The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1911-11-03

that there is less sum OF money
spent by Atty. Gen. Breathitfs depart
ment. as now economically managed,
than is spent by the city of Louisville
for the conduct OF the legal business
in the city attorneys office. Il is a
notable fact that the opinions render
ed by Atty. Gen. Breathitt and his as
sistant attorneys general, have uni
formly been OF the soundest legal dis
cernment saving the state from many
pitfalls.
state Auditor.
When the present administration
came into Office It found that the sher-
ifs were in the habit OF making irreg-
ular settlements at the end of the
month. nor being sworn to, and pay
ing whenever they pleased The rule
under Auditor Frank p. James, has
been that every sheriff must make a
sworn statement of the amount col
lected by him in each month and
transmit same with a check on or be-
fore the tenth day of the succeeding
month. This has prevented many in
accuracics and losses to the taxpayers
through careless keeping of records.
The same condition was found to exist
as to the county clerks Instead Of
making a monthly statement of the
license tax collected by them and
transmitting same to the auditor on or
before the tenth day of the succeed
ing month, they had, in numerous in
stances, failed to report for three, four
and even five months. Now they are
required to report every month with
out fail The old practice of issuing
warrants and obtaining checks from
the treasurer's Office and mailing the
checks out from the auditors Office
has been discontinued. The auditor
now sends the claimant his warrant
and the claimant sends the warrant to
the treasurer's Office and receives his
check from the treasurer. Many 9TH
er improvements have been instituted
in this department, all with the result
of rendering mistakes improbable and
insuring more honest conduct by coun-
ty officials
The Treasurer.
Both the Democratic and Republican
press of the ctate, and all those who
have had business with the treasurer's
office as conducted by Capt. Edwin
Farley, bear testimony to the high
state of efficiency that exists now in
N Nc, rr,-ao ri ~,
has originated new and economical
methods of keeping the states records
and finances straight that have made
this Office on par with tho best-man
aged commercial establishments, or
banks Loose methods in vogue under
the preceding administration were dis
carded at the outset of his term an6
the total absence of any criticism of
this office prove the merit of the pres
ent administration.
~ Secretary of State.
DR.. Ben L. Bruner has been de-
scribed as the best secretary of state
Kentucky ever had. Easily the most
notable achievement of his admins
tration has been his work in organic
ing a thorough-going system of state
bank inspection, and in enforcing
sound principles of banking in these
institutions. He has had every state
bank examined and the taxpayers have
not had to pay one cent of the large
cost of this work. His work in this
line has been so efficient that the ma
tional bank authorities at Washington
have recognized the state banks of
Kentucky upon the same footing as
national banks, as shown by the act OF
the board of trustees of the postal saw
ings bank lin ruling that Kentucky
state banks may receive deposits from
the postal savings banks the same as
national banks. The most antiquated
system IMAGINABLE existed in his de
partment when he took charge. He
installed complete and comprehen-
sive indexing system and took from
the basement of the old capitol build.
ing, where they had been thrown in
heaps for years. the executive papers
of the state since the beginning of the
government of Kentucky. These pa.
pers were of incalculable Importance
and have now been so arranged as TO
be quickly and easily accessible.
While this work required the serv-
ices of clerk for many months, it is
now done for all time. He has had re-,
bound hundreds of important old
books, especially valuable to the law
yers OF the state, and to all other cit
liens. All articles of Incorporation
and other instruments to be recorded
have been recorded with book type
writer, method heretofore unknown
to this department. His Office force
has been picked with the sole aim OF
efficiency, especially the banking de
partment. where the reports of ali
banks are scrutinized by experienced
bankers a2d officials and any irregu-
larities promptly noted and corrected,
or the bank forced to suspend opera
tions. Depositors In state banks are
now as assured OF safety as the de-
positors of any other tanks. No COM
plant of delay in attending to the bust
ness of the citizens of the state has