The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-02-10
SOUND, r o CLEAN

sets are over $z,OOO,OOO LII excess VI
it's liabilities this according to the
audit boards report made up by Bish-
op, Brissman & Co., which report is
now before the legislature.
The accountants report that they
have not had sufficient time in which
to audit the Mill and Elevator and
Home Building association land re-
ports on these are declared practically
valueless.
This leaves the Cass County caucus
and the I. VA. standpatters in the
unenviable position of now having to
manufacture outright whatever prop
Uganda they deem may be necessary
if the railroads, grain gamblers ana
public utility corporations are deter-
mined to 20 thru with the recall OF
Frazier, Hagan, Lemke, Cathro and
the three supreme court judges they
are after.
The following clear summary OF the
findings is given in the Courier-News
of January 26 by its Bismarck rep
resentative, Mr.. c.. K. Gummerson;
who is backed up by Associated Press
dispatch.
Clean Bill for Bank
The report of the condition and
cooperation of the Ban kof North Da-
kota is substantially the same as the
statement issued by the banks own or
ficials. To quote the audit report on
page S, Except for *** some minor
adjustments made by us, the within
balance sheet is in accord with n
general ledger balance as at SAID
date"
This means that the states man.
moth financial institution on Decem-
her 8 showed a surplus of $4O,OOO and
undivided profits of $14O,OOO, or a to
tai surplus of $18O,OOO. The blsnop'
Brissman and company auditors have
certified to assets aggregatlng IN ex.
cess of S18,83O,O00 and liabilities o Il
sic. $50, 900, which shows assets tar
in excess of liabilities of $2,lS0,O Oo
Funds Properly Accounted For
All funds were found properly &C.
counted for and NJ criticisms were
made on either salaries paid or on tne
expense contingent to the operation OF
The institution. Comments made by
the auditing firm were directed only
against the law creating the tat
hank. altho such criticisms were en-
tirely outside the province OF the &C.
countants hired solely for the purpose
Of determining if the institution was
properly managed or if the states
funds were being improperly apphed.
The concluding paragraph OF the
report on the bank declares:
"Every facility was afforded US IN
the within examination and we ac-
knowledge the cooperation and assist
ance of Mr.. F. w. Cathro manager
and director general, MI. L. P. Mean
eney, credit department, officers ana
employees as required"
Home Building
All funds of the association were
found accounted for and, as in n case
of the bank the officials of the as
%sociation, R. B. Blakemore, manager,
and John B. Adams, bookkeeper, were
commended for the cooperation they
rendered the auditors:*
Limited time and alleged lack OF op-
p%ortunity to examine the records at
Grand Forks and Fargo offices were
given as the reason for failure to
make a complete audit of the Drake
mill.
Standpatters Staggered
That the report of their W picked
auditors on the Bank of North Da-
kota and the state industries has lit
orally given the I. V. A. stand pat
tiers the bid staggers is born witness
to by the bowls let out by the organ
of the Cass County crowd on the 10.
In it's determination to misinterpret
the report to the people, the Forum
not only made no mention of the Bis
marck Tribune's report, but forgot
to print the Associated Press Dis
patch that bore out Mr.. Gummerson's
dispatch to the Courier-News and al.
so overlooked some interesting mix
ups in the Bishop, Brissman report.
Strange Oversights
For instance, in their report on the
Home Building association of $4,000
on page one as not having deposited
while on page II of the same repor
the item is shown, not as cash, bu:
as two certificates of deposits fo'
$1,000 each that the association hat
taken in part payment on homes.
Again, statement is made in on
part of the report that some $4,000
of home builders funds had been pai'
out without the usual vouchers hayin'
been written. These vouchers were i
the files all the time and are nov
s. waiting to be brought before the com
mittee for submission as evidence o
the failure of the auditors to properl
+. examine the industry.
Once more, the statement is. mad
that a physical inventory was mad
of the Drake mill. Sworn statement
of mill workers and employees decla,
otherwise.
Yet again, the Forum on the 26t
80 IL~J e. To- LocIlS~oo fhof VRonk 4