The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-03-16
Our Government
How Il Operates
CHECKS AND DOUBLE
CHECK
By William Bruckart


ITHERE is a classical story extant
= here about a man who was re-
tired after some forty years OF gov,
| eminent service only to be notified
two years later that his accounts
showed an unnamed amount still
| due him. He made numerous trips
to the building where he had been
employed and eventually was told
that his claim had been approved
1t was a month or so later before
he was paid but he surely was
paid, the check being COR total of
three cents.
Though that may seem to be an
exaggerated case, it actually is not
out of the ordinary. Your Uncle
Sam watches pennies closer, | dare
say, than most of US. He has to do
it. The government is approximate
ly a five billion dollar business. Its
records are, and have to be, exact to
the penny. Had the circumstance of
the three-cent incident, mentioned
above, been favorable to Uncle Sam,
the amount would have been col
lected even had it been necessary
to sue in court and obtain a judg.
ment.
The necessity for maintaining
such a close watch on the pennies
is the reason why there is ii gen
eral accounting office. The comp
troller general of the United States,
who is head of the general account
ing office, never has the good viii
of all officers of the government at
one time. The nature of his job
makes popularity impossible. lie is
required by law to tread on too
many toes.
Let me illustrate how, in doing
his job, the comptroller general
gains so much disfavor. He passes
upon every payment that is made
out of federal funds; every penny
that is appropriated by congress has
to be spent according to the letter
of the law, and the comptroller gen.
erals job is to see that the several
hundred disbursing officers of the
government do it that way. 1t takes
no stretch of the imagination, there
fore, to understand that when u DIS
bursting officer makes payment and
then is told by the comptroller gen.
eral few weeks later that the pay
ment was not in accordance with
law-well, it is the exception rath-
er than the rule when that decision
fails to produce an argument. You
probably would argue, too, IL you
were held liable for the government.
1t is not alone with the disburs-
ing Officers that the comptroller gen
eraI las troubles: he meets indi.
viduals to whom the disbursins ON
GERS go to get hack their oyerpay-
ments, and frequently they demand
reconsideration. Overpayments may
result In the purchase of supplies
for the government, in the payment
of salaries, in the settlement of gen
eral claims, or in such things as
refund of expenditures paid by gov
eminent representatives
Laws require, for instance, that
an individual travelling at govern
ment expense, must take tile most
direct route. Picture then what the
reaction is of an individual who Is
informed weeks after he had made
a trip that if he had taken the prop
er train, or boat, the expense to gov
eminent would have been $l.6G less.
and that he must pay back that sun
out of his own jeans. (You select
your own language, and viii match
it with expressions have heard, be
cause they cover the whole category
of epithets.)
But all of this is necessary, or
else the government would be the
loser, not in thousands OF dollars,
but in millions, annually. Govern
ment supplies are costly. The mp.
preparations for them are astoInd.
Ing. If there was no check on the
way the money is spent, 1t is easy to
understand what would happen. The
taxpayers would be called upon To
furnish more money.
So congress arranged long time
ago to have an auditing system for
all government accounts. II was not
because 1t feared dishonesty amane
the workers. There is very little oil
this In government. But the laws
are intended TO provide for expen.
ditures, and II those laws are not
carried out, chaos naturally would
result. There had to he central
authority, therefore. for checking all
the payments. This brings about
uniformity OF Interpretation of the
laws and assures orderly conduct
OF payments By the government. No
one doubts the propriety of such a
course.
Thus, every check that Is made
ont by any government diSbursing
officer anywhere sooner or later
finds It's way through the regulation
channel-some can II red tape-to
the scFutinizing eye OF the comp
troiler general whose assistants
numbering scores. determine wheth-
CT the payment was proper. TIE
magnitude OF this job OF auditing
becomes apparent when II Is known
that rulings from the general &C.
counting Office average about thirty
per week. or about five each day.
and that these arise from examlna
ton Of about two and one-haif mil.
lion checks a month.