The Meeker herald., 1918-11-02
SHORT SHORTAGE
TALE AND SEQUEL
HOW AUDITOR LEcKENsY GOT At
FIGURES AFTER HIS oPPoN-
EMIT HAD "APPRovEp"
ERRORS.
10y George M. kimbaIl.)

ton OF the public services OF an OFF,
cial who has kept faith with the PEG
ple-Chas. II. Leckenby. present state
auditor Democratic candidate for
state treasurer.
Two years ago by . majority OF
nearly $4,000 the people Of Colorado
commissioned Charlie Leckenby to
take charge of one OF the most import
ant branches OF the state government.
to look after the expenditures Of the
vast sums that the people pay to keep
up the machinery of government.
That he has performed this duty
well is conceded by everybody. Con.
fronted by a vast Increase OF work &C.
casioned by the mobilization of the
state troops and other war activities.
there has been no increase In the ex-
pense and the business OF the state
has been performed promptly. eco
nomically. courteously.
We who knew this quiet. unassum.
ing, hut capable business man. took
all of this as a matter OF course. 1t
was part of his training to be thor
ough, economical, prompt and straight
forward.
But there are two kinds Of public,
officials.
One kind takes the line OF least re-
sistance. performs his duties we'll. pos
sibly, hut gets by with the least ef.
fort. contenting himself TO follow we'll
marked lines laid down by his prede.
cessors. II work has always been
done In a certain way. he does not
take the trouble to make changes or
improve methods.
The other kind Is ambitious 10 do
a little more than his routine duty.
wants to improve methods. to inquire
into past transactions, to stop leaks
and be of real value TO the people who
elected him.
OF this latter class is Charlie Leck-
enby.
For at least two years before his Of.
ficiai duties began II was generally
known that there was false entry on
the books OF the state treasurer. that
there was forced balance. that q
former employee had gotten away with
some OF the money which belonged TO
the peOple-YOUR money.
Nobody seemed to be clear A. to
how It had been done or the exact
amount Of the shortage. Some Of
your money had disappeared There
WAS. Of course. something faulty with
the system of handling the money. but
former officials had not made the OF.
fort or taken the trouble to 'sift II 10
the bottom.
II you were running 4 business and
were confronted with such a condi.
tion, II you knew some Of your money
had gone but was not sure Of the
amount or the method employed.
wouldn't you think II worth while 10
make thorough examination and put
forth an effort 10 recover what had
been taken from you?
with Charlie I.eckenby II was simp-
ly case Of making the peoples bust.
ness his business. II did not occur TO
him to get by the easy way. He want
cd TO know the whole story. to find
out the amount. 10 remedy faulty
method which would allow such thefts
and to make an effort to recover the
money which had been stolen from
the people.
No superficial examination would
satisfy this official. He went back for
a period OF twenty years and checked
every item on the financial books OF
the state. II required five months TO
do the job and there was individual
handling Of over 100000 warrants ~
well Ms checking Of books that had
grown musty with age. covering ex-
pendtures OF more than 100000. 900.
But when the task was finished the
whole matter was like an open hook.
the dates. the amount, the method {.
For period Of nearly seventeen
years a trusted employee of the state
had been taking YOUR money. tho
aggregate amount being nearly $780,
900.
How could all this happen?
Loose business methods. primarily.
and casy.going examiners who wanted
TO get by with the minimum Of trou-
BILE and effort. Not the Leckenby kind
of officials.
High salaried certified public &C.
countants had checked the hooks anil
certified to them as correc' while the
thefs were going on. Let one OK.
ample suffice for many.
In June. 1903. following the custer,
then In vogue. Governor PcEboty az.
pointed q committee Of experts to
examine. the state trcasurer's books
for the previous six months. and on
page 1GG OF che cash book Of that year
appears ihiE notation:
Examined and found correct,
II. f. MULNIX.
n. F. RICHARDSON.
F.P. RERTSCHY.