Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-07-24
Hawaii Probe Commission Has
Session to Secure Ideas
on Public Auditing


counting, with resultant disabilities OF
financial leaks. were uncovered this
morning by the Hawaii county graft
probe commission in the course of a
short session with City and County
Treasurer c. J. Mccarthy and City and
County Clerk d. KalauOkalani Jr.
u No suspicion of graft CT even Of
minor financial irregularity caused the
unannounced meeting Of the commits
sion today. Nor was any irregular:ty
uncovered
The commission is now engaged in
writing it's report on the Hawaii situa-
ton, and wished to get the advice and
opinions of Honolulu officials upon the
general subject of public accounting in
county and territorial government 1t
wished also to take a short survey of
the local methods and to see what
check the county treasurer has upon
expenditures ordered by the board of
supervisors.
| In the course of an hour S session in
the supervisors assembly room, the
commission brought to light some in
teresting facts going to show that con-
siderable lOOseness exists in the ham
ding of finances. Some of the facts.
particularly those of inability of the
city officials to know in advance what
the city revenues will be, have been
emphasized again and again in the
press during the past few years
f. Chairman H. B. Elliot of the com.
mission presided and Commissioners
VI. 7
ney r. w. Breckons. who acted under
the attorney-generars authorization in
prosecuting the Hawaii grafters: City
Clerk Kalauokalqni and his deputy,
Eugene -Buffandeau, and CITY Treas
urer Mccarthy were present. The hear
ing was informal all the way through
and the commissioners emphasized the
point that they were asking questions
simply to get clear idea of what i'm
provements can be made in public &C
counting.
! In particrfar. the session brought
out the fact that an act of the last
legislature, requiring the city clerk to
send to the treasurer duplicate claims
or Duplicate vouchers to correspond
with the claims presented to the audi
tor is not being observed.
These duplicate vouchers are TO De
sent to the treasurer so that he can
at once check claim for money when
it is presented to him.
Says Office oVerworked.
Clerk Kalauokalani explained that 1t
is a physical impossibility for his Of
flee to observe the law now, that the
office is overburdened with work ana
that as these duplicates would have
to be signed by the clerk or his dep
uty the labor was too great.
The law does not allow us to as
sign this work to any clerk, saii
Kalauokalani. Il or my deputy must
sign the papers. The primary law re-
quirements, the great register work
coming with the political season and
the growth Of the general work of the
clerks office are such that we simply |
can't do all the work
A suggestion was made by Breckons
that the claim and warrant should |
be one document and this was heartily |
Endorsed by Treasurer Mccarthy. The |
treasurer also agreed with sugges- l
ton by Chairman Elliot that there |
should be an independent auditing |
system or else that there be a city
controller to act as a disbursing agent |
and the auditor audit the books OF
the treasurer, clerk, etc. Commission
er Williamson suggested that it might
be POSSIBLE to do away with the audi
tors office entirely and to have war
rant clerk and perhaps another clerk
in the treasurer's office.
LoophoIes in Warrant System.
Loopholes in the system of regis
tering warrants and their subsequent
were shown. Treasurer
Mccarthy admitted that he has no
certain way Of checking signatures in
paying out money on warrants-that
the only signature check is in the
auditors office .-....T II
He stated also that in dealing in
registered warrants with local banks
he has had to send a letter to the II
Bank of Hawaii holding himself per-
sonally liable for any fraud or irregu-
larity in the warrant ii
This matter of registering warrants
and securing the money from the
banks. was gone into at some length
The treasurer explained that he has
made arrangements with the banks
so that city employees will not be at
the mercy of loan sharks who would
buy their warrants at discount. He i
said that he was willing to guaran-
tee these warrants and to hold him
self personally liable so that he could
gel the banks to cash the warrants
and keep the employees out of the
hands of the loan sharks .~
Counties Should Levy Own Taxes.
The commissioners asked whether
he counties should be given power to
evy their own taxes and there was
general agreement with this plan.
Mccarthy pointed out that now the
axes are not collected until long aft
n the board of supervisors has to
make its estimates and that the coun-
y is generally doing business on
,redit basis.
TIL.