TREASURY condition
causing comment,
Alonzo Richardson & Co., and Ex
Gov. Smith Having Contro¬
versy Over Investigation.
,„ he report of the expert aecount
Alonzo Richardson & Co., who
al> audited the financial eornli
. oitlv of'the has caused quite
don j‘‘ State, a
t of ar gument and discussion from
men all over the state.
JIr Richardson made the report
that the treasury of the state would
lack something like $700,000 of having
anything' on the first day of next Jan¬
uary He also stated that on the first
If January, $400,000. 1909, the It treasury is about had this a
deficit of
last January report that has caused
Ex-Governor Smith to come out with
statement in emphatic denial of the
a that Richardson has
daim, and says
ma de a big blunder. In reply, Mr.
Richardson stated that it was only a
short time to January first, and that
if yir. Smith would wait and see he
would then know that the report was
right. be found Mr. Smith’s
Below will
statement as to how the error occurr¬
ed, also Mr. Richardson’s reply to the
interview:
“The troublewith Mr. Alonzo Rich¬
ardson is that while he is an expert
accountant, all expert accountants
have not the information required for
the duties of the governer’s office.
“He lias undertaken not simply to
make an accurate statement of an ac¬
count, but to pass upon other matters
in reaching a conclusion which were
outside of the provinces of an account¬
ant.
“Mr. Richardson has reported that
on January 1, 1909, the demand lia¬
bilities against the treasury of the
state of Georgia exceeded the cash on
hand $498,603.36. 1 have replied that
I was governor at the time and I per¬
sonally knew that his report was in¬
correct. Mr. Richardson now under¬
takes to justify his report by stating
that on January 1, 1909, the amount
unpaid on the appropriation to the
school fund for the prior year was
$726,266.28, and this, with other un¬
paid appropriations, he charges as de¬
mand liabilities to the treasury.
“The blunder which he has made
has grown out not of the work of an
accountants, but lack of information
upon matters pertaining to state fi¬
nances. He did not understand that
all appropriations were not due on
demand— some one should have cor¬
rected this error before publication.
I illustrate with the school fund to
which he has referred.
“The school fund is payable to the
counties in Georgia only after the
teaching lias been actually done in a
county and the county school com¬
missioner has sent in his report for
the teaching done, and it has been ap¬
proved by the state school commis¬
sioner. Not until the particular work
for which the requsition is made by a
county school commissioner has been
performed in the county, and the state
school commissioner has audited the
hill, is the school fund a demand lia¬
bility on the treasury.
Quite a number of counties in the
state have moved their school work
for which the appropriation of one
}ear is made into the next year. They
did the work in the early part of 1908
for which they were entitled to claim
pay out of the appropriation of 1909.
he school work covered by part of
the school appropriation, therefore,
had not been done on July 1, 1909.
le county school commissioner could
■mt send his hill for work not perform
to the state school commitsioner.
e school commissioner could
n "‘ a PP r «ve his bill. The
c °uld not draw governor
his warrant, and the
appropriation was not a demand lia-
6l hty upon the treasury.
Now, there was a subject upon
11 1 Mr. Richardson as an expert
ceouutant could have done effective
work.
* could have made with practical
J c Cul U( at cd ' advalorem a statement of all revenues
.fjje taxes for 1909 due
sta tc and collectible.
__‘ e l 0l dd have deducted from the
Patronize ■
White V
!
Garbers
I ^ ave a neat and well
n^' 1 w
♦ S * 10 P' equipped with !
| o', H'miture and supplied
. 'th hot
♦ and cold water. We
I r 1 ’ r ' your trade from the
i l lat we do first class
f in r ’
t i an d white barbers all
♦ «e way through.
^ • J. Gober
Ic U)v nigtoii, Ga. ;
i -
assets of the state thus shown all
pnations for 1909. ap
This would have
given the true financial condition of
the state.
This was the most natural thing
for him to have done. From my knowl¬
edge of Mr. Richardson as an account¬
ant, I have no doubt he did it. Why
were not these figures given to the I
public ? Was it because they showed
that the treasury after collecting all
taxes for 1909 and paying all appro
priations for 1909, would have a sur¬
plus amounting to approximately $2
-
000 , 000 .
“The efforts to question the correct¬
ness of my statement about the con¬
dition of the treasury have failed.
“There were no demand liabilities
upon the treasury January 1, 1909, in
of "
excess cash on hand. No proper
management of the state’s finances
can produce an excess of demand lia¬
bilities over cash on hand January 1
1910.
“Correct statement showing the
amount of taxes due and collectible
for 1909, charged with all of the ap¬
propriations for 1909, would show a
balance in favor of the treasury of
over $1,750,000.
“Now I am aware of the fact that
there has been delay in the payment
of amounts due to teachers in the ru¬
ral schools of the state.
“Last year the state came nearer
meeting these liabilities as they ma¬
tured than at any time heretofore.
Warrants had been drawn before Jan¬
uary 1, 1909, for every claim present¬
ed by a county school commissioner
and approved by the state school com¬
missioner for work done in the schools
daring 1908.
“No one desires more than I that
the finances of the state should be so
handled as to meet promptly all the
claims of the county school teachers.
“If the governor was authorized to
borrow $600,000 to meet deficiencies
of revenue during the summer instead
of $200,000, and he used this power the
affairs of the state, intelligently han¬
dled, could easily be financed and all
liabilities to teachers met during the
year as work by them is done, instead
of waiting until the end of the year to
pay up for services rendered during
the year. This would certainly be
true if pensions were paid one-half
in March and one-half the last of the
year.
“I protest against the effort to cre¬
ate the impression that Georgia is a
bankrupt. Our revenues are increas¬
ing. We paid out last year $600,000
more to education than ever before in
the history of the state, and yet we
passed the the first of January last
year with cash in the treasury
far in excess of all demand liabili¬
ties.”
“Iam not concerned with any con¬
troversy between former Governor
Smith and Accountant Alonxo Rich¬
ardson over the accuracy of the lat¬
ter’s recent report on the state treas¬
ury,” said Governor Brown.
“The matter of proving or disprov¬
ing the correctness of that, statement”
the governor continued, “is entirely
between Mr. Smith and Mr. Richard-
son. I employed Mr. Richardson to
make a thorough and exhaustive ex¬
amination and report on financial
matters for my own guidance and not
to settle or raise any controversy.
Inasmuch as Mr. Smith had employed
Mr. Richardson to check the state
treasury when Treasurer Pope Brown
took charge, and because I knew his
reputation for careful and accurate
work, I employed him. I have noth¬
ing more to say on the matter.”
RICHARDSON ANSWERS
Alonzo Richardson & Co. made the
following statement:
“We have read Mr. Smith’s inter¬
view and can see very little, if any¬
thing, in it that calls for any reply
from us. We have no disposition
whatever to be drawn into any con¬
troversy regarding our report, or as
to the condition of the state’s finances
and, if Mr. Smith’s explanation of the
long delay in paying the annual ap¬
propriations to the school fund is sat¬
isfactory to the teachers of the state,
there is no reason why we should not
accept it.
“We have absolutely no interest in
the matter except to present the facts
and figures as we found them on the
books.
“Mr. Smith virtually admits the
unsatisfactory condition of the treas¬
ury when he suggests in his article
the advisability of the governor’s be¬
ing authorized to borrow $600,000 to
meet deficiencies of revenue, instead
of $200,000, as at present. He further
expresses his desire that the finances
of the state should be so handled as
to meet promptly the claims of the
county school teachers.’’
Oysters, we sell oysters, receiving
them daily from one of the largest
oyster dealers in the south, whose
house has for fifty years been budd¬
ing a reputation by giving the best
there are to the trade. We will sell
these extra standard oysters at same
price as last season, 35c per quart.—
Parkers Place.
—FOR SALE—A good farm for s ale
80 acres, more or less, near town.—
Dr. J. A. Wright, Covington, Ga. tf
FOR RENT—From 3 to 6 rooms in
desirable residence on Monticello
street. Apply to this office.—tf
THE LOVINGTON NEWS
Mr. W. F. Gay, of Newborn
Wore the Jacket He Used
During The Civil War.
“One of the attractions of the re¬
cent reunion was the old Confederate
jacket worn by Mr. W. F. Gay, of
Newborn, Ga. Mr. Gay wore the
jacket to the reunion in order that
the people here might see just the
kind of jacket the Confederate soldier
had d uring the war.
“Wherever he went Mr. Gay was
the center of a crowd of interested
people, who were anxious to take a
look at the faded jacket so full of
glory.
“Mr. Gay had with him an old let¬
ter that was written on May 19, 1864,
by Lieut. B. F. Persons, of Monticello
Ga., to Mr. Mike McDowell, of that
place, a brother of the late Mrs.
Clovis G. Talmadge, of this city.
“In this letter Lieut. Persons told
of the terrific fighting around Spott
sylvania and particularly of the battle
of May 12, when Gordon and his men
drove the enemy from the salient.
Lieut. Persons was in the column that
supported Gordon at that time. In
that battle four were killed in his
company; twenty-eight wounded and
but eight left with the company.
“Mr. Gay also had a copy of an old
furlough signed by Capt. George Bart¬
lett, father of Congressman Bartlett,
of this state.”—Athens Banner.
Husband Ordered It, Wife Criticised It.
On the midnight train ride from
town, where he and his wife had been
entertaining one of his best patients
at dinner and the theater, the subur¬
ban doctor spoke bitterly:
“What a dinner! And It cost $15.
The cooking In these big hotels Is atro¬
cious. They smear sauces over every¬
thing. I suppose It Is to hide poor ma¬
terials.”
“It Isn’t the fault of the cooking that
our dinner was a failure. It was Its
selection that doomed It.”
“What was the matter with the se¬
lection?”
“You should not have done the or¬
dering. You have your meals chosen
for you almost every day In the year.
It Is the women of people In our cir¬
cumstances who ought to arrange tht
menus at restaurants. Look what you
ordered! Bisque of lobster—a soup
with a body of thick white sauce.
Sweetbreads—cooked, as usual, with a
cream dressing. Virginia ham with
champagne sauce—a brown sauce as
thick as molasses. Then for dessert
you took a chance on pudding Relne
Victoria—candled fruit and lady fin¬
gers swimming in soft custard.”
“Well, how Is a fellow to know?
Lobster soup, sweetbreads, Virginia
ham and pudding Relne Victoria—It
sounds fine.”
“But a woman knows that It Is a
wretched combination of splendid
dishes. It Is the woman’s dull duty
to choose menus for 305 days In the
year. She learns a good deal about
selection. Yet when a, sum of money,
equal to a week’s food expenses, Is to
be squandered on one dinner at a
hotel It Is the man who seizes the
menu and tries to look capable. He
makes a failure frequently, as you did
tonight It would hare been a pleas¬
ure for me to order a fifteen dollar din¬
ner—a change from manipulating din¬
ner for four on $1. But men feel too
Important In a restaurant to submit
the menu to their wives for assist¬
ance."—Exchange.
Objection Was Overruled.
a popular politician tells a story
about one of his electioneering cam¬
paigns. He had arrived about uoon at
a certain small station. He started out
after dinner for a walk about the vil¬
lage, on the outskirts of which he
came upon a building thronged with
people. and
The building was a church, a
wedding was about to take place. He
edged his way through the crowd until
he reached a spot where he had a good
view of the bride and bridegroom and
the clergyman who was about to per
form the ceremony.
The church was packed, with the ex¬
ception of a low. dark gallery near the
roof. This was apparently deserted.
The minister proceeded with the
ceremony until he came to the point
where custom required him to pause
and inquire if there was any one pres¬
ent who knew any reason why the
couple should not be made husband
and wife. A hush fell upon the as¬
semblage, and every one waited in
breathless suspense. Something of a
sensation was caused when a voice
same from tfcs upper gaHevy, saying:
“Yes, I do.”
All eyes were turned to the gallery,
where, seated all alone in the gloom,
barely discernible, was a meek looking
little man, with a haggard face and
disheveled hair. After the clergyman
had recovered from his surprise he
said sternly, “State your reason, sir!”
The suspense was turned to merrl
ment by the little mans reply:
“I want the girl myself,” he said.—
London Tit-Bits.
“How does your boy take to life on
the farm?”
“He worries me," admitted Farmer
Haw. “He won’t do enough work to
reminisce about in case he ever gets
into politics in future years.”—Louis¬
ville Courier-Journal.
The Putnam County Fair
TO BE HELD AT
Eatonton, Georgia
26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 36 , 1969 .
All Putnam Invites You
The only harness races in Middle Georgia this season.
A Midway filled with clean shows.
The event of the year. Yon can’t afford to miss it.
Excursion rates on Central Railroad.
PROFITS CUT ALL
TO PIECES ON
PIANOS
Ten or Fifteen Different Makes.
$10 Profit on Factory Prices.
See This Line Before You Make
Your Purchase.
It Means Money To you.
C. A. HARWELL,
Leader In
Furniture and Undertaking
Covington, Ga.
