Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-07-02
n,rKA..E THE cou.r.

nE .tTKAt.E ON THE COUsEI
We are certain that the taxpayers
of this city and county, and honest, in
1nstr;ous folks every where, read the
,,rocr. dings Of the meeting of the
Roa,d of County COmmissi Cntrs,
as reported in the JoURHAL yez-
terd.v. with much interest aud i'll
dicn .tinn. In these piping times OF
business staguation aid want it is
ar.uCh to make the blood course
+brnrgh our veins more quickly to see
how the county has been "outraged,
:, use the language of the ChAirn II,
or. to employ more correct exl preston,
b,w the county has been robbed, III d
with the knowledge and consent rf
the commissioners th' mstlves. And
after the ugly details of the courage"
are brought 10 light and exposed, how
one Of these Commissioners openly s.
,,ousrd the cause of the beneficiary
fine outrage" how one sat in APPROX
ing silence; and how two others timid-
" fled from all responsibility. Only
one of five Commissioners had the
courage or the disposition even to cen
sure an emplOye who had proved un-
wortt.v Of their confidence and synlpa-
thy. and who had sureptitiously OBJ
tanned money fer which he had rem
dercd no service.
In the first place the Board of
County Commissioners had award
ed a contract to stranger,
whose business character was not
above suspicion, to do a work for
which he proved himself incompetent
TO perform. They agreed to give him
twice or three times as much as the
work gas worth. There are hundreds
of men III this city, honest, hArdwork
ing men. who would gladly have done
The work and done it well and faith
fullv for one-half the amount paid to
Smyth. Indeed if he has regular en-
ployment worth anything approaching
the pay he receives as Clerk of the
Board, he could not i'll five months
have done other work worth thirteen
hundred dollars. During the past
five months this negro Smyth has
Leen paid cighteCn hundred dOllars
by the County Commissioners for la
bors as clerk and copyist, a sum
equal to a monthly salary of three h1na-
dred u5td sirty dollars, or at the rate
of fDt,r MOusa7ld three htmd1td and
trclty dOiLurs a gear. Do the Com
missioners regard his labors worth
the money paid him? Have they per-
formed their full duty to the people
of this county? Are their hands clean
OF this Outrage, %
And who is Smyth that he has been
so rewarded. A faithful Republican
t. be sure, and of the orthodox color.
He came here a short time since as ali
officer of that great swindling affair,
the Freedman's Bank, an institution
which wantonly defrauded the poor
negroes out of their hard-earned
NuSSSy uL1 UuC DEduCu mere, dCCOIU-
g to official statements, did its full
share in that mighty fraud. But what
proved disastrous to the great mass of
the cOlored people, was a wind-fall to
the cashier, for by the favor of the
Commissioners his reward has been
great His pay has been doubled and
his labOrs decreased.
How many poor men in this county,
Democrats and Republicans, who have
families to support and children to
educate, who have toiled a lifetime
among the people here; whose records
are without blemish, who are
oroughly competent, who would
gladly do all the work ;5myth
has done for his regular salary
OF one hundred dollars a month.
How many of the best clerks in this
city, who labor faithfully from early
morn until dark, who do not get even
a. much as twelve hundred dollars a
year
Smyth gets fourteen hundred dollars,
and the work is a failure, there Is not
a printing office in this city which
would not have furnished the books
neatly printed for one half the amount,
and given every lawyer in the city
loose sheets for use in their offices.
The whole affair Is an "outrage" on
the county, a swindle upon the tax
payers, III behalf of an unworthy man,
II indeed he be the only recipient of
the benefits of the lob" In behalf
OF these outraged taxpayers, we de-
mand of Commissioner Morris to in
Ntstlgate the matter as he has been ap-
pointed to do, and file his report at the
next meeting. We demand of each
member of the Board to express him
Self freely in condemnation of this
outrage, and do all in his power to
rectlfy the damage, or he will not be
held gulltless by the people. AS the
matter now stands the Commi, sioners
are more responsible than Smyth, and
Chairman Wilson deserves thanks fol
his report and bold support of it. Il
was confidence in the guilty sympathy
and support of a majority of the 9th
eIs, which induced Smyth to apply fOl
the reappointment to a place from whicl
he had Just been driven in disgrace
VIII the Board dare reappoint him
We shall see.
1hE New York Wortd reports the
.-SeS by fire in the United States dur
lhg the month of May. lust past. a,