The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-12-18
HOPEFUL SIGNS.

HOPEFUL SIGNS.
For vears mast the ARGUS has agitated the
matter of speculatiOns In county oFoers'
showed how town collectors ana county
treasurers violated the law and thus ospre'
ciated the credit of the county and increased
the taxes of the people. No other paper IN
the county has ever raised its voice against
this illegal practice or said one word to stop
the abuse At last we are grstiied to see an
indication that something is to be DONE
Sup'r Buffum, of Andalusis, has, by the
resolutions he introduced, on the suo)ee1'
land which were adopted by the board) made
a move in the right direction. we ar
thankful to see one man break loose from the
trammeIs of party and the dictation OF the
court house clique, and strike out Tor the
neonles' interests The resolutions are
little milder than we would have drawn
them, but still they show that something Is TO
be done.
IF Bailey; Davenport had been elected
county treasurer he would have put his foot
down hard upon all the brood of sharks who
speculate out of the peoples taxes. Mr.
Thomas could do it, if he would; but he
wants to make money out of his othce, just
ssW Wait did, and we look for no better things
from him than from Wait. Davenport did
not seek nomination for the ethce, and
personally, did not desire 1.-THE only reason
he would have taken 1t at all would De 10
benefit the people, raise the credit OF the
county, and break up the gang OF specula-
tors.
But. as he was not elected, our only hope,
for the next two years, is in the people and
the supervisors they elect. Sup'r Bufum
has boldly started the ball. and If the people
will now follow it up by electlng the right
men, next spring, the whole system OF county
order speculations can be broken up. But,
to do it sure, no man must be elected who
can, by any possibility, be controlled or in
fuenced by the court house clique, for there
are numberlsss abuses about the court house
which need correcting, as well as this one.
It would be we'll for the people in each
town to hold public meetings and denounce
the people who thus speculate out of their
money and bring in extortional bills for al
lowance. Let committees be appointed to
look up and ascertain from such tax payers in
their several towns, exactly what sum of
money they paid the town collector, and
what sum in county orders. Let this COM
mIttee make up report of these facts from
each town, and send it to the board of super
visors. Their let the supervisors request each
township collector to report to the board what
sum of money he paid to the county treas
nd yyhot ID Lat
this system be carried out, thoroughly, and
in earnest, and the board can then ascertain
who has violated the law, and have each one
Of them exposed and prosecuted,-thus COM
pelllng them to suffer the penalty of the vio-
lated law, and prevent them from ever being
elected TO any office again.
We hail the movement of Sup'r Buffum as
the dawning of brighter day for the people.
Let him follow it up with determination
and show that he was in earnest; tina, he
meant business, and, he will earn the graft
tude of the great mass of the people OF the
county.
Sup'r Bufum also procured the passage of
an order for complete statement Of county
fnances,-an important move, similar TO
sAos OII Siualou ny sup hILhUdIl, eoiAetAlne
ago, and one that, if fully and intelligent ly
complied with, will enable the people TO
know how they stand. Sup'r Bufum evil
IDENTIFY means business.
ANOTHER GOOD MOVE.
Sup'r Crawford, of Hampton, also procur-
ed the passage of resolution requiring col
lectors to pay over TO the treasurer and the
treasurer to the chairman of the board, as
fast as collected, money to iquidate county
Indebtedness. This is good move and will
apply the money, at once, as fast as collec-
ted, to pay debts and stop interest, instead of
allowing it to remain for months in the
hands of these officers to use for private
speculation. Sup'r Crawford did q good
thing, one the people awIll appreciate and
thank him for. No man in the board looks
out sharper for the peoples interests than
Sup'r Crawford.