The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-02-27

before YOU You say again, 'sthe Commission.
ers ought to have required" &c, and then you
say "whether they have done 80 their report will
show" You first very pointedly intimate If not
say direct that they have been grossly remiss in
duty, and then say you know nothing as yet OF
it, but will learn from future report whether
the charge is correct or not. Is this fulfilling
your duty in your position' Can you make this
course compatible with your profession? In
! short can you s;oop to the degrading Office of
creating public distrust and prejudice in relation
to official conduct, on anything short of the most
deliberate and satisfactory proof? Have you
such proof? But there is smother matter con-
nected with the collection of the revenue which
demands a thorough investigation, to wit: the
assessment OF property omitted by the assessor.
You say probably one fifth, if not one fourth of
the property of Dubuque county is assessed by
the collector, and the taxes on such assessment
paid over to me other taxes have been, and
you ask "by what means do the County Com
mlssloners ascertain the amour, of property thus
assessed? By what means have they computed
the Indebtedness of the treasurer for county tax
es on this delinquent list?' Would you charge
that this assessment and collection is made with
out any record? You start with a statement
that there is grave matter demanding n tho
rough investigation. Why? To find all right?
Certainly not. You follow it up by two ques-
tons plainly intimeting that the County Com
mlssloners have no means to ascertain this a.
mount of assessment, and no means from which
to compute the amount of taxes coming into my
hands by reason oft, so that may have retain
ed the whole or large part thereof for my
benefit, without accounting therefor. Now |
ask you what justification have you for making
such an animation? | have character as 4
man as well as al officer to sustain, and tits as
dear to me yours can be to you. Can you
feel yourself justified by anything short of the
cleares proof, to tarnish that character by an in
tmation that for years l have collected one fifth
or fourth Of the taxes of this county and put
them into my own pocket? Where have you
such proof? lcu proceed to state that this re-
port TO be put forth must show to be satisiac-
tory, &c. An illiberal mind might suspect that
from the particularly and s'filllness' which you
call for in this report, you wished to have nice
fee for its printing as it must occupy large space
in your paper. You allude to money from es
trays, &C. and intimate that this also lays in
my hands, and that the Commissioners have
been rcmiss in asccrtainng whether such is the
case or not. What grounds have you Tor saying
or insinuailng that one cent OF that money lays
in my hands unaccounted for or that the Com
missiorcrs have been rcmiss in relation thereto:
You say at last elf the Commissioners report
gives US intcligible information on these sub
iects it will realise the anticipation &c. Nx- |
cusc my rsking so often to find your meaning. !
Do YOU mean full information: Or information
that SO far it goes may be understood without
any reference to its lullness? One or the other
you must mean, and in either event The public
anticipation, in the absence Of this report, looks
forward, as Won say, to realization Of what -
Of being satisfied by that report, but could that
be realized had they ever ever so intclligbe 4
qucncics in office, malvcrson Of monies, &c, as
you have so often intmacd before in your arti-
Gle ? Plainly then, the public anticipation is no
justification for your remarks. They must be !
assigned to other motives. Should this report |
fail to give ineligible information, then it will
become the right of every citizen to ascertain
the facts and pass sentence on the delnqucnts,
so you say. You pass sentence before the ap-
pearance OF report from an officer enjoying y0ur
confidence, and wholly in anticipation without
ascertainment Of facts, and intimate gross delin-
qucncies and negligence from your own suggcs-
ton and without the sanction Of public antci pa
ton. This is your privilege and thus you exer-
else it, the community not being editors must
wait till after they obtain information and then
they must proceed to ascertain facts and pass
sentence on dclinqucnts, any.
If this is the way in which you regard YOUR
self as fulfilling the high and responsible station
OF public editor, can but regret to have form
ed SO erroneous estimate as have hitherto
done of you. fer no Investigation Of .tucts,
and had you made the proper search, as others
have done, when you were at my Office recent
ly on business, you could not have published
such article, but for the object motive which
has induced you thus unl,indly to assal me-
leave others to Judge and time to dcvclopc. As
it is, | must however solemnly protest agains.
your attempt to injurc me before the public, in
character action, by such heartIcss and I'M
generous, as we'll as unwarrantcd insinuations
Should any further expositions be called for or
needed after the appearance of the report you
hold myself at all times ready and
willing to meet my demand on facts with 4 fair
aad jul statement Of my official conduct.
Yours, &c,
|. P. VAN HAGAN.
Treasurer Dubuque Co.