Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1872-10-03
.MnIfesnmce dss ONCE.

tious between Kindred politicians.
The Sheriff of Preble County, it
is said, barely escaped an indict-
ment, a few terms since, for over
charging fees, by q pol: teal friend
at court. The Auditors office is
not free from suspicion in the
same direction, under the lead of
its late incumbent. The Com
missioners, it is also said, impro-
Violently expended $4,000 of the
peoples money, in paying for a
design and draft of a new Jail,
which as not built. 1t is now
admitted that this expenditure was
either an oversight or a gross
swindle, but the County lost the
money. The Clerks Office is in
q bad condition. From cost bills
taxed by the present incumbent,
8 suspicion arose that all was not
right in this quarter. In order
to ascertain the facts, B. +. Larsh,
Esq, q very competent person
was employed to examine
a number Of cost bills, in
the office. He revised over one
hundred, and accurately taxed
the costs in each one allowed by
the statute, noting the proper
and over-charges, in a small
book, with the number of each
case for reference. In every in~
stance, so far as he went, over
charges were detected, In greater
or up amounts, to the extent OF
hundreds of dollars. There was
none taxed too small, thus pro-
wing that ifsinaccuracies' had oc-
Cured, either unintentional or
otherwise by "routine," as the
Register claims, they were in
each instance "routined" in ia
vor of the Clerk. After we had
published a few Of these cases,
we were approached by a friend
of the Clerk, with a proposition
to purchase the book, or US from
publishing any more of its con-
tents, but the offers were prerem.
torily declined, on any terms
The book was afterward stolen
from our Office, which prevente d
us from carrying out our inten'
ton of publishing the entire list
A sufficient amount of it was
published, however to establish
the fact, beyond sufficient contra
dictiun, that the Clerk had
through his whole term of Office
overtaxed cost bills. This fact
the Clerk himself admits, bu'
presents the excuse of having
done it under precedent by tax.
ing up the costs"in gross''Withou'
reference to the statute. The
verdant editor of the Register
subsequently as an excuse inven
ted the "routine'' taxation O
costs, which means Jumping es
innate of the costs in each case
by the bundle or size of the pa
ipers. This "routine" idea mus
have been borrowed from an ole
dutch Justice of Amsterdam, WI
decided all cases in his court b,
the relative size of the papers o
the litigant, without reference t,
the evidence adiuced on trial
But be this as it may, the ClerL
under a sense of a violation o.
the statute, when it was discover
ed, whether Intentionally or "rou
timely" has refunded to Judg,
Campbell and others amounts o
costs over-taxed and collected
and has offered to pay back, il
several other instances, and t.
Joseph Donohoe in particular
like sums of money. He has, a
we are informed been engaged il
changing his cost bills. Such
proceedings would amount to
} small alta under the Grant AID
ministration, but unfortuueatel,,
for the Clerk he is amenable, I'm
der the statute of Ohio, the sec
ton of which we published
few weeks ago, and is not neces
sary to here repeat again.
With these facts before tn
people, and no one pretends t,
deny them, there is some anxiet,
: to know whether the Radica
: party will elect d. B. Morrow
Clerk for a second term, on tn