Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-03-16

or Official were not accounted for
on their books is untrue, as an in
spection of those books will show.
Frst-The War Debt Fund, S4,-
1926 was received by Treasurer
Jones August 10, 1907, and the
qDhole amount was entered on his
ledger on that date at page SO, and
Immediately turned into the Coun-
ty Depository. OF this sum S2,475
was paid out direct to the several
road districts and the remainder
placed in the county revenue fund
to reimburse it for monies paid
from it into the road fund.
Second-As to school monies re.
ceived from the State: August %,
1907, Jones charged himself with
S4, 1886 from that source, on page
81 of his ledger. The sum So, 373.6 3
given in the Financial Statement
as school monies received from the
State that year did not include the
amounts due and disbursed to Pr
lot Knob and Ironton school dis
tricts-S781, SO. They are what are
called 'independent districts, "and
the failure to include them in the
Financial Statement was an over
sight-that was all. Every cent of
the money was duly accounted for
in the books, and not a nickel was
grated or stolen from the treasury.
1t is indeed singular that ''experts''
bent on close examination did not
note ledger pages 81 and SO. Or
did they note them and then Jump
from correctness in the Treasurer's
book to mere omission in the FL
nancial Statement? If so, ought
they not have been fair enough to
have stated that he had accounted
for all the monies received on those
accounts?
Third-The 'experts" say ST.
46S.40 criminal costs were received
in 1907, but that 1--WE failed to find
these items anywhere on your
Treasurer's Ledger, although we
made a detailed copy of each item
on his Ledger, showing the page,
amount of each item, and total of
each page" OF course they didn't
find these items in the ledger, for
the account of this fund is kept in
the Records of Fee Bills, and the
"experts" were so informed by Mr..
Jones. In that book he had charg-
ed himself as follows: March "a,
1907, SAP. 40; May IS, 1907, S559.35
and October 6, 1907, S1464. 65-the
full total of S2,469. 40. Why did
not the Rev. Swift's "experts' set
out this important fact in their re-
port?
Fourtb-As to the Foreign Insur-
ance Tax: These items are charged
in the Treasurer's Ledger at page
900
30O-S1390.2 q on June A, 1907, and
'S764.09 on December II, 1907. The
attention of the "experts" was di-
rected especially to these items, for
Mr.. Jones had inadvertently set
down one of the amounts as ST.
800 q, when it should have read
$780, 81, and they discussed that
discrepancy of three dollars then
and there. Yet the Report says,
1--WE failed to locate these items in
the Treasurer's Ledger tor the year
1907!
The true finding resolves itself
into this: there were two or three
errors of omission in the published
Financial Statement of 1907. Of
course there ought to be no such
lapses; but if you go looking for
the man who never makes a mis-
take you should be we'll shod, full
pursed and long-lived. | have no
doubt Mr.. Reyburn will frankly
acknowledge any error that may
be truthfully charged against him.
And SO of all the officials; but for
all that they are neither unfaithful
nor dishonest. Yet, clothe their
expressions as they may, that is
just the inuendo the local partisan
howlers would convey.
The REGIsTER-and all the coun-
ty officials as well-now ask a full,
searching examination of all the
books for the past four years at
least, by duly licensed auditors
with a company behind them to
guarantee fairness, competency and
good faith. 1t will cost something
not $500, though-to get the
work done; but let it be done
done openly and in daylight, moi
as the result Of secret partisan eau
cusing and in the hope that the
worst may develop, but that the
whole truth may be made known,
It was at one time suggested thai