COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY. xiii

and less complex basis, by which the receipts for each fiscal
year, and the disbursements for each school year would
appear in a perfectly plain and intelligible form, and to the
comprehension of which no calculations, other thau those
furnished by the statement itself, would be necessary.—
Accordingly the services of a gentleman who was known to
be an expert accountant, and who understood the subject
thoroughly from having been employed in the office ia 1865,
and for a long time afterwards, and was familiar with, all
the entries ia the several books of the office pertaining to
the receipts and disbursements of the School Tax, were em-
ployed to perform this duty. His labor resulted ia the dis-
covery that while in the matter of receipts as contained in
statement "L" annexed to my report foi; 1876, the figure?
were critically correct, the items of disbursements were erro-
neous, and had been so to a great extent from the commence-
ment of the table in 1866, from the fact that sundry items
of disbursements were not comprehended in the amounts
shown in the table, whereby the balance appearing to be in
the-Treasury on the 30th September, 1876, was much larger
than the real facts would justify. The statement was accord-
ingly reconstructed on the plain and intelligible basis adopted
by him, and can now be continued from year to year on that
basis, with ease and intelligibility.

An impression has obtained in some of said School Boards,
(which has finally ripened into the filing by the School Board
of Prince George's County of a petition for a mandamus
against the Comptroller, in order to obtain the judgment of
the Court to the effect:) that it is the duty of the Comptroller
on every apportionment day, to apportion the whole amount
of School Tax which may have been received into the Treasury
up to that day, and to distribute the same among the several
Counties and the City of Baltimore, regardless of the year
to which such School Tax is applicable, or of the ability of
the Treasury to make a distribution at the next quarterly
day of apportionment. Such a construction of the law,
would, in my opinion, have Dot only a disastrous effect upon
the Treasury, but also on the Public School System by mak-