The Springfield herald., 1918-10-25
SHORT SHORTAGE
TALE AND SEQUEL
HOW AUDITOR LEcKENsY GOT At
FIGURES AFTER HIS oPPoN-
EMIT HAD "APPRovED"
ERRORS.
{sy eeorde M. kimbalI.)

(ey 0eorde M. kimball)
This article is written in apprecia-
ton OF the public services of an Off.
cial who has kept faith with the peo-
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 vast increase OF work oc-
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, but 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. but gets by with the least ef-
fort, contenting himself to follow we'll
IL 1nll -, l,{r
cessors. II a 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 to do
. little more than hts 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
ficial duties began 1t was generally
known that there was false entry on
the books Of the state treasurer. that
there was a forced balance. that q
former employe had gotten away with
the people-YOUR money.
Nobody seemed to be clear as to
how 1t 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 ef-
fort or taken the trouble to sift 1t to
the bottom.
II you were running 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.
I wouldn't you think 1t worth while to
mako q thorough examination and put
forti, an effort to recover what had
been taken from you?
With Charlie Leckenby 1t was simp-
ly case of making the peoples bust
ness his business 1t did not occur to
him to get by the easy way. He want
ed to know the whole story, to find
out the amount, to 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. 1t required five months to
do the job and there was individual
handling of over 100000 warrants as
well as checking of books that had
OHa at Hrytt v.
penditures of more than $60,000,000.
But when the task was finished the
whole matter was like an open book,
the dates. the amount, the method. 4,
For period of nearly seventeen
years trusted employe of the state
had been taking YOUR money. the
aggregate amount being nearly $780,
OOO
How could all this happen?
Loose business Mods. primarily.
aud easy-going e1l (4srs who wanted
to get by with the minimum Of trou-
BILE and effort Not the Leckenby kind
of officials
High salaried certified public ac-
countants had checked the books and
certified to.them as correct while the
thefts were going on. Let one ex-
ample suffice for many:
In June, 1903, following the custom
then in vogue. Governor Peabody ap-
pointed committee of experts" to
examine, the state treasurer's books
, for the previous six months. and on
page 166 of the cash book of that year
appears this notation:
Examined and found correct.
= H. e. MULNrx,
b. F. RICHARDSON,
+ F. P. BERTSCHY,
Committee.