Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1855-10-02
THURSDAY, SEPT. 81, 1866.
Ramsey County $4,000 in Debt.


on the part of the people for thorough inves-
tigation of the books and the election of such
men this fall to conduct our county affairs, as
were honest and reliable For months we
fought against the inquty without any aid
from our cotemporaries, but at last our friends
the Sheriff, was arrested for dereliction of duty
and placed under $4, 900 bonds, and the tax
payers began to realize the real situation Of our
county affairs. AT that time the county was
said to be S17 1000 in dcbt-now the debt is
set down at S22 900! The Grand Jury of
Ramsey county have recently given the matter
their attention, and made prcsentment, which
should receive TIE careful perusal Of cverytax-
payer in the county-in fact, every man who
has the interest of Minnesota at stake for the
loose manner in which our county matters have
been conducted, will, if permitted to continue,
affect the whole Territory The question ar
rses-where has all this money gone to?
Have the people received the benefit of it Or
has it been squandcred Have any new jails
been built ?-any roads land out to benefit the
taxpayers If so, will the County Commits
soners please tell us where and how this mo-
ney has been expended? If we have not been
the beneficiaries of these things, the natural
conclusion is that most of this S22 900 has
gone into the pockets of those who have no
right to it, and it is time for the people to see
by what process this pcculation has been carried
on.
The Jury have examined the county prison,
and "are pleased to say, that it is without an
occupant" God be praised for that, for
more miserable apology for prison does not
exist in tho West. 1t is perfect barbarsm to
incarccratc Il prisoner within its walls. We are
glad to see that the Jury have recommended
the erection Of new building, with all the
modern improvements in vcntating and heat
ing" Another judcious recommendation by
the Jury, is that Courthouse Square lie en-
closed with a good board fence, and that the
Hall Of Justice lie cleared Of its present en-
cumtranccs.
We admire the manner in which the Jury
have done their duty, and VIC trust the people
will now do theirs by voting for such county
officers as Lave been put forth by tie Rcpubli-
can party. No more worthy man stands on the
list, than n. Mclean, and if he is elected with
the aid OF Mr. Bennett, our county matters will
assume an entircly different phase.
! Taxpayers Of Ramsey county! sec to it
that men are placed in Office, that will not
squandcr your money. Remember that tic
county is already SD 600 in debt, and that un-
less you go to the polls and vote for good men,
that debt will lie duul led, and you will be
obliged to pay your proportion to liquidate it.
We find by examination, that Ramsey
county now owes a debt Of over S22, ,0OC; SI2,-
600 of which is in bonds, bearing all interest
of ten per cent; the lalance in the shape of
floating county orders, unrcdceIncd. The ctaxes
assessed for the present year amount for all
purposes, to u lutte over $4,000; about S34,-
900 of which is Intended for county purposes
exclusively. The amount which will be COL
lccted cannot much (li any, exceed the current
expenses Of the year. TO redeem the public
debt there is no funds except few thousand
dollars of unsolicited taxes for the year 1854
and preceding years. What part Of this amour,
can be made available in paying the debt, the
Jury are unable to determine. The taxes are
onerouS. Tie amount to be collected from the
county is much larger than the Jury have ever
known from counties OF the Same population in
other communities Very little revenue APP
pears TO have been received from other sources
! than direct taxation. But two licenses have
been taken out to retail liquors outside of the
limits of the corporations OF st. Paul and st.
Anthony, while it is evident that many arc SELL
|
| iraudIng the county of its revenue. The Jury
have been able to reach but few Of the den-
| quents for the want OF such direct testimony as
1t seems TO require to producca conviction. No
complaints have been made by the people, Or
those charged with, or pad Tor attending to the
county business. Tie Jury have only been
able to act upon those cases of which they had
personal knowledge, or could refer to such
persons as had obtained such knowledge. The
result is several hundred dollars are lost to the
revenue of the county. We would advise all
officers of the county, as well as private cit-
zens, TO be more vigilant in complaining against
those who are either evading or acting contrary
| TO law. We have in evidence one case where
complaint was made to the County Commits
slOners, the delinquent summoned to appear be-
| fore them. He never appeared, and this was
| the last Of the CaSe-nO further action was
taken.
The County Commissioners made by
! law the board that manages the finances of the
County-to direct the amount OF revenue to be
assessed and collected and have the control of
the disbursements on behalf of the county.
"The amount disbursed for the support Of
| the poor alone was about $4,000 during the last
year. In looking over the items OF expendi-
ture, and TIE bills audited and paid, the Jury
think some OF them We're extravagant. To one
particular case we think it our duty to call
special a:tention-one that requires rebuke and
condemnation.
The Commissioners last year in the exer-
else of their discretion, Oh the Both of Decein-
ber, the then Board purchased 500 acres OF
wild land, 10 miles from ST. Paul, for the pur-
pose Of poor-house farm. PROPOSALS had
been invited from those having land for sale
the bids accepted. were for the 260 acres above
mentioned; a portion at 81 per acre, and
larger portion at S12 Per acre-We have it in
evidence that land at the time in that vicinity
was worth and selling at about S3 per acre;
that part of the land purchased for the poor
house had not been entered more than a week