, 1872-09-05
The Public Thieves.

The organ of the plunderers make a
lame and impotent attempt at reply to
our exposition of last week showing how
the taxpayers were robbed for the bene-
fit of that paper end the officials who
are in collusion with it. 1t first en-
dorses Mr.. Bryan, one of its "pals," az
an upright man as ever there was in
Seattle" and then brings him forward
with certificate traversing our veracity
in a matter in no way affecting the main
issue, but simply showing that the fel-
low is as destitute of truth as of moral
honesty, and which we can dispose Of
in brief. He says:
Beriah Brown states that he called
on me to pay the Special School Tax.
which deny, and say that l called on
him, when he paid the tax on the prop
erty assessed to him for 1872, and, in
quired for. and paid the tax on the
property of another party. for the same
year; but be did not mention the name
Of Jean McHugh Brown, whom L sup
posed to be a nonresident, but who
proved to be, as I only learned after
wards, the wife of Beriah Brown, and
to whom the property was assessed for
the year 1871, and the tax remained. and
still remains, on my books as delinquent
for that year, and for which I had the
property advertised.
The truth is, that we never saw this
man in or about our premises, and never
exchanged word with him until We
called upon him in the drug store of NJ.
A Kelly, in company with Major War
rem, and offered to pay the taxes on
block IA, in Edes & Knights addition,
and distinctly told him that the proper
ty belonged to Jean McHugh Brown
He received the taxes and gave US re-
ceipt in our own name for the money,
when we again told him that it was
not our property; to which he replied
that it made no difference, as the receipt
covered the taxes on that property
Major Warren was present during the
entire interview, and recollects the facts
as We have stated. We might have be-
lieved that Bryan was but the stupid in
strument of the cupidity of others but
for these volunteer falsehoods. which
prove conclusively that he was coll
senting party to the gross fraud practic-
ed upon the taxpayers, in compelling
them to pay, in many instances, for ad-
vertising, more than twenty times the
amount of their delinquent taxes.
The only explanation which the Intel
l;gencer offers for these swindllng charges
is as follows "We state that the rate
of charges for such advertisements ap-
pears on our first page, although. with
two exceptions, we have never charged
that amount; and on these two occasions
were compelled to send to San Francisco
for extra sorts :" to execute the work
in proper manner"
Now every printer knows that this ad-
vertisement, set in nonpareil. the ordi-
nary advertising type, would not have
made over forty squares in that paper.
which, according to the advertised rates,
would have amounted to $3.50 for three
publications; but the Inteligencer ordina-
rily charges, and we never charge, but
one half these rates, and for business
advertisements its highest charges are
S15 per month per column, according to
which this advertising would have
amounted to no more than $45 for a
month, whereas, the taxpayers are COM
PEELED to pay in the aggregate S525 for
three weeks-a difference in amount suf-
ficient to pay the first cost of every type
used in the publication Of that paper.
But this is only a smaller portion of
the swindle. We understand that the
Sherif's advertisement of sale for delin-
quent taxes, amounting to considerably
more than this, was charged at the same
rate. These comprise the only two ad-
vertisements which the I,deHigencer says
we're ever charged to the amount of their
advertised rates; and we know of col
umns of advertisements published IN
that paper after we had rejected them
because they did not pay one-tenth OF
the rites charged by the InteAigencer for
this tax advertisement. The aggregate
amount charged for these two tax sales
is certainly not less than 81, 200, and
the overcharge is at least $1,000, which
is more than the value of the press and
all the material used in the publication
of that paper, all of which is forced
contribution from the pockets of the
taxpayers by the connivance of corrupt
officials, for the support of an unscru-
pulous paper in the interest of the
"ring."
The hummer editor says that paper
has three times the circulation of the
DISPATCH" He knew this to be mon
strious lie; but the fact is well known,
that when We took the DISPATCH, with
less than half the circulation it now has,
it was tie chosen organ for the publica-
ton of all the official printing of the
present county officers, and the circula-
ton of the Intelligeneer was quite as
large then as it is now. This printing
was transferred, at an expense to the