The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-07-19

Expert accountants testified in the Waterbury conspiracy trial yester- day that fees charged the city Of Waterbury by the George H. Kings ley Company for accounting services were reasonable and fair. They said, in addition, that the audits fairly and correctly reflected the condition of the city'S finances.
 The state, in its information, con- tends that the company received eX- cessive fees from the city and pre- pared false and misleading audits.
 Experts Testify
 Eight character witnesses and ex- perts trooped to the stand yester- day to extoll the merits of the Kingsley Company, George H. Kingsley and John w. Meany, who are on trial with IS others for al- legged conspiracy to defraud the city of more than a million dollars. : After Special Prosecutor Hugh M. Alcorn had cross-examined William R. Murray, former defendant, and partner of Kingsley and Meany, for less than IS minutes, the character witnesses were called.
 They included: Park A. Rowley, retired president and director of the Bank of Manhattan; William E. Rae of Greatneck, N. Y, treasurer of a chain grocery firm; Mayor John D. Lynn of Bogota, N. J.; James F. Hughes, c. P. A. of Jersey City; and William c. Heaton of Elizabeth, N. J.
 Highest Esteem
 Each testified that the character of Meany and Kingsley, from a standpoint of honesty, integrity and ability, is "the highest" Rae said that in the past six years, to 1858 his firm had paid $7l,555 to the Kingsley Company for accounting services.
 , William R. Donaldson of North port, L. T., first of the expert ac- countants to take the stand, said under examination by Attorney Jo- seph J. Seaman that 1t is not within the realm of accountancy to give ex- pert testimony based on similarity of amounts" He compared such comparison as an attempt to "as- sume or surmise."
 Seaman questioned Donaldson or that score as means of attack or testimony of Warren M. Brown states accountant, who attempted te trace numerous payments to the ac. cused, through comparisons of sums on available city records and bank records.
 A former deputy controller of the city of New York, Donaldson said that he had never heard of "such a practice" when asked If 1t was the usual custom for an accountant tc question the legality of an act by a governing body.
 Carl Wright, of Ridgefield, N. J. city manager of Hackensack, testi- fled that the audit reports of Kings Icy were "competent-not false and misleading"
 Also a c. P. A., he said that the financial exhibits of an audit report ase far more important than the comments.
 In MckeSSOn Case
 The only one of the experts cross examined by Special Prosecutor Al. corn was Andrew Nelson of Eliza beth, N. J., assistant dean of St Johns university, Brooklyn, N. Y Nelson said that he was one of a commission of accountants appoint ed to study accounting conditions to avoid "a recurrence of what hap pened in the McKesson & Robbins case"
 It is mandatory for a firm to put full confidence in the man in the field he said. Tt would be impossi- ble and ridiculous" he continued for a member of a firm to compare working papers of the field workers with the books of a client. An at tempt by an accountant to render a legal opinion was described by Nell