The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-06-23
OurGoperumeut
How 1t Operates
By William Brnck3rs
CHECKS AND DOUBLE
CHECK

i here about a man who was retired
after some forty years OF government
service only TO be notified two years
later that his accounts showed an I'M
named amount still due him. He
made numerous trips to the building
where he had been employed and even
tually was told that his claim had
been approved. II was a month or so
later before he was paid, but he sure
ly was paid, the check being for a
total OF three cents.
Though that may seem to be an ex-
aggerated case, Ii actually is not out
of the ordinary. Your Uncle Sam
watches pennies closer, l dare say,
than most Of us. He has to do it. The
government is approximately five bill
lion 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 collected even had 1t
been necessary to sue In court and
obtain a judgment.
The necessity for maintaining such
close watch on the pennies Is the
reason why there is a general account
Ing Office. The comptroller general Of
the United States, who is head of the
general accounting office, never has the
good will of all offices of the govern
ment at one time The nature of his
Job makes popularity impossible. He
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 appropri-
ated by congress has to be spent ac-
cording to the letter Of the law, and
the comptroller generals Job is to see
that the several hundred disbursing
officers Of the government do Ii that
way. It takes no stretch Of the imagi-
nation, therefore, to understand that
when disbursing officer makes a pay
ment and then Is told by the comp
troller general a few weeks later that
the payment was not in accordance
with law-well, 1t Is the exception
rather than the rule when that de-
cision fails to produce an argument.
You probably would argue, too, IL you
were held liable for the government.
1t is not alone with the disbursing
officers that the comptroller general
has troubles; he meets individuals to
whom the disbursing officers go to get
back their overpayments, and frequent
ly they demand reconsideration. Over
payments may result in the purchase
OF supplies for the government, in the
payment OF salaries, in the settlement
Of general claims, or in such things
as refund Of expenditures paid by gov
ernmental representatives
Laws require, for instance, that an
Individual travelling at government ex-
pense, must take the most direct route.
Picture then what the reaction is Of
an individual who is informed weeks
after he had made a trip that IL he
had taken the proper train, or boat,
the expense to government would have
been S1.66 less, and that he must pay
back that sum out of his own jeans
(You select your own language, and
will match it with expressions have
heard, because 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 mil
lions, annually. Government supplies
are costly. The appropriations for
them are astounding. 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 a long time
ago to have an auditing system for
all government accounts. II was not
because It feared dishonesty among
the workers. There is very little of
this In the government But the laws
are intended to provide for expendi.
lures, and II those laws are not carried
out, chaos naturally would result
therefore, for checking all the pay.
ments This brings about uniformity
Of Interpretation of the laws and as
sures orderly conduct of payments by
the government. No one doubts the
propriety OF such a course.
Thus, every check that Is made out
Dy any government disbursing officer
anywhere sooner or later finds its way
through the regulation channel-some
call il red tape-to the scrutinizing
eye Of the comptroller general whose
assistants, numbering scores, deter.
mine whether the payment was proper.
The magnitude Of this job of auditing
becomes apparent when It is known
that rulings from the general account.
ing Office average about thirty per
week, or about five each day, and that
these arise from examination Of about
two and one-haf million checks
month.
Q. 1882. Western Newspaper Union.