The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1858-06-04
All that the Doctor has said about the

an blldb thC i'ONtpl HIS Sa4u uDNut wv
increased expenditures, the increased tax
alton, increased salrries, &c, is tinctured
with the same fraudulent attempt to de-
ccive, that characterzcs his forged state
ment of amounts allowed to the sheriff
and deputies in 1856 and 1857, which he
does not attempt to substantiatc.
We shall barely notice few instances
of his attempts to deceive.
He says the amount raised for county
purposes in 1884 was only $4,000, and
that in 1856 it was $500, when the
truth is that the 81, 900 which he men
tons as raised in 1854, does not include
anything raised for the county poor fund
for the support of the county poor, but
only for the ordinary county purposes;
whereas, 81 900 of the 81, 500 which he
mentions for 1856, was raised expressly
for the county poor fund, and to liquldate,
in part, the amount of Indebtedness of that
fund, leaving only $500, instead of
81, 500, as the Doctor alleges, for county
purposes.
A comparison of the aggregate equal
lied valuation for the county in 1854 and
1856, shows that the ratio of $500, for
county purposes, on the valuation Of 1856,
does not vary to the amount of one mil
on a hundred dollars from the ratio of
5000, on the valuation Of 1854; while
the ratio of s., 800 fer county purposes in
1857 is considerably less on the valuation
for that year than the ratio of 50 5000, ON
the valuation of 1851.
The pretended comparison of the sal
aries paid to The County Treasurer and
County Clerk, to which he refers, has the
same ear-marks of fraud. 1t is well
known that every year there are certain
expenses incurred by those officers, such
as books, for the use of the Office, binding
of tax lists and returns, express charges on
books and blanks, &C., sent to the Office ;
and stationery for the Clerks Office, &C..
which expenses those officers having paid T.,
they present their account for them to the
Board of Supervisors when in session and
get it allowed. Now, in their comparison
alluded to, they have iacludeithc amounts
thus allowed, in their statement of the
amounts allowed the Republicans Treasurer
and Clerk, while they have ercluIed the
same items, from the amounts which they
state as allowed to the Democratic Treas
urer and Clerk, stating merely their bare
salaries Can anything be more cortcnpt-
IDLY dishonest than such low trickcry aud
fraud. All their attempts to fix upon the
Republicans the charge Of squanlcring
the county money, are characterized by
this same kind of palpablc deception and
! falschood.
Until H. c. Clapp can cXtricatc him
self in some degree from these and other
charges of fraud and falschood, as well as
from the charge " Swindling the county in
his official capacity" all his insane rawlings
about the the thieving hcll-hounds of
the court house" will damage nothing
but his own cause, and will only exhibit
more forcibly his impotent rage at being
trans6xed with indubitable proof of being
guilty of the crime of swindling, which he
is vainly endeavoring to fix upon others
What if the taxes and various expenses
of the county, and the compensation of
its officers, have increased, somewhat with
the increase of property and population,
and with the increase of paupcrism and
crime? 1t is no more than any rcasona-
bic man expects. If this is not true, we
ask why was the salary of the Treasurer
under democratic rule, increased gradually
from $500 to $780, in the course Of eight
or ten years? And why were other ex-
pcnses correspondngly increased during
the same time ? Can Mr.. Clapp answer
this? He knows that such was the fact.
If the Republican officers have been
guilty of one tenth Of the swindling which
Mr.. Clapp charges them with, it would
seem as though that immaculate guardian
Of the public rights, and the pvJlic finds,
might be able to specify some instance in
which he could show some evidence of
their guilt, without being obliged TO CON
fine himself to whosalc slang, and changes
so general that they don't hit anybody, or
anything.
The charge that the county is bankrupt
&c, is just as gratuitous as the other false
hoods propagatcd by the Doctor and his