The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1916-04-07
TRUTH ABOUT THE
C0UNTY'S AUDIT
HONESTY: OF COUNTY OFFICERS
NOT QUESTIONED
Auditors Recommend improvements in
Bookkeeping, but Find Little of
Actual Shortage.

the auditing of the accounts of the ma
ior county officers, the clerk, treasurer,
register of deeds, sheriff, county road
commissioners, county superintendent
of schools and superintendents of poor.
The contract price for the work, for
two year period was $4,000, with a
provision that further investigation
would be conducted, if the supervisors
so desired, at the rate of $1,000 per day
and expenses. The board considered 1T
advisable to have a four year period OF
the Office of the county road commits
sioners covered by the investigation and
under the terms of the contract the
entire bill for the audit of the county
books came to $l944.25. To this was
added $57. 50 for auditing the records of
Justice Corrigan. of Fenton, making
the entire cost to the county $20O1.75.
1t will be seen that the extra work of
the auditors cost $344.35 more than
that done under contract.
There can be no doubt of the pro-
priety of the audit. 1t was business
like proceeding and fully warranted
whether it disclosed any discrepancies
or not. If discrepancies were disclosed
it would, within reasonable limits, pre-
vent their recurrence; if none were dis
. closed the assurance that the county
officials were honest, and that their
methods were open and above board, or
even that their methods might be
greatly improved. fully justified the ex-
penditure of reasonable sum for the
work.
But, we believe in giving every man
his just due, and we believe the findings
of the auditors, as they may have bear
ing upon the character or integrity of
the various county officials. should be
ghl.galnderstood and not left open
to misapprehension. Preliminary to any
statement on this subject let us say
that the integrity of any of the officials
was not called in question in the report
The auditors. .criticise the system of ac-
counting in nearly every one of the Off
ces, but it should be borne in mind that
the systems now in vogue are the same
that have been in use for very long
period, and the officials now serving the
county have simply continued the utili-
ties provided for them. That these
may be capable of improvement is pos
sibly and even probably true, as private
q 6~,,o, ha,,a not ~ pfraouaptIxy found n ad-
visable to have systems of accounting
introduced into their business superior
to those that had previously been in
use.
But to'return to the subject we set
opt primarily to discuss; the bearing of
this report upon the official conduct of
the county officers: Taking first the
case of the sheriff, and considering his
conduct of his Office and the keeping of
his accounts for two year period,
the auditors discovered an error
of $4.95, being the amount of about
nine days board of certain pris-
oner who had been discharged through
the payment of his fine before the ex-
piration of his sentence, in whose case
the turnkey had failed to note the facts
on the Jail records and the sheriff
charged up the board of the prisoner to
the county for the full period. Surely
the finding of an error of nine days
board out of a total of about thirty-five
thousand days is an extra good show
ing, rarely excelled in the conduct Of
any business of similar proportions and
however systematized. The import Of
that part of the report dealing with the
desirability of different phases of the
coYnty's contract with the sheriff was,
we presume, already well known to the
board Of supervisors and does not in
anywise compromise the sheriff's integ-
rity. If, as implied, the sheriff has too
liberal contract it is for the people
through their proper representatives to
correct the error.
In the Office of the county clerk the
auditors found shortages amounting
originally to $4,000. but this was sub
sequently cut down to $1,000 and items
have since been found that would re-
duce the latter sum very materially.
The clerk receives thousands of small
fees from multiplicity of sources each
year and inaccuracies in his Office to-
taling less than $50. 90 per year, consid-
ering the volume and character of the
accounts, would be pretty good show
ing. We will trust to the personal ex-
perience and fairness of our individual
readers for justification Of this asser-
tion. But to show the character of the
shortages that were found we may say