The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1917-01-11
WHEN The CATS AWAY
The MICE WILL PLAY
What Happens to State Funds
When There's No One
Looking.

Pierre. s. d., JAN. 10.--In official cir
lles any state auditor who INDUCES In
critical inspection of vouchers is ex-
tremely unpopular. and for that reason
the dear people should be very eau.
tious about accepting general offlciai
estimates on the way business is con-
Quoted in that office. j. r. HandllE
who commenced his second term as
state auditor On January l., has shown
unusual talent as a watchdog. rms
tendency resulted in efforts to prevene
his denomination, but the efforts falleu.
Feeling that his methods have been
vindicated to some extent. Mr.. Hand!in
Is scrutinizing the vouchers closer than
ever. The Importance Of this work Is
partially shown I'm the fact thar Vouch-
FRS rejected by the state auditor during
The past year totaled about $4,000. :
The following voucher. held up last
week. is a sample Of privileges taken
by state institutions in expanding APP
preparations:
Aberdeen, s. D., Dec. IS, 1916.
State Of South Dakota to
Strohmeier Flower Shop, Or. ,
For supplies, Northern Normal and I'M
~lustrlal School: ,
Nov. "a doz. large roses telegraphed
to Madison, Wis..................:S SO
Nov. 7-3 doZ. large roses telegraphed
to Boone, i.@
Total SIG. O5
On account of the death of relatives Of
faculty members. !
Approved December Is. :
w. f.. Johnson. President. ,
.CThis voucher was also approved by ing
chairman and secretary of the state board
pr regents). :
This is not presented as an extremd
case, but as one which happened to bd
in sight and not calling for special rel
search. Here is another case on the
auditors desk and being brought to
the attention of Legislative members
At the 1915 session a special appro-,
priation of 81, 500 was made for the use
Of the state engineer in studying the
artesian well situation in the state.
with special reference to the. probable
Durability of present flows.
or that appropriation, $1,337.4o has
been consumed. The expenditures I'M
clude $773.42 for mileage and $226 in
fees for the state engineers wife, these
two items t~otal!ng $999.42. If the state
has discovered enough about its water
flows to justify the Expense. perhaps
nobody but the auditor will ever carei
In the early stages of his operations,
state Engineer Derr was using a new
automobile and presenting expense
| vouchers on the basis Of 20 cents a miiS
for the use of the machine. An autoi
mobile dealer informed a deputy in the
| auditors office that an arrangement
had been made whereby the state en-
gineer was to OWN the machine aftel
the mileage payments had I"
| the purchase price. The state engineer.
when called onto the carpet, denied any
| such arrangement, but the auditor sayl
| the engineer retained possession of tins
| machine and sold it, later, to a man in
Pierre. Of curse. the engineers wort
will be taken rs to the mileage charge
arrangement. but there are some peri
L rA,,n f,,,A x.lN thtrl tIn machine hn.
| longs to The state.
More Voucher Stories.
The stories told in salary and eX-
pense vouchers are too numerous for
enc article, yet the fact still
| remains that the South Dakota tax rate
is the lowest of any state in the union
in view of this condition, there is a
Natural tendency to wonder what tho
Showing would be in Iowa n some
| other high taxation states. '
In the law creating the tax COM
mission and it's official staff the salary
2f the secretary was fixed at SIZE ~
Conth and n provision was included
.or necessary clerk hire, with salaries
rot stated. The man who formerly
held the position of secretary, at a salt
ary of 1925, was reduced to the rank or
clerk during the past year and given
. salary allowance of $3.50 a month";
Can you peat it? :
These specimens impress the neces-
fifty of employing particular care in seI
betting auditors. They should rather
he chosen because they are ~resolute
men han good fellows" ,
Those who assume that the present
| legislative session will he tame on gen.
Cral business questions are doing so
without taking the present state au-
| aitor's temperament into ccoun He
processes to take his responsibilities
seriously and there is no valid reason
for questioning mis- motives. No fac
tional are involved, as
when II. Il. Anderson was state audi
tor. Mr.. Handlin is plainly wrought up
about the way state business is CON-
| aucted. He contends that his office Is
| deliberately restricted on help ad-
| ding machines in order to minimize his
| supervision as much as possible. He
is urging legislators to give closer at
tention to the expenditures of state Of
ficials n state institutions. The
members listen to his statements and
view his exhibits: some of them pro-
| TESS to be surprised and Mortified. ,
1t will take more tina surprise, how
! ever, to OVerturn conditions which eX-
tend beyond individual tendencies. The
system Of doing state business is at
fault and no recent governor is re-
sponsible for the system. Both Byrne
and Norbeck are strong advocates OF
| the budget system-Specific allowances
for specific purpOses-and his system
would make an important inroad into
loose methods Of doing business.
In the meantime the disposition Of
state funds is too much dependent up
on he persuasive powers Of individual
lobbyists, having little actual reference
to state needs.
| POLiCEMAN,S MuRDERER