, 1875-11-07


To the Ei,tor Of Ihz Ch.eaao is1oune:
CHICAGO, Nov. 6.-My attention has bsen call
ed to communication sent BY Gen, Hermann
! Lieb, as County Clerk, to the Board OF County
| Commissioners, Oh the 25th October last, which
was published in the Stdo.s-Zeitung, Times,
and other papers, and, If the papers pub
llEhed the same correctly. it seems to
mo to be nothing else but m
argument OF the General to show that under the
J present systom-that is, where the county re-
celyes the benefit of all the fees. .-and under his
management the expenses of running the Coun-
! tv Clerks Office, in comparison with the costs
! under my administration, where the county. un-
der the old Law, paid for the work actua ly per
! formed, the expenses were reduced according to
| his 6gures, the sum Of SIS, 5,643.63.
| Now, as Gen. Lleb has thought proper
! to present TO the Board au Of
| fetal statement, by which he proves, according
| to his own figures, that the county saved during
| his first years administration the sum ct 35,-
| 6i3.63, and, at the same time published the dn-
ferent items aud amount of receipts collected
! p7 ua respectively during the same period .of
time. consider it duty owe to the citizens OF
/ Cook County to correct the statement thus Off
clally made By Gen Lieb, aud beg to call atten-
ton to the fact that, by careful perusing Of the
ilems and figures published, that just the reverse
I3 luz C2d6,-lAuk - W 6h34 luAt l1bseAu OE tue
| county gaining BY tue change OF the system, as
it WAS generally believed it would 1t did actually
cost Cook County the sum Of 81, ,943.33 more to
paT the expenses OF the County Clerks olice
than it did during my administration, according
to the Generals o~n fgures which I will pres
entity show.
And permit me here to say that ! do not believe
the General examined the figures carefully, as be
published that statement during the excitement Of
an election where he desired TO give his party
nj oT,Ha ha a1rnu u4rty
ally candidate zefrained from answering his
statement publicly, although I called attention
OF such gentlemen as Judge Wallace, Charles a.
Reed, Thomas A. Moran Il. Il. Singer, and 9TH
reader must have observed that imubd1-
ately after reading Of the general state
ment, the County Board passed an ap-
preparation Of $4,000, besides the estimated
the small sum Of s75, 900, towards defray,ug
the expenses of tho County Clerks Office and
County Court, and By the General'e own show
ing the total amount paid By the county to me
for all the work performed vas $50 766.4a,-a
Now 10 the facts and figures. General Lieb
says that the county paid me- as above stated,
the suE Of $50, 7G6.4s for work actually done for
the county Under the old system, whe.e the
Clerk had the benefit of the fees and paid bis
own expenses and suppose as have lot the
ofcaf records to refer to. the amount ,s correct
as the figures were undoubtedly furnished bY
that excellent aud faithful officer, William Bye,
Deputy Treasurer
Now, among the items OF receipts tho General
Claims l got Was the amount OF 81, ,591. SO for
making the judgment record and precept for
15!2- suppose did receive that amount, but
not from the county, although tie money was
paid to rue By the Treasurer for the reason the
money Is only collected by tho Treasurer fo- the
benefit of the Clerk from tho delinquent tax
payere.
By reference to the revised statutes OF 1874, !
page 52A you will lind that the fees of County
Clerks Of counties of the third class (which !
means Cook County, is for tax matters as fol- ]
lows: For making list Of delinquent lands and |
lots Tor Judgment for each tract or lot, cents
Tor entering judgment for each tract or lot, |
cent ; for making Lists of delinquent lands or !
cents.
Now, on comparing the items Of receipts as |
furnished by the General himself and collected t
by him, you will find no receipts from that |
source. although the judgment record for 1873 |
was great deal larger than the one Of the pre-
Elous year, and at the lowest estimate the |
amount Of $4,000 ought to have been received |
from that source and when you deduct the sum
OF S5,G43.63 (which the General claims the
county paid me more for the work done for the
county that he drew from the Treaaueer)
from s7.5s1.96 it leaves S1,94S 3s, which
the county actually paid more, by the Generals
own figures, than was paid to bus predecessor.
But this is not all The General savs re-
ceIyed from the South sud West Park Copnia- |
slonerB, for extending thelr respective taxes on |
the warrant for 1873. $4,031. I anppuse did;
the law allowed me- 3 certain fee for doing GER
tain work. But is it not strauge that the Gen. |
erat forgot that the county is entitled to the |
same fees u received, to vlt: cent lot OF