| Show I CONTROL OF PUBLIC FUNDS This city is suing its treasurer for 1340266 It is very doubtful if it is ever recovered The treasurer and his bondsmen are both fighting the suitThis This money it will be remembered was deposited by the city treasurer treas-urer in a rotten bank that failed some months ago There is reason to believe that the treasurer knew the bank was not considered sound though it would not be just to infer that he knew how thoroughly rotten the concern was In the Dast those who have had charge of public moneys have placed them In such banks as they chose and it has been more or less of a general belief that often public money has been placed in this or that bank for a consideration to those having control of it Be this as it may there should be a law passed directing where public I moneys shall be deposited or conferring I confer-ring the power to so direct upon the county commissioners in the case of county funds and upon city councils in the case of municipal funds Where state funds shall be deposited might be left to the governor state treasurer and secretary of state to say The law undertakes to throw ever safeguard safe-guard possible around the payment of public moneys upon warrants vouchers vouch-ers and the like and requires the strictest kind of an accounting but it takes no heed that public moneysshall he kept in a place of safety Of course those having control of these moneys are required to give bonds but the bondsmen are not a sufficient safeguard safe-guard and while they are generally good for the liability they assume often that liability has to be established estab-lished at the end of a long law suit This matter of depositing public moneys is one deserving the attention of the legislature It should be an easy mutter to enact some legislation that would be a very great improvement improve-ment upon the present system |
