The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1956-09-13

: missioners with spending thous
ands of dollars for equipment with
out seeking bids. Then when he
! got caught in his own trap on this
question, he Immediately shifted tc
something else.
When we come to the audit ques-
, ton, when the Senator says it is
evident that | do not like the idea
of having accounts of the County
J Roads department audited, he is
completely false Not once have /
ever inferred such a reaction. What
| am arguing about are the Sena-
J tors false statements in saying the
records are jumbled, ambiguous
and that a person can't make heads
or tails of them. The account sys-
TEN used by the Roads department
was set up by Wooden and Benson,
certified public accountants, Balti-
more.
The accounts have been audited
annually by competent persons. The
commissioners on July ton the
official minutes) sent letters re-
questing recommendations of certi-
fled public accountants to John S.
Shriver, director of fiscal research
Bureau, and James L. Benson, state
auditor, with the purpose in mind
to arrange for an audit. Bids also
were sought at that time. This was
done even BEFORE the Senator
had made his insinuations and de-
mands.
Now word on who started the
system of bookkeeping now in use.
By a resolution passed on NoVem-
Der 8, 1941, the Board gave authori-
ty to the Roads engineer to sign
alb checks for the roads department.
And who were county commission
ers at that time?-Cheston H.
Browning, Blaine Giessman and
Paul Friend. Who was Senator?-
Clifford Friend.
That authority was given to keep
the treasurer Jesse j. Ashby) from
getting his one percent commits
sion on collections. At that time
the treasurer's pay was determined
by the amount of money he col
lected.
By another resolution on March
?. 1912, the Roads engineer was
/ authorized to sign all checks and
vouchers in conjunction with the
clerk of the board pertaining to
/ payment of all bids rendered to
the roads department for materials,
supplies and equipment and further
authorized the signing of all labor
payroll checks for employees of the
roads department, and the same
were to be hOnored by the Garrett
National Bank without the sigma
ture Of the clerk of the County Com
missioners provided that the total
payroll should be first signed and
transferred by the clerk and engi-
neer to the roads department for
the total amount of each payroll
period.
Who were the County Commits
sioners then? Browning, Giessman
and Friend. And who was the Sena-
tor? Clifford Friend.
Mr.. Friend claims published fl
nancial statements don't mean any
thing. They are not intended TO
show a list of every item of eX-
penditure. But a list of every item
is compiled and on record. That
record is open to public inspection.
Is it so difficult for the Senator
to get it through his head that ALL
money received by the Roads De-
partment each year is not spent on
new construction? They get around
100000 each year for new con-
struction, not a million dollars. In
four years the Commissioners built
AZ miles of roadways. But the Sena-
tor calls this mo construction,
and while speaking of a million
dollars we might mention that the
Senator himself cost this county a
million dollars. If he had not been
against the school program several
years ago both high schools could
have been built for less than half
what they finally did cost. The
amount Mr.. Friend cost the county
and is still costing the county in
interest payments will more than
total a million dollars. There's no
way to ask him for an audit of this,
but Garrett county stands the loss,
just the same.
We'd still like to know why the
Senator demanded that the County