The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-10-07
A REPORT
BY TIE COUNTY COM MlSSlONEHS
OF CECIL COUNTY,

OF CECIL COUNTY,
To the Citizens aad Taxpayers Of Cecil Coa"ty'
DUBLIC opinion having, during the past
/ twovcars seemed to demand such course.
and it being in accordance with their own
views Of business and propricty, the County
Commissioners respectfully submit to the
citizens and ty-paycrs of Cecil county, inc
following Report. in ad,litionto, amt eNpttiia-
tory Of the Statement for the current year,
now being published in the newspapers. In
doing so we but conform to the usual course
demanded of those who have control OF the
business affairs Of others, altt the manage
mcut and disbursement Of their funds. The
publication, annually, of q similar Report
could not fail, it seems to us. OF being inter-
csting to the people of the county, relating,
as it would be, to matters of 50 much pecu-
MARY importancc; while in the present year
the unusual amount of the Levy for county
charges, calls for Il more specific Statement
than heretofore annually made, as we'll for
your information us for the vindication Of
ourselves.
The items composing the sum for which an
annual Levy of county tax is made ON the
property of the county, may. for the purposes
of this Report, be divided into those fixed by
law, regarding which County Commissioners
have no choice as the pay for jurors, wit
nesses, &c; those which, though required by
the appropriations for repairs OF public roads.
&c; and those over which they have entire
control-which as guardians of the public
money and public interests they may providc
for or reject, at the dictation of their own
judgmcnts-and comprising, generally, such
as may be pctitioned for by the tax-paying
public. For the first class, the usual annual
Statement is sufficient; it is to the more inn
portant items in the other divisions, in our
LAT Ipvy a pD1ipn = He'd.
Our immediate predecessors caused to be
erected at considerable expense, 4 new Coun-
ty Aims House which, until the present SUM-
MGR, still stood naked, unfinished and I'M
inhabiabe. At the instance Of the present
Trustees of the Poor, in order that it might
serve the purpose for which it was intended,
the sum of $500 was appropriated and includ
cd in the Levy for this year, to tit 1t for oc-
cupation and furnish it in part-t being with
out cupboard or closet, none of which can be
supplied from the old building. There being
in the old house no hcdstcads except such as
are broken, unsuitable and l,ble to become
filled witt, vernn, and hence unfit to be re-
moved into the new building, we found 1t ne
cesSary to purchase between forty and fifty
substantial iron ones, tho cost of which
(S3r3.75) is included in the Levy. During Il
number Of years past the usual sum levied for
the support Of the Poor Of the Aims House.
the Improvement of thu farm &c., waSS 2'W
this year on account Of the numerous add-
tionul fixtures and convcnirnccs needed on
the grounds about the new honSc, it became
necessary to make Levy OF S2,5O0-or,
$500 more than uSua'. y bill Of SlSo.G2 for
fencing put upon the Anus House grounds
during the term Of the last Commissioners is.
ALSO includcd in this years levy. Besides
these unusual sums We were obliged TO levy
for list of debts due 10y tho last Trustees OF
the Poor, amounting to SSG9.GD: as also, an
other debt Of S36.44 due by them and not
filed before the levy, but which Il collector Of
the present year has been ordered to'pay out
of the balance in his hands. Thus it will be
seen that growing out of the action of the
late County Commissioners and late Trustees
of the Poor, in come Xion with the affairs Of
the Aims House alone, there is in the Levy
for 1851 an excess over the usual levy, to the
amount Of the following sums:
TO finish and furnish the New Aims
House, S4oO.OO
For iron bcdStcads, BOB -
Addition to usual annual levy, 10000
Bill of fencing, 1906
Debts due By late Trustees, Sl6.0I
Total on Aims House acct. &2,O30.4 ~
The amount levied in 1853 for the annual
repairs of the Public Roads, was So, 1928
which sum was all placed by the late COM
mssioncrs in the hands of the supervisors
appointed by them for half a year, or, up to
the end of last December, leaving nothing foi
the first six months of the present year to 60
into the hands of the supervisors elected by
the people; that we were obliged to levy
an amount equal to one half the above sum
rS2,9l4, to pay for the repairs Of the roads
during the six mo. this ending the LIST Of July
last, in addition to the usual yearly appropria
ton.
The amounts levied for landholders to pay
damages sustained by the laying ont Of new
roads have been unusually burdcnsomc, bu
nevertheless unavoidable, and they are to be
set down as unusual county charScs uncon
nccted with the general course Of the count.
business. The late Commissioners left pass
ed on the books, to be levied by us, sucl
damages amounting to 81 SOL; Sl,2Il o
which was for damages by IL road the Return
ofwhich was made by the Road Commission
ers several months before the levy of 1858
but which was laid over to be levied in 1854
During the Spring and Summer of the pres
cnt year an unusual number Of petitions 70
new roads have been fled on which, so ia
as We have yet acted, we have appointed Elk
amincrs taS the law requires. On two of thos
proposed roads, reported on by the EXami
ncrs before the levy was made, the damage
awarded were heavy; that is: on the roa'
from Court House Point to the chesapeake
City road the sum Of $500; and on the Dircc
Road from ElktOn tUWaluS CHcSapcahc L II
the sum of SO 800, which includes, also, til
estimated cost of opening the road and Of tn
bridge thereby required to be built over Lon
Greek. These roads were pctioned for b
citizens of the lower districts, who pay an
nualy large amount Of taxes elsewhere eS
pended in the county; which consideration
in connection with the fact that the said Dre'
Road is part of the system intended to brin
that important section of the connty-Sass a
fras Neck--much nearer the county sea
places the matter of its cost in another liGl
f,au that in which it might otherwise be view
e. BY that road, now that one has bee
| id out across Bohemia Manor, BohenIi
Ferry is brought within ten miles OF Elkt"'