Evening star., 1911-06-09
Controllers and Accounting Of
ficers at the White House.
DR.. CLEVELAND'S ADDRESS
Feature of Morning Session of the
Convention.
WILL HOLD BANQUET TONIGHT
Closing Meeting Will Be Tomorrow
Morning, When Officers
Will Be Elected

President Taft this afternoon greeted
the delegates who are in Washington tc
attend the sixth annual convention OF
the National Association OF Controllers
and Accounting Officers
The reception took place in the cas-,
room of the White House. and before
shaking each visitor by the hand Mr.
Taft made a brief speech praising the
moneys by men in the employ of the
federal and state governments
Alonzo Tweedale. auditor of the Dis
trict of Columbia, who is president OF
the association. introduced each delegate
to the President and briefly responded to
the chief executives remarks
Philadelphia Statement Praised.
The feature of this mornings session
Of the convention at the Arlington was
an extended dissertation by DIR. Fred
erick A. Cleveland on the Financial
Statements of Municipalities. Dr. Cleve-
land is chairman of the Presidents COM
mission on economy and efficiency. The
five members of this commission were
present to hear the address.
DIR. Cleveland. after pointing out the
good and bad points in accounting syS-
TENS in various cities. made special ref
erence to the balance sheet contained in
the last annual report of the controller
OF Philadelphia. He used the statement
as a model, and showed how the gov
ernment and the public could see at a
glance the exact financial condition of
the city.
Representative Sweet of Michigan was
the first speaker this morning, and he
was followed by Howard C. Beck of
Detroit. who took as his topic The
Capital Account Of a City" He asserleu
that the capital account of a city should
be the value of all of the property of
the city in excess Of its liabilities.
Tonight's Banquet
When adjournment was taken at noon.
details of the banquet which will be held
at the Arlington tonight were announced.
The dinner will begin at o'clock. and
Speaker Clark will be the principal
speaker. Mr.. Tweedale will be toastmas-
ter. Other speakers will be Representa-
tive C. o. Lobeck of Omaha, Neb.: George
NJ Rex. secretary Of the association, and
Edmund d. Fisher. deputy controller of
s1iew York city. u
ssPhe closing session OF the meeting N4h
be held tomorrow morning. and after
messages are read the following paper 8
will be presented: Standardization Es-
sential to Economy" by Edmund D.
fiSner OF new IOfk. DcIlnQu6Ht axes
the Problem in Detroit. by William G.
Justice. controller of that city; How De-
troit Handles the Delinquent Tax Ques-
tion.' David E. Heinemay Of Detroit.
The commission form Of government will
be discussed by Controller w. HI. Farm
ham of st. Paul.
After the auditing committee submits
its report officers Will be elected for the
coming year. and the place of the next
convention chosen. There are three
cities that want the next convention.
They are Atlantic City. Buffalo and Pc
oria. Ill.
Ineligible Statements Desirable.
Representative Swager Sherley of Ken
lucky won liberal applause when he clos
ed his address at yesterdays afternoon
session by urging a modern system of
which would enable a plain citizen to
gain a tangible idea Of just what the ex-
penSes of the government are in COM
parison with expenses in other cities.
Dr. LeGrand Powers. chief statistician
OF the census bureau. was another speak
er at the session yesterday afternoon
who won applause He declared that
certain cities were issuing bonds without
presenting statistics to show that pro-
ceeds Of former bond issues had been dis
posed of in a wise manner. AS an ex-
ample he said: Take the case of q
city which issues bonds for a period OF
fifty years. and with the proceeds lays
pavements which last only for eight OIL
ten years. The same city will turn and
issue more bonds with which to rela,
the pavement. and thus piles UP debt or
debt, with the probability Of becoming
bankrupt in the future