The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-10-07


accounts are accurate and we'll kept,
Prof w. r. Gray of Dartmouth college
has made some recommendation which
already have been put into effect. He
recommends that If system by which
the auditor would be compelled to exam
inc the accounts of the treasurer should
be installed it might dispense with the
necessity of independent audits, as at
present. The report Of Prof. Gray in
full is as follows:
State Treasurer
l. have pleasure in reporting that in
my examination of the treasurers &C.
counts, | found abundant evidence Of
accurate, orderly and businesslike meth
DDS in the conduct Of the office, together
with scrupulous purpose to safeguard
the interests OF the state In my opin-
ion, the manner in which the affairs Of
the office are administered compare ia.
vorably with the operations of we'll
conducted business concern, and reflect
credit upon the treasurer, the deputy
treasurer, and their assistants
q Many defects in the system of trans.
acting state business and in the methods
of control, in force up to July /, 1918,
appear largely to have been remedied by
the new procedure prescribed and in OPP
Grafton for the fiscal year 10000. In
my opinion. the new system win be
found effective in correcting defects Of
former practices. Moreover, believe
that the actual experience of the treas
urer's office will provide the most de-
pendabe basis Of judging the merits 81
the new system in operation; ] have
therefore made no attempt to forecast
the results OF operations under the new
system, except as ! have hereinafter
suggested further, apparently desirable,
improvements.
3 ! wish also to commend the practice
of the treasurer in making promptly
available to the public his clear and com.
pact financial statement for the fiscal
year.
4 Under the present system, the prop
er handling and accounting for state
funds seem TO be adequately safeguard.
ed, provided the present efficient conduct
Of the treasurer's office Ia maintained
But under a less businesslike regime, it
il doubtful whether the system of con-
troll now in force would be sufficient,
No adequate machinery appears to have
been provided to ensure that the regula.
tions and restrictions thrown around the
treasurer's office viii at all times be OBJ.
served Finds received might be di.
verified under certain conditions by the
simple device Of issuing single receipts
without the carbon copies supposed to
be forwarded In all cases to the auditor
BIZ the treasurer and by the person to
whom the receipts are issued More
fragrant acts might be committed and
remain undetected for months. II there
fore appears, as | suggest hereafter. that
some system by which the accounts and
methods Of the treasurer's office are
checked at more frequent intervals
should be devised
s. The former practice BY which the
treasurer was expected 20 draw directly
ON banks for the salaries and expenses Of
himself and assistants, and afterwards
to cover these checks BY an auditors
order, appears to have been contrary to
the intent Of the law This practice is
changed under the new system, however,
and has been abandoned
6 In my opinion, there il questionable
expediency in requiring the treasurer to
assume responsibility for disbursing.
outside Of the regular routine, large
sums on such accounts as legislative sal.
aries and expenses, distribution Of L. S.
deposit funds and pay to soldiers. Such
provisions in acts Of the legislature tend
not only to impose undue responsibility
and burdens upon the treasurer's office,
but also to break down the safeguards
provided under the system normally gov.
erning the disbursement Of state funds,
Il II Is the custom of members of the
legislature. state officials and employees
TO regard the treasurer's office as a bank
in presenting checks to be cashed and in
other ways The additional work thus
required of busy office Is willingly and
carefully performed. As a result, how
ever. a considerable amount of cash ID
regularly kept in the treasurer's Office to
meet such demands. Under less eff.
cient regime, the custom might lead to
facilities Of Montpelier are adequate and
conveniently located, and there seems to
be no sound reason for continuing prac.
tice which is, at best, burdensome and
possibly unsafe.
s. In comparing the treasuNr's and
auditors records Of receipts, the total
amounts were found TO be in agreement,
but due to differences in the classified.
ton Of accounts, the records show minor
differences in the classification Of re.
ceipts, Whether it is practicable Of
worth while to reconcile such minor dis
crepancies is q question which | believe
may well be left to the judgment of the
offices concerned.
Auditor of Accounts.
J. As result Of my examination,
am able TO report that, in my opinion,
the Office Of the auditor Of accounts also
ID conducted with exceptional efficiency
that the records are IN excellent form
and kept in an accurate and businesslike
manner, that the interests of the state
are zealously safeguarded, and that
there is an apparent desire to effect pro
gressive improvements of methods
z. / ne CLASSIFICATION Oh ACCOUNTS ~ pro
ductive of unusually complete and de
tailed information concerning the dis,
bursement OF state funds.
3. ne system in force during the fiscal
year l0ls.l0 was complicated illogical
and faulty, especially in constituting
the auditor the discussing officer as well
as the approving officer, and in permit
ting special deposits of large sums in
the name of the auditor, TO be disbursed
on account of expenses OF state insttu-
tions and distribution OF consolidated