Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-09
WHO Benefited BY JUooLE
OF THE STATES BIG FUNDS?
That's the Real Question Raised by
Latest Scandal, and II Cannot Be
0odsed by the Capitol
Hill Outfit
BY GEORGE NOX MCCAIN

Hill Outht
BY GEORGE NOX MCCAIN
THE remarkable discrepancies between the
i books of former State Treasurer Har-
mon NJ. Kephart and some Of the banks and
trust companies designated as State deposit
tories, as reported by Main & Co., account
ants, to Auditor General Lewis may pos
sibly account for the refusal Of those direct.
ing the affairs Of the last Legislature TO pass
what was known as the Lewis bill
At the time directed attention to this
bill, which 6hd been prepared by Samuel
:. Lewis, present Auditor General, then
chief clerk Of the Bureau of Corporations,
in the Office OF Auditor General Charles A.
Snyder.
The purpose of the bill was forever to put
an end to the nefarious practices that had
prevailed in connection with the explolta.
tion of State Treasury funds by political
bosse and INSCRIPTIONS State officials.
Some months ago State Treasurer Snyder,
former Auditor General, shortly after the
discovery of the embezzlcmcnt by II. L.
Brindlc of $4,000 from the Auditor Generals
office, made the public declaration that half
n million dollars had been taken. at one
time and another, from the State Treasury,
but that 1t had all been repaid and the
State had not lost a cent
Dispatches from Harrisburg last week, in
connection with the latest Treasury scan
dal. quote former State Treasurer Kephart
as denying the correctness of Main & Co.'S
statement and giving assurance that the
State would not lose a penny
It is to be noted that Mr. Kephart's re-
mark that the State would not suffer finan-
cially is almost identical with a similar
statement made by Mr.. Snyder months
before.
Reiterated assurances Of McsSrs. Snyder
and Kephart are beside III" point. The
paramount question now is not whether the
State will lose n penny. but why were
the State Treasury deposits iugsIed:
Who benefited By it:
Most certainly the State Twill not los"
q penny" Mr.. kcphart as state Treasurer
va~ heavily bonded. and no on" has as yet
mai the allegation that th" commonwealth
La lost anY money,
B.:--ard III, j. the rrUH Of tl" situation
las anybody been using th" state funds
or the States credit rs 4 mcans of adj
yancing some oticInl's prvat" business .,
aiding him In some sort Of sp"rular ion:
Have any state officials been securing
loans from these favored banking institutions
on the strength of the States deposits:
To plead the excuse, us has been done.
that the State will not los" penny Is SIM
ply to draw herring across the trail.
IL Is an old device to distract attention and
divert pursuit from the main question,
What the public wishes TO know is WHO
GOT THE MONEY:
The bill, drawn by Samuel s. Lewis and
designed 70 Illustrate conditions such as have
been disclosed, never saw the light Of day
on the road to enactment. 1t was uncere
monlousIy ruled off the legislative track,
The bosses wanted none of Lewis TREASURY
reforming bills.
The pertinent query IS, in view of these
latest exposures, Were State officials other
than Mr.. Kephart and his subordnatcs
aware at that time of the jugglery which has
just come TO light after three or four years
and which the bill was designed to prevent IN
the future?
Az prepared by Mr.. Lewis this bill pro
y!ded that State repositories be limited In
pumber; that State funds. divided into two
classes, as at present, active and inactive.
be placed only In selected banks and trust
companies which offered to the State, accom-
punied by sufficient bond, the highest rate
Of interest on deposits.
These latest revelations concerning condi-
tions IN the State Treasurer's office-aDd the
examination Is not nearly concluded--dc-
mand the enactment of the Lewis law or
similar statute by the coming Leg stature Of
1923.
It required weary years Of effort, supple.
mented by an awakened and outraged public
sentiment, to secure the passage of the pres
ent law compelling banks and trust com.
panies acting as repositories TO pay interest
on State funds
For half a century the State Treasury Of
Pennsylvania has been the breeding place Of
scandal. It has spawned a brood Of evils
In which blasted regulations and even suicide
have played conspicuous part. It Is noto-
rious that Quay's dominance Of the Repub-
llcan Party in the Commonwealth was main
tanned for years solely by his manipulation of
State Treasury funds.
The present disclosures and whatever else
may follow are sufficient reasons WHY the
| decent element in the Republican Party
| should demand that the next Legislature by
the enactment of a Lewis bill or some SINH
lar law put an end to such nalevolent condi.
! tions for all time.
| --~