The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1922-02-14
H. G. BRISSMAN'S
ARREST CAUSED
BY ]. C0GHLAN
Accountant Charged With Vio-
lating State Accountancy
Laws BY Attorney
POLITICAL PLOT CHARGED

Herman G. Brisslnan Of the firm OF
Bishop, Brissman and Company of St.
Paul, was arrested last night on a
warrant sworn out by Joseph Coghlan,
member of the state board Of ac-
countancN, charged with a misde-
meanor in that he "did wilfully,
wrongfully and unlawfully assume
the title of certified public account
ant of this state and by misrepresent-
ing himself as such made and submit
ted to the board of auditors and SEN
ate and house of representatives OF
the state of North Dakota a certain
audit OF the books OF the bank OF
North Dakota"
Brissman was arraigned before
Justice of the Peace w. S. Casselman
at 9 o'clock last night and continuance
granted until February 16, bond be-
ing given in the sum of $500, by him,
with, no surety required. sfs.sy4-
Mr.. Coghlan, explaining his action,
said: "The law is plain that in North
Dakota unless one has been admitted
as an accountant he is strictly pro-
hibited from the use Of the words
certified public accountant A lot Of
different parties have been operating
in North Dakota the past year or two
who, we have found, are not certified
public accountants and as [ am the
only lawyer on the state board OF ac-
countancy l deemed it my duty to
act"
Members of the state board of ,ac-
countancy are DR.. E. T. ToWne, Of
Grand Forks; J. A. Gull, Of Fargo, and
Mr. Coghlan.
Says Attack Political
The Brissman company is now
nearing completion of an audit Of the
state industries under the new admin
istration. Administration circles re-
gard the acton of Coghlan as an at
tempt to prevent the audit reports
being made, which may show the
state industries to be in worse shape
than any previous reports have shown.
The arrest was characterized by
Edward B Cox, Brissman's attorney
today as simply political attack"
"The Bishop, Brissman firm is we'll
known throughout the Northwest and
is an old established firm of public
accountants" said Mr.. Cox. 'This
late attack is just the work of dis
gruntled politician and doubtless will
be so considered by the people" Sig
nature to the warrant for the arrest
of Mr.. Brissman was secured on in
formation to the Justice that Mr..
Brissman was about to leave town and
the Justice so stated in open court. AS
matter of fact Mr.. Brissman has
been here for several weeks and his
work will keep him here for month
longer at least. The justice allowed
Mr.. Brissman to go by simply sign
ing his own bond and stated no furth-
er surety was needed
State accountants, however, on the
other hand declare that the law has
been ignored and that thousands of
iIdollars have been paid to nonresident
accountants for work that could be
done as we'll by resident taxpayers OF
this state. ut is time to ascertain, "
said an accountant, whether the law
is worth anything. None OF us oppose
the present audit but we feel North
Dakota accountants should not be ig-
nored so persistently as in the past"
The complaint was not approved
by the states attorney.
To File New Charge
Coghlan declared this afternoon
that he would ask the states attorney
to approve a warrant for the arrest
of Brissman on a charge Of having
made an audit for the Farmers Union
! Warehouse Milling and Mercantile
company, a private concern, because
"they say it is politics in charging
them with acting illegally in making
the Bank of North Dakota audit
He said he would file charges on &C.
count of every audit the firm hac
made in North Dakota.
Hoses ROTH LEGS