The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1858-12-02

Omcers unnecessarily Large!
~ The extreme hardness of the
times. and the great scarcity of money
in this region, making it so difficult for
most of our citizens to pay even their
assessed proportion Of the expenses of
the government have led taxpayers to
a more jealous scrutiny Of the public ex-
penses than they ordinarily indulge in.
This is their right, if not their duty, and
if more uniformly practiced by them,
would insure a better and a more honest
performance Of duty by their public SER
wants No honest or faithful officer would
be iKely TO object to any inquiry, fairly
made, as to his official acts, and we
know. that so far as our own county Of
iie;als are concerned. they court any and
all unprejudiced investigation. Their
books are always open to those DESTROYS
of examining them. and they are so in
! diligently and plainly kept, (Which is
great deal more than could be said of
those of the previous ADMINISTRATOR that
any man of even limited capacity, can
decipher them, aud can tell precisely the
financial condition of the county-what
is received and what paid out of the
treasury, what warrants were drawn, by
whom, and what for. The officers invite
each and every taxpayer of this county
to such investigation, and will, with plea
sure, we know, give them such assistance
as their necessary duties will permit.
We have been led to these remarks
because we know there was hope that
our taxes the present year would be less
than they are. or, legitimately, can be.
There are but few in the community who
realize the variety and the amount Of ex
pense current to a county government.
Officers salaries, court. Jail, pauper,
election, stationery, printing, assessing,
and miscellaneous expenses, amount year
" to a large general aggregate, greater
than most Of our citizens are aware of.
We propose, in this article, to show what
the estimates of the present year were,
and what they were based upon. We
have taken the trouble to gather them, in
order that our readers may know, as we
do. that the per centage Of tax was placed
at the smallest sum that repeated and
close figuring showed to be sufficient to
meet the necessary expenses of the COM
ing year. Some three or four consulta-
tons were held, III regard to the assess
ment, by the Judge, Treasurer, and
Clerk, and the amount carefully figured
to the lowest point of which their united
judgments could approve.
Before proceeding to give these esti-
mates, We desire to say word in answer
to communication in the Eagle, en-
dorsed by the assinine editor of that SUI
perlatiyely childish, inane, and SANDER
Gus sheet The article certainly bears
the impress of stupidity or malignity.-
If the author did not know better than to
assert that the probable expenses of the
county would reach, during the present
year, three or four thousand dollars, he
must be grossly stupid. If he did know
better. then his object in this communi-
cation could have been none other than
to excite an unjust prejudice against the
present administration, for motives Of his
own, and not because he believed the
county officers really amenable to the
charge of incapacity or dishonesty,
which is implied in his communication.
Had he simply wanted information,
he would doubtless have gone to the
county officers, who would have given
him every facility for procuring it, and
who would have shown him that the ex-
penses Of the county must necessarily
reach higher than four thousand dollars,
because the salaries of the county officers
land he will not say they are extrava-
gant) and the necessary clerk hire in the
Recorders office, would alone amount to
more than three thousand dollars. This
fact, of itself, exhibits clearly, as we be-
fore said, either gross and culpab!e igno-
rance on the part Of The writer in regard
to the subject which he thus publicly
breaches, or else convicts him of ques-
lionabie motives in stating false premi-
ses. aud insinuating conclusions unwar-
ranted and injurious. So far as his
queries are concerned. therefore, the
officers Of this county need not trouble
themselves with explanations. nor would
we have written this article in Difference
10 them. We made our examinations
Tor our OWE satisfaction. and give the
facts u our readers solely because we
believe they will prove interesting TO