Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-06-27
Iet TIE People look to 1.-THE County
Levy on the 0tIice Of sheriff-Move-
Bnent Of the Sheriil7s Securities to have
IL RENTED.

After long and expensive battle against
The policy, equity, ard ccnstitutionality Of
the law aathofis;slg the County Courts, for
comfy purposes, to levy a tax On the Office
Of Sheriff, the sheri1s were defeated. and
fhe ley pronounced legal and constitutional
~ the Court Of last resort in Virginia, with
cat a disseating voice. The action of the
Courts all over the State has established its
cgrity and good policy for, we believe,
tfery county or nearly eYeay county in the
State has imposed the tax indeed, The his
tory Of the tax proves that none could be
mere proper.
Until the adoption Of the prcsast gons,i-
triton the sheritfalty vas bestowed en- the
Magistrates, and by universal custom on
the Oldest Magistrate Of eaeh county, vino
had not held it before, Us the only reward
Of their public service. Many Magistrates
after laboFing in their Office for years, died
or removed without any reward Very few
ever held the Office of Sheriff more than
two years-tho legal limit they seldom
or never performed its duties, but farmed it
out to deputies who gladly paid for it nearly
double the tax now imposed, and often got
rich. In this county the deputies paid from
two thousand to twenty-five hundred dollars
for the privilege Of riding two years, when
tho Office vas not worth us much as it has
heen since the new Constitution was adopted
Now, the sheriffs are elected by the pee
pie Without reference to any pal.ic service
previously performed. They vere q peeted
TO perform the duties of the Office n ;leraon
just, as formerly, the deputies cd Taee
pay no supofiors anything. Tie Office Is
worth more than it was when it was raid
for, Why then should it not he taxed =
That tax IN this county has been $50
year--lttie over half what the deputies, WHO
did the business, used to pay. But there is
stronger equity in this tax. Since the
Magistrates are deprived Of the SherifTalty
by the new Constitution, they get per
diem allowance of three dollars each for
their services in Court, and this tax On tie
'sheriffs is intended by the law to pay Hd,
instead Of throwing the burden on the pep
pie. The late Sheriff of Augusta, Mosk Is
Il MeCue, has been regularly assessed f5h
the four years he held the Office. with a tax
of $50 year, but has fought il eff dur
ing the whole period and has never paid one
cent to the county He failed before The
legality of the assessment was settled By the
Court Of Appeals. Now his securities come
forward aud ask the County Court of Au-
grsta to forgive them debt of 50, GOO, Ito
sag nothing of interest and costs, and throw
II on the taxpayers Of the county. And
the County Court GU last Monday evening.
being rather few in number 10 take the re-
sponsibility of acting on the motion of the
counsel Of the securities, directed full
court to be summoned at the July term to
take this matter into consideration
This meeting Of the Magistracy to consil-
er whether they will not nullify the uniform
action of the levy courts for the last four
years, without law, justice or reason 10 sus-
tain such action, will only cost the county
come one or two hundred dollars "a mere
trife for a county so flush Of money and so
free from taS&5i as ours is. Il will not
produce much grooming" and, even The
forgiving of the $1,000 due from the sher-
if aad his securities, can easily be made up
by the people, who were told a short time
since, that nothing could save them bnt
Virginia's share of the public lands, =
Why should the Court last Monday have
ordered the Magistrates to be summoned in
July Were they in favor of the PROPOSE
ton ? They knew the execution Of such an
order would involve heavy eSnense--a
large per diem to the Magistrates, besides
sheriff's fees for summoaiag, and, unless
they thought there was merit in the appli-
cation. they should not have called them
together We call on the people TO keep
an eye on their servants in this matter The
securities of the Sheriff are numerous and
influential This, their last effort, will be
a strong one But let the Magistrates re-
member that this is not their money to gite
a~ay-and let them perform their public
duty as faithful public servants,
# this levy is RENTED, there is no reason
why every man in the county should not
have his county levy returned to him for the
last Eve years. We sympathise WITH the
securities. but they voluntarily placed the.el-
seiges in an unfortunate position, and should
stand up to it like men, rather than call on
me innocent taxpayers Of the county, al
ready zoe much oppressed, to take their
ahoes
As the Magistrates sse summoned lei
every one them make it a point to attend,
and let the people of the county see how
they will act on This important question
whether they will leave this bnrthen 70 rest
on those who agreed to bear it, or throw it
on innocent men who never hound them.
eelvee IN ho rnsnonetI1a f1e tba dnttofa &c