The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1912-10-04
STATE INTEREST
TOTALSS625.OOO
Democrat Earns $4,000 on
Public Funds Annually.
COUNTIES EARN s7to,oOO


Wholesome Effect, and County on
cials Follow ,lt--ersnnan VIII Con-
tlnue the Good Work.
Emulating the excellent example
ret by the Democratic state treasurer.
who deposited the commonwealth's
money by the competitive bidding
plan and earned S625,000 interest In
four years, custodians of county funds
throughout Ohio awarded money un-
der the same system and during the
last six months Of 1911 and the first
half Of 1912 earned S710,570.s9 inter.
es. for the taxpayers.
And this amount does not begin to
represent the total earnings in the
state. In addition. city officials gen.
orally have followed the plan, but the
aggregate accruing to the taxpayers
IL not available. In Cleveland the in
terest 10 greater than what was
earned on Cuyahoga county funds.
and the same is true in other toun'
tics where there are large cities.
The average yearly interest earned
by State Treasurer Creamer during his
tenure totals $157,000 year. This
amount Is sufficient to pay the annual
salaries Of every elective state Off
cial. leaving balance Of $4,000.
In the last 12 months the interest
earnings In Cuyahoga county on funds
so deposited aggregated $160.S43.24.
Hamilton county made the next best
record with a total Of $117,448.S5
earned. The increment in soIue Of
the other large counties was: Lucas,
| $31. .672.92; Summit, $34,591.48; Frank
lin. $3O.762.56; Stark, $27,9s2.13. and
Montgomery, $l4.921.69.
Immediately prior to the notable
reforms in the handling Of pablic
| money which WAS Instituted in the
| statehouse by State Treasurer Crea-
| mer, little attention was paid to OBJ
tanning profitable rates Of interest on
this money. Prior to 1905 there was
no interest earnings at all, and thou
sands of dollars were lost to the tax
| payers.
SO late as 1906 a senate investigat-
! ing committee probed conditions sur
founding the dep0siting Of Hamilton
county funds and II was learned that
county officials there had been pock-
citing the interest earnings. thereby
robbing the taxpayers. One result OF
this work was to compel Hamilton
county officials to turn back into the
treasury $2i4.99S.76.
At one time prior to the advent Of
Democrats In the state treasury de-
partment q greedy gang Of grafters
reaped rich harvests Of dishonest
money by first controlling Republican
| state treasurers and then getting de-
posits of public money at ridiculously
low rates Of interest and then pock-
eted them. A very small circle Of pol
iticians was able to get these dep0s.
it's: Boss George B. Cox was one Of
them. So powerful was this combine
with its ramifcations throughout the
state that It was able to dictate Aomi.
nations for state treasurer in Republl.
can conventions for many years.
The death knell of grating In this
| department was sounded when the
Democratic legislature In 1911 enact.
ed measure providing for the award
ing of all state money by competitive
bidding. In two previous sessions Of
the general assembly Republican ma
| jorities had steadfastly refused to
pass such a bill, although the mem.
bers knew their declinations cost the
people many thousands Of dollars an
nually.
The department has been purged Of
system whereby state treasurers In
former years bartered deposits OF the
commonwealth's money in exchange
for bank stocks. system that enabled
men who came to Columbus In mod
| crate financial circumstances to re-
tire after four years. service at an
annual salary of s8.50O the possessors
OF immense fortunes. and towering
skyscrapers were erected in the Cap
ital City with the ill-gotten gain, 1t
was charged. A complete system OF
Bookkeeping instituted by Treasurer
Creamer. who paid the cost for the
same when he learned there was no
appropriation for the work and took
the TiSk Ot Uctn8 TeImUuTbcu, HAS Ic-
placed the old system, under which
there were practically no books. Rec
crds we're kept on the back ~ en-
yelopes and carried in the minds Of
officers Of the department, who had
the distressing habit OF. forgetting
,alient points when called upon for
IN accounting. The h0use-cieaning
aas gone SO far as to prohibit officers
OF banks and other interested persoMs
to go upon the bonds OF state treas.
Mrers-something that was done in
the old days. 1t was most effective
means OF putting that official under
obligation to bankers, and was q great
aid to the latter In getting deposits.
Although an annual bond OF sl.So0
was required. Treasurer Creamer paid
for the same ont of his own funds for
three years, rejecting the Offer OF
bankers to sign a recognizance until
provision was made by tbs legislature
fnr Tho navtnont of the cIvne Inv fna