The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-02-16

think, for their action Mt the ddjouraee
term of the Court of Claims for Fulton
county, held on the Sth and 9th DAYS OF
January, 1877.
Now the Justices, who thought they
were acting in good faith to their con.
stitueney, with the lights before them
do not care TO he sqaiJ5ed at, week after
week. and called upon 10
"Rse and explain
About the bridge over Bayou du CHEN,
which is all no doubt most excellent poe
Try, and would be so pronounced by the
English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,
Prorided the
Trio little Jack Horners
Who sit in their corners,
eating this delectable "christmas pie OF
their own fixing up, were sustained by
The fpcts and the record
1t is with these fGcts and the record ONLY
thar we propose to deal in justification o.
, ourselves and we are willing for the PEG
pie of Fulton county, with the facts be
fore them, to decide as to whether these
smart boys have found single plum
in h~ir christmas pie or not
Before dealing with the record, how
ever, it behOOves us to take some notice
of the false positions assumed by the two
sotoHS who propose to call us to account
One of them thinks his ''whole duty win
not permit him 10 pass this act of the
court unnoticed' and says: 'The question
before us is why IN increased poll should
be levied?" With remarkable penetration s
sees, through the appointment of commits
sioners for Il bridge over Bayou du Chen.
the milk in the c0coanui.' We have nj
/ ways heard that the cocnanut was the ia
yOriie food of the monkey III his native
home, and the Darwinian theory may ex
plain the Gpt,ess with which our friend
finds "the milk But his memory does
not serve him right when he says 1--WE had
an appropriation only few years ago of
$500 to build bridge over this same
creek" by reference TO order book, No
3 page 930, MIR. SOlon. you will find that
you have nearly doubled the mppr0pria
tiOn-SI00O having been appropriated
$500 out of the levy of 1871, and $500
ont of the levy of 1872 Again you say
This time 5000 is appropriated for the
same purpose. Where did you get that
information Please come down and
show us This $1,000 appropriation. You
may find il in your .'fnvorite food" If YOU
will bring one along. but we defy you to
show by the record that one siRgLe dollar
has as yet been appointed to pay for the
building of the contemplated bridge over
that "Ihis bridge matter was fully dis
cussed and Iab'ed' at the October term of
the court. We assert that no action was
taken al said court the bridge, except
10 receive the report of the commissioners
appointed nj the January term, 1875, to
order the same fled, and to discharge the
committee, they having done all they
were appointed to do That report Is on
file. aud il soHrs the milk in your cocoanut.
As to ''Scalpel,' that araUes aud ,rhiz,es
through the air with such ferocious force,
We have but little to say. No proposition
was ever submitted TO this board OF Mag
istrates TO establish ferry over he Bay
on. No proposition was made in October
10 increase the poll to 81 and voted down.
No assertion that only six persons live
in this county on the other side of the
Bayou will hear repeating and when the
attack of "Scalpel is stripes of these
three points there is nothing left but
outraged Indignation, and the only way
10 cool that down, that we know of, is for
our friend tn take his trsnchaHt blade and
hew away Fulton cOuntys half of the
Moscow bridge and thereby stop the ex-
pense Of keeping il up any longer, for
there are not even six citiz ms of Full
ton county living on the other side Of that
bridge-nOt one.
y
of the people of Fulton county, is TO fol-
low rs along the record, and we will try
ND explain to you why the poll was ia
q, pascal. ~ are ~fffing 10 bear our part
Of the blame, but not all OF it.
We begin with the death Of Jno. f. Ty-
Ter in Sept. 10. Mr.. Tyler died with
out having made settlement of the county
levy of 1875. On the 4, h day of October,
1915, the office OF sheriff passed into the
- Il ~
for So met on the lIfh Of October and
Mr.. Walker having had the tax book but
a few days the county commissioner was
ordered 10 delay settlement OF the levy of
1919 and report same 10 the January term,
1876, n order to give the Sheriff time u
colect up the levy. Al the January term,
1876, Mr.. Walker came mp for setiiemr IA [
and presented and was allowed Ton the
special plea that ne had been in the Office
bat short time, and had no. yet learned
" here the people lived $40 white and
l22 negro polls deIinq uents-tOtal AS
at - each;--this was enormous, aud the
Sheriff himself acknowledged it to be SO,
hat il was allowed Oh his promise that h-
would take il back at once and proceed
Immediately to collect the same, and that
ia future no such lists should ever be pre-
scented TO this court, he making in open
court the solemn asseveration that he
was determined no man should live IN
Fu'tou county and have anything out of
which his tax could be made without pay
ing it. Time passed on, the Court Of
Claims for 1876 was approaching. The
county levy com missioner called upon Mr.
Walker in September Tor a settlement of
The levy of iS76-he was not ready
The commissioner called again and again.
Mr. Walker protested that he could not
get his last ready by the meeting Of the
Court of Claims in October. The COM
missioner then went forward and made
the sctt ement withoutthe delinquent lists
being returned. He charged the Sheriff
with all the assets IN his hands belong
ing 0 the county and gave him credit by
ali the claims he had been ordered to
pay out OF those assets up 10 the date OF
The same. This settlement was presented
in open court, examined, approved and
ordered to he filed and recorded on the
gth day OF October lo d. This settlement
shows balance in MIR. Walkers hands at
that date of 5000 81 1t is open to in
spection.) The Court OF Claims set two
DAYS, Oct 9th aud 10Th. With this settle
ment as u basis, they allowed, during
their sittings, rs shown by order book No.
4, pages 10, -, Is aud 10, Claims against
the county amounting TO the sum OF -,
3O2 %. Before adjdeFning, when the
question of laying the levy for 1877 was
taken up, the Clerk was asked chow much
balance was now Ou he'd! AMI the Court
WAS informed that they still had, unap-
propriated, The sum OF > 123 Al, subject,
however, to II deduction tor he delinquent
! lists of 1915 aud 1876, and the Sheriff ;
commissions for coiectIng the levy OF
/ 1876. The Sheriff was then asked what
he thought the two delinquent lists aud
1 his commissions would amount to. he
said he could not tell. lie was then ask
ed if he thought $4O0 Or sou, in addition
/ to what he would realize on the list of
! 1915, would cover il all. He was not GER
tian, but hardly thought it would. The
Clerk then asked him the question, direct,
/ "Do you think, Mr.. Walker, That the S723
in addition 10 what you have, aud will
collect on the delinquent list of 1915, will
cover both lists ana your commissions
sud MIR. Walker answer was, that ne
thought that would be ample, and would
cover all demands for credits ON that score
The Clerk then informed the court that IN
/ fdaf eCeHt they would have lone thousand
dollars surplus With this idea of SlU0U
surplus, the poll tax was laid a 81 50 up
on each tythe, and no three dollars was ever
mentioned or voted upon.
Aud now, gentlemen, we are reaching