Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1856-02-16

hard laboring people OF this County! This
land lay about IL miles from St. Paul. and in
the immediate neighborhood of land which
could be procured at ST. 25 per acre, and yet
Messrs. Murray, Robert and Wilson consider
ed the site decidedly the most eligible for the
contemplated building, at $l2 per acre! But
it seems that more land was necessary, so Mr..
Bennett had l6O acres and he was offered So
per acre and took it, and this makes up the
grand total of 1865 90 paid for land which
should have cos, the County, (allowing 50 per
acrc) only $724 being s., ,s4l 90 less than the
sum actually allowed. Now let US inquire,
how comes it that Mr.. Bennett was not paid
$l2 instead of 81 per acre? Was his land
not as good as the others Was it not better 2
Why then, should Messrs. Robert and Murray
receive Sl2 per acre for theirs and Mr.. Ben.
nett only $7s We do no: know but the land
sold by Mr.. Bennett, was worth every dollar
paid for it, but our impression is, that 50 per
acre would have been a reasonable price, and
as for the other land, we know that So per
acre was all it was worth. The mere facts in
this case we deem sufficient without comment.
Here the County could have saved $2,S4l "a.
5th.-The amount paid for salaries, is enor-
mous Among the items of Expenses for
Paupers," looms up the digni6ed sum Of $2,-
O34 33 Add to this ST. ,2l7 %, for Court and
Jury Expenses, $l $50 "a for Supervisors, SC.
of Roads, and Sc, ,727 AZ for other salaries, in
cluding the fees, and we have in this Depart
ment the sum of S1l ,23O 03! Among these
items we find 5000 90 to Louis M. Olivier,
for making double index to 1854! We do not
know but that this 5000 90 have been spent
usefully to the County, but it seems to us that it
is a large sum to expend for the purposes al
legged. Mr.. Olivier, we believe to be faith
ful and good officer, and in referring TO these
matters we have no other object in view than
to ascertain if some of the expenses can not
be reduced. We are inclined 10 think that in
this particular they can be, and we feel sure
the Commissioners will give the matter their
attention. We also think that nearly if not
quite S4 900 can be saved each Year in the sal
ary and fees department, and this is an item
worthy our attention.
6th.-Some of the charges for minor matters
transcend the limits of decency. For instance:
The costs of Coroner's inquest on the body
Of Patrick Doyle, are 800 IS. Coroner's cx-
penses Oh the inquest of Frances Bell-$ll5
80. For hanging the Indian Yuhaze. 1925.
Lulrs expense for making coffin and scanold
$50 (rcasonable) e)-Dr. Willey's Bill for attend
ing him, $50 OO-Drs. Potts & Morton, pos,
mortem examination Of f. Murray, SlOO 90,
and so Oh, there are charges, which, in our
opinion are too high, and should never have
been allowed,
The bill of Sheriff Fridley of 500, for
hanging Yuhaze. was cut down to s 225, and
even now it is too much.
But we are going beyond our limits and
must bring our article to close. The reader
will sec that the total amount Of expenses for
the year 1855, exclusive of the purchase Of
land for the Poor House, and one acre of land
in Oakland Ccmetry, for burial purposes, is
$2l, ,7495 He can also see that with prop
er management, the expenses can be great
ly reduced, and in the manner we have point
ed out.
We now turn to the present condition of our
financial matters. For the first time since the
organization Of the Territory balance sheet
of the County has been struck, which shows
debt of S S43,S 1896 81, including the expenses of
last year. The credit is $40, ,535, AS, including
the tax of last year, which leaves balance
against the County, up to Jan. l, 1856, Of
5 $3.50 81. This result is predicated on the
ground that the taxes levied will be paid and al
so, that many Of the unredeemed taxes Of 1851
% will be collected. We think that at least
some Sc, 900 or $4,000 will never be collected,
so that, at the present time, we can safely say
that the County is really in debt some $4,000.
When the fact is known, that the tax for Coun-
ty purposes for last year, alone amounted to
S3O,s25 90 and that for the County and Terri
tory combined, S5l, ,375 90, more than SIS to
each man, woman and child in the County, it
seems to us that the people should investigate
the matter, and if possible extricate themselves
from the dilemma in which they are placed
One real difficulty hitherto, has been the dis
count on County orders. which compelled the
County to pay thousands Of dollars which might
have been saved if the orders could have been
purchased at par. We are gratifed to learn
that our present Commissioners are endeavor-
ing to redeem all outstanding orders, and wheE
this is done, and orders are at par, then goods
can be purchased at reasonable rates, and the
tax for County purposes will be greatly reduced.
No OBJEcrIoN.-Weremov from our columns
to-day, the advertisement Of Messrs. Borup L
Oaks, per order from headquarters. As a mat
ter Of course We do not find fault with the gen.
tlemen, as they have perfect right to either
stop their advertisement or paper but it is sig
ni6cant fact, that when We have been called up
on to discontinue one paper for our advocacy Of
stringent law to suppress unsecured and Shin
plaster Bills, We have added three, and in some
cases, four new subscribers to Our list and
when also one advertisement has been discontin-
ued, another much more profitable, has taken its
place, as can be cen by reference to our COM
mercal list. Under these circumstances it would
be cruel for Us to object to any gentleman dis
continuing either his paper or advertisement
The good book says that man cannot 'sserve God