORT MADE BY AUDITOR

Not Bonded.
An apparent shortage" of $685. ~
in the money paid into the Juvenile
Court by husbands and fathers for the
support Of young children and de-
pendent wives was reported to Auditor
Tweedale today and the knowledge OF
the fact. transmitted by him to the
Commissioners, who will send the re-
port to Judge De Lacy.
Charges Of bad bookkeeping, careless
ness and the handling of money by per-
sons not bonded are made by the audi
tor. At the same time an extract from
the auditors recent report showing
recommendation for change Of the
methods Of handling the money forced
from negligent husbands to feed and
clothe young children and mothers. ap-
pears along with the charges and disclOs-
ures in the nature Of very formal and
very evident Il told you so.''
Books Badly Kept.
In his notification to Mr.. West the au-
ditor states:
THE records of the Juvenile Court were
found to be in q most deplorable condi-
ton. In both the cash books and the
card records eraSures, alterations ana IN
terlineations were numerous. In many IN
stances the handwriting OF these records
was so illegible as to make 1t hard to oe-
termine what the proper entry should De.
During the period when payments OF non
support funds were made in cash ana tne
receipts Of the benefictaries taken TO lhe
card records, it was found in many cases
where the beneficiary was unable 10 sign
hot SIGNATURE
by mark without the signature OF any
witness appearing on the card as 10 tno
fact OF the payment.
ALSO the signatures OF the same oeue
fciary were markedly dinereni han1 n~;nt.
in1s. Quite q few of the stub receipts
which should have contained q rec0I.
showing the name in which tue rScsip, ~"
was issued and the amount for whicn tne
receipt was given contained no INFORMS
tioa whatever.
Apparent Shortage Shown.
The figures of the differences between
cash and receipts, etc., show that $ooa.o
ha. been paid in by forty or nrty various
husbands at various times, ana tna' thol
"a no record that the famiiies ever
ceived the benefit of the money. Aiso
the court claims to have mace cerA sa;i -
nayments of $3.50, and the books IAN ~
rhow anv trace Of it. At the END OF tne
investieation by two expert accountants
tom the District building the repor
shows that there is $24..7o In tne na,,iJ SaH
while the books show that tne1. ...n on.
nsrsnt De ant shortage" is added matter o. q
tan dollars for two fines. evidenuy paaS
IN nv a pair of delinQuents, OUT WIZ
money has been lost somewhere Ai '"s
mix-up. -. h,or,o far the
,har,,;nr nm moor and careless bookKeep'
in~ He states that there are Sv.v
money transactions year. Win HV ous
nuate method or force to Keep tne DoOns
The money spoken OF Is nearly gu .or, LII
svstem the auditor does not controi. ]
so happened that the clerk OF the cOuI'
IN denositin1 the fines, penaIties, cos.s
and forfeitures imposed by the c0urt. :
which money the law requires snam ~
Maid in weekly to the collector OF taxes
Tent ALI the money-non-support onn
iats and all-in one general account ~
his own name. Therefore. when the &C
countants had to dig In and separate tne
two classes Of cash they ran across uis,
money. and had to follow 1t through 70
the end 49,
ACCOUNTANTS have undertaken. 50 many
payments are made SATURDAY Mgnts ,, 20
the desk sergeants of police stations that
the books Of each precinct had TO OF
searched through carefully. Thousands
Of receipts from widely scattered families
had to be looked up.
Simple Methods 0utgrown.
Auditor Tweedale has on one or two
preyious instances recommended q change
in the method Of handling money In the
Juvenile Court. In the early days OF the
non-support law as dealt with by tne
court a husband under the courts man
date would bring In flve-dollar Dill wnicn
would be put in an envelope marked with
the wife's name, and when the wife called
for her weekly stipend she would get
the identical bill which her husband had
turned in for her. The number Of fami-
lies whose fathers were forced by tne
law to support them grew from hand
full to an army of six hundred ana the
amount Of money swelled into the many
thousands. The first beginnings OF the
method were simple. but as time went
on a perfected accounting system SHOULD
have been put into operation. according
to the auditor.
Recently-in October, to be exact-tne
court adopted a system of checks for the
payment OF nOn-SuppOrt moneys. freVi-
GUS to that time the money poured upo1
the desk at the Juvenile Court In 900 drio-
let's a week. There was no checkDook.
After the checkbook was adopted the
money was deposited in the name OF the
clerk of the court and disbursed by him.
The District never saw the money. II
was simply handed over to the court and
out again. 1t was E. n. Merriam's duty
to account for the money as it came in.
deposit it to the credit Of the clerk. draw
up the checks and the clerk OF the court
would sign them.
Absence Of Responsibility.
The auditor says OF this method. term
ing 1t an example of an absence of de-
fined and fixed responsibility"
1T appears that at least four employees
Of the Juvenile Court have been in the
habit Of receiving these funds and issu-
ing receipts therefor. OF these persons
only the clerk of the court and the dep
uty clerk have furnished bonds to the
District Of Columbia"
The Commissioners in reality have no
authority to investigate the accounts
under fire now. and Commissioner West
said this morning he would do nothing
more than recommend putting the matter
up to Judge De Lacy.
No Seats While Act In On