The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-08-04
BY JOHN ELFnETn WATKINS.

A LII rec-.rds for honesty have been
"A broken by tho hundreds OF sub
ordinatcs OF Leo NcClung.
Treasurer OF the United States. Dur
ing the fiscal year lately closed they
have handled the unprecedented sum
OF S6.6ol.731,5o without the shortage
of a single penny.
out OF this enormous sum every
man. woman and child in the United
state could be given s72. or. If it
were equally divided among all tho
people of Peoria. Savannah or Eric.
zach would be Independently fixed for
life with "a fortune Of 100000.
No other Office or institution in
America. or probably in the world.
ever handled nearly so much money in
SINGLE year. In tho treasury it
passed through thousands OF myers.
10 none OF which it stuck. yet none OF
these fingers did its work under the
argus eyes OF government spoilers.
such as spy through peep holes at our
postal employees
4 Nervc-W rccking once.
Were Treasurer McClung not blessed
with cast-iron nerves, nc might. dur
ing this record year. have spent many
sleeplcss night rejecting upon tho
possibility of being reduced to poverty
ny some dishonest subordinate trusted
wiih part OF the handling OF such a
fortune. Tor nc would have been per-
sonaNy Responsible for any pecuia-
,ion thorofrom responsible. at least
70 tho sum of $4,000. This is the
amount or the bond which he had TO
give Uncle Sam before taking hold
Of that genuoman's pursestrings. In
deed. the responsibilities OF the Fed
oral reasuror's Office arc so great
past
The bond demanded Is perpetual IL
" shortage discovered IN the Treasury
vaults "A hundred years hence shoui II
h' traced back TO this period % NJ
Mcclnng's custodiansnlp. tho heirs OF
his bondsmen could be held respot1-
slhle for it, And set Congress CEN
not soc NJ TO require a bond in any
amount. OF even tho most responsil, bio
~ his subordinaics entrusted with ithe
handling ~ S2Q0oo00 each work. ny
day 81 the year Had any clerk or
messenger stolen $3.50 moo OF this sum
and succeeded la socreting j, bsnona
the reach Of secret service men. Mr..
McC!ung would have had TO make
scot the fuli amount. and only a spc-
cal act Of Congress could haze re-
l.eved him of the obligation
Vast IIumnn Cash RcSister.
The only safeguard which the Treas
Nry has long held over its vasa corps
OF money handlers Is clevchl.- CO.
ordinaiof system wherein erich en-
Tioye serves as check upon his ono
co"orker who hands him money and
his other coworker TO whom no passes
H. Each omploye IS tho coe.Eheel Of a
great complicated cash register. and
when one oogwhcol COOS ,vrone the
whole machine stops until tho cause
ot tho error has heon determined. AZ
ter devotinE years to tho development
of this system. Treasury oinciais ap-
pear 10 have perfected il To tho poin,
where no thief from Within can steal
dollar OF Uncle sans treasure ana
escape exposure unless considerable
eroup OF MS fellow-emplones enter in
10 The conspiracy with him. and here
in lies the secret of the systems safe
~
Thefis hv Uncle SANS money.han-
dlers are now very rare and for really
dramatic instances Of such dishonesty
the Treasury officials have 10 20 back
generation or moro TO the DAYS be-
fore the present system 81 checks and
balances had been perfected
One Of tho most famous cases IN
which tho Treasury was robbed hv
one Of it's own trusted employees oc-