The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-10-04
The Wing VS.. The County Commits


payers. that the facts IN gard to the expcns:
of that publications., III the form you insist
upon having il made in, should be stated
PROPOSE to make that statement IN order
that the people WIN H'ot all bills " may see
this matter ir"N aFsothcr than the printers
standpoint. and be able to judge iorhnsrves
AS To the correctness Of economy practiccd in
the premises for their benefit. First, how
cvcr.'a PREDATORY remark or two, made nccs-
Sary by your article of 5 turday.
You say, " whether the people who foot all
bills. would rather fnrrSo the satisfaction of
seeing erety item stated for which they pay
their money or save the extra triiling expense
is question not clearly dctcrppinrd."
The italicizing. by yours, II, of the words
E. every itcm' above. in tie connection in
which those words stand. might, even without
their repetition in another part OF your article.
convey the idea that the Analysis furnishes
convenient means of conccalng expenditures
IN the Levy which taxpayers are interested
in having published. 1 should think il
scarcely possible lint, with the publication
in question before You. yun could Intend to
create snch I'M !H,pr"ssion as the mo@ eur
sorry examination Of the list by yourself or
your rea,crs would dispcl snch an Idra.--
a little exercise in rl,r simple rule Of addition
wealss :n,Aicc To satisfy the curious that every
d"'3ar of the Levy is accou:cd for in tht
Analysis.
You remark. also. that yon perceive by the
county papers throughout the State, that the
publication of a iull statement of the Levy
List is the rule. II you mean ny ga fail
statement " verbatim copy of the list as
kept 10y the County Commissioners, in which
is given, alphabetically arranged, the names
of the persons receiving. the purpose and
amount of each item, then the practice has
changed. without any change of legal require
mcnt, since 1869. Having access to the
papers alluded to, at that time, and being
interested then, as now, in examining such
publications. am certain that the reverse
was Mrn the rule, and :. iull statements the
exception.
understand your objection to the Analysis
to be that it Il res not furnish. as you think the
law requires, the names of persons for whom
the several sums in the Levy are prov idcG.-
1t is admitted that such is the case. Tw"
facts in regard to this seeming n-compi-
ancc with the law must: however, be borne in
mind. The first is, that large portion Of the
aggregate Levy is composed of sums levied.
not Tor persons, but for purposes. | refer I"
such items rs those for support Of the poor.
repairs of roads. &c. which amount, in the
aggr, gate, to nearly SO 200, or more than.
onc-half the entire Levy OF 1867. In sucl,
cases no names could be given.
The second fact to be remembered is. tina,
another large portion Of the Levy (abouI
50 7OO) is composed OF amounts levied for
officers Of the county, the courts, &C., viz
County Commissioners per diem, salaries OF
Clerk and Counsel, per diem of Road Super
visorS, Judges Of Election. &c. OF for corpor-
ate bodies, snch as Maryland Hospital, town
of EiktOn, &c. Now. in reference 10 the
first of these classes of amounts, il would be-
clrarly supr.huous to give the names of the
officers in the Analysis, when, for instance
the -" Account of Clerk. S6Si.l7 is given.
under the heading OF :. Expenses of the Cir
cult Count every tax paying Reader of the
Analysis knows that WIN. II. Ricketts,, Esq.
Che viii pardon me nssr OF his name here, for
the public rncIit. l truSD is entitled to re-
crive out Of the Levy the sum named.
torbcar further Illustration on this point, the
Analysis furnishing your readers all abund-
ancc of them.
AS to the last class Of items those for cor.
p"ratc bolics-it would hardly be expected
that, for the mere sake of occupying your
valuable space, the commissioners should
name, in tn. list, the several members OF the
Boards of Trustees and Town Commissioners
When, therefore, in considering the appar.
cht Noncompliance of ihc Commissioners
with the part of the code in question, it is
RENE mhrrcd that, rs to threc-iourtlis Of the
whole amount lcvi.d Uhr >itrms referred t"
bear that preparatory it would be either
supcrfiu"us or impossible to publish names ;
when il is also cons dcretl that the balance OF
the Levy is composed of fees of Jurors.
Bailtis, Coroncrs, accounts of MagiSiratrS
C"nstablcs, &c. &C., in regard to whose
Individual allowances the public can have no
special interest. When ii is further rrmcm-
brrcd, that a' full statement" is on file in the
Commissioners office, aud Il copy Of the same
in the Court Room, with copy of each Dis
trict's portion of the List in the l,nds of cach
of the nine Collectors Of taxes in the county
are all open to public inspection when all
this is borne in mind. would ii not appear to
hc the EXTREMIST folly and extravaganza to
publish at Il heavy ann,hsl cost. such ~ state
mcnt as you think the Law rrquircsi Tax.
payers will. I think. answer allirmativcly
directly, if not now. SO much as to thu
necessity for publishing q" full statement
Now, as to the expense. You say it world
be an "rXtra trifling expense" costing only
"a" few doll,rs" molc than the present publ
cation. Let us see.
The Analysis. as now published for 1862,
contains, exclusive of the heading and state
m"nt Of property liable to taxation, fifty. one
(3l) items Of expenditures, Classified, occu.
pying one hundred and three (lh3) lines of
space, exclusive Of iootingS. on an average Of
about two lines each item. The Levy /. ST
Of Commissionars-thc {. full statement - you
require in alphabetical form and unclassi.
fled, gives the same aggregate amount in
eight hundred and thirteen (Sl3) items. none
of which would occupy less than two lines OF
your space, "sct mp" in the same torn, the
Analysis is published in, while some wonll
require three lines fSpacc. | put them ALL
however, Mt two lines, or sixteen hdndrcd and
twcnty-siy (IG2G) lines, which would rcgu ire
just about sirieen times The space oecwpied bp
me same portion Of The Anaipis.
The space now occupied by the portion of
the annual statement is, judge, about thir-
teen "Sq,,arcs.'' The .full statement"
then, would require lG times l3 squares, or
2tS squares. Your charge for advertising the
Analysis is, per square, 80,
Is squares at that price, is S 1880
2GS E" 4" 1890
Balance in Airor Of Condensation, S2J2.5O
This in one paper. In both, the taxpayers of
the county save, for 1862, fire hundred ami
eight. fire doiiars. Now, if there be any error
in this calculation do not see it," and
hope, if you discover il, Mr.. Editor, You will
" show it up" In the meantime the tax
payers, if any there he, who agree with you
in wishing . full statement " pul ishcd, will
have leisure to calculate whether the whistle
would not be dearly bought by such n publ
cation. II they think not, they can, perhaps,
by the assistance Of the Grand Jury, compel
strict compliance by the Commissioners
with the /" letter of the law " on this subject
Not the least foolish portion of this law,
will add, is that imposing penalty upon the
Chyk FOR dnty to be discharged by the
Commissioners How would snch p,n,l,