Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-08-12
HAWAII C0UNTYS FINANCES SHOW ROTTENNESSN
STARTLING REPORT Of H. GOODING FIELDS PROBE


Another Call.
then called on the third name on
this list as above. and living in Hilo
/ 7. Nishimoto (Soper) to ascertain II
he had paid his license fee to Lyman
and received his license. He inform.
. ed me that he had not received his
license. Lyman's excuse to him for
the delay in doing so being that nc
! one else had received their license
On July 9Th, 1912, Nishimoto handed
lis check, No. 243, to Rufus A. Ly,
man for $521.00, being $500 for his
six months license fee from July list
| 1912 to December 31st, 1912, to
gether with $21.0O for stamps. This
check was as follows:
No. 24S.
Hilo Hawaii, July 5th, 1912.
! The First Bank of Hilo, Limited.
Pay to the Order of r. A. Lyman
S521. 90 Five Hundred and Twenty-one
00100 Dollars.
Y. NISHIMOTO fSoper).
Lyman received the check from Nj
shimoto on the 5th Of July, 1912. The
same day he endorsed it and present
ed the check at the bank and received
the cash for it. This is shown by the
perforated cancellation on the check
made by the bank. Original check
produced) Lyman did not give Nj
shimoto a receipt for the money,
claiming that the check was good
enough for the purpose.
No Entry Made.
No entry has been made by Lyman
in the cash record book (also pro-
duced) Of the 1921 so collected, nor
, has this amount been turned over by
him to the county treasurer.
Lyman's Explanation.
Captain Fetter, the liquor license in
spector, informed me that on July Z
last he left Hilo for his periodical tour
of inspection of the Island of Hawaii
to see if all the licenses had been reg
ularly renewed for the six months
commencing July I, 1912 He inform
ed me that he had stayed on this trip
at kau, three days; Kona, five days;
Waimea, one day; Kohala, three days;
back to Waimea for four days, thence
to Honokaa for two days, but he was
unable to find any of the renewals,
and he returned to Hilo to report the
same to Lyman, as secretary of the
Board of License Commissioners. Ly-
man informed Fetter in reply to his
inquiries that the renewals had cross
ed him on his inspection trip, as he
had just mailed them. Fetter now
claims that all the licenses have not
vet been issued. -.
Audit. Still Needed. -. .-.- .>...-...
It can notrDe ascertained, without a
detailed audit, the exact condition of
the liquor license fund since July /,
1905, to date-that is, since the time
the account was turned over by the
Territory to the County of Hawaii:
the Territorial audit was made up to
June 80, 1911-notwithstandi the
fact that the county auditor on Au-
gust last certified to the correctness
Of the financial transactions appear
ing in the record of the secretary of
the Board of License Commissioners,
by the so-called audit previously men
toned.
The System. 4
Here is one instance where Lyman
received a check for 1891, in payment
of a county license; has the check
drawn to himself personally, which he
cashes at the bank the same day.
This was on July 5, 1912-more than
a month ago. No license has been re-
ceived by the party paying the fee, nor
fetal record Of the liquor license com
missioners, by their secretary. i
Lyman's Last Entry.
The last entry made by Lyman on
the cash record book for receipt for
license fees was July Is, 1912-ten
days after he received and cashed the
Nishimoto check-and the date of the
posting of his last remittance to the
county treasurer was July 81, 1912. So
far as the other nine applicants for
licenses are concerned, these people
have not been communicated with to
ascertain if their fees have been paid
over to Lyman, or otherwise. The
correctness Of the entries prior to
1912 for licenses issued, and remit
tances to the county treasurer by Ly-
man. cannot be stated in this report,
looking to the fact that no records
have been obtainable up to this writ
ing to enable check to be made.
In view of the specific transaction
of Nfshimoto, as above, as going to
show the extremely loose methods in
conducting audits Of county funds by
the county auditor, still maintain, as
stated in my supplementary report of
the 26th of July last, that it is impos-
sible to state, without detailed audit,
whether the accounts Of the County
of Hawaii fully and fairly disclose the
position of its affairs, or in what re-
spect they fail to do so. Respectfully
submitted.
II. GOODING FIELD, LIB, F. A. A.
(Eng).
Fellow of the Central Association OF
Accountants, England; Member OF
the American Civic Association.
Hilo. r H.. August 10, 1912.