The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-09-20
DEMOCRATIC FINANCES. How the Expenditures of the Ma tionaI Committee Are Cared For,

(By E.. M. Gross1nan. Assistant Treas
 urer Democratic National
 ~ Committee1
 Chicago. Sept. 20. = The finances of the Wilson campaign are being man
 aged upon strict business basis. I
 believe that the administration of RoI- kla Wells of St. Louis as Treasurer of
 the Democratic National Committee
 will mark new epoch in the use of
 money for campaign purposes
 MT. Wells has brought to bear his long years of experience in the hand ling of large business affairs and the
 financial department of the campaign is being mana ged with the same eff
 cient attention to details which marks highly organized business esta bIish- ments.
 MT. Wells was mayor of SteesLouls
 for eight years and is one of the lead ing business men of that city.
 Every cent expended at these head
 quarters is strictly accounted for with the most minute and detailed records. We have a purchasing agent, who, by
 the way,is an expert in his line, being one of the purchasing department of the Crane Company here in Chicago
 Every article desired whether 1t be
 lead pencils a million copies of Gov. ed for by requisition prepared in duplicate by the head of the depart Jment desiring the articles. The head
 of the departmrent then presents this the manager of the western headquar- ters, who, if he approves the puf- chase, O. Ks it. The .requisition then comes to the purchasing agent who, being familiar with all the business houses in Chicago. obtains competitive bids and the order is given to the low When the goods are delivered, the stock-keeper indicates that fact on the copy of requisition blank filed with him, and delivers this to my depart ment. Thereupon, we obtain on print ed forms prepared for the purpose, the signature of the head of the depart ment for whom the goods were pur- chased, certifying that he received the goods; the purchasing agent certifies that the goods were bought for the most reasonable price and on the same this particular bill has not been pre- vicusly paid. It is then. and not until
 then naH that ag Bi1Iz toe 6e 6ll yocber checks l the voucher operating as receipt I and explaining on it's face the pur-
 pose for which the money is paid; This | the carbon copy being attached to the certificates above described and to the 1 original requisition and order slip. These papers are filed away and at the l end of each week transmitted to the l treasury department of the New York headquarters. When the cancelled check comes back to me I attach it to 1 the carbon copies of the above docu- ments and file them. Thus, at the l end of each week the New York office knows how much money I have spent and for what purpose, and at the
 same time I have in my files here a complete record of all money spent | and the purposes for which the mon | ey was expended. 1 With reference to pay rolls: The head of each department makes out a l pay roll on blank sheets prepared for 1 the purpose, indicating the name of | the employee, the character of the work done by the employee, the mum
 Der of days the employee was at work 1 compensation per day and the total to
 which the employee is entitled. These pay rolls are signed by the head of l manager of the western headquarters
 and are then sent to my department | pay employees in voucher checks and require signature of the employee 1 likewise prepared in duplicate, one copy going to New York each week, | one copy remaining in my file.
 Similar procedure is followed with l accounts for those who receive no sal | aries and who give their services to ' the campaign committee in considera- | ton of their expenses. These expen- | wise in duplicate, and approved by the head of the department and by the manager of the western headquarters. | The only bookkeeping that is requir- | ed at these headquarters with refer ence to expenditure is simply a distri- | button of expenditures among the de- | partments, so that I am able to tell
 at any minute how much each depart
 ment is costing the National Commit ! tee The campaign cOntri buttons re
 ceived at this office are acknowledged 1 from New York headquarters I trans
 init to New York the sum total ob- l tained for campaign contributions to- l gether with a list of the contributors l and their addresses, carbon copy of | which list I keep for nI51 own records. ! A large amount of mail necessarily