Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-09-26
INCOMPETENCE.
CROOKEDNESS AND BLUM
DERINGS OF SHERIFF
SMITH.

4
people to re-eleet him to that or similar
office, his relations to the public are
changed; they are different from that of a
private citizen, who is not seeking public
trust, and his private and official acts and
personal conduct are proper subjects Ofin-
vestigation. 1t is right and proper for the
people, whose suffrages he asks to place
himself In charge Of their business, to /
know what bis conduct has been, what |
his character for honesty and fair deal
ing has been, and how he has discharged |
the trust the people have confded to his
care. If he has conducted himself prop |
erly and discharged the duties of his Of
fee faithfully, promptly, honestly, and
shown himself to be competent to fill his
Office aceeptably, he has nothing to fear
from investigation; instead of shrinking
from it. will rather invite it; but, if he
has private OF an official record that
will not stand the test of scrutiny, he and
his friends will denounee every attempt
TO place his conduct before the light of
/ truth. ..z44... -e ,- tt
We were, more than. ever, impressed
with the correctness of this view of the
subject when, on account of our ar
tiele exposing the erookedness of some
of the Sheriff7s transactions, Mr.. Smith
and his friends, after reading the article,
flew into violent passion and denounced
/ us in no very 1attering terms for having
meddled with what the called the Sher-
ifns private business, and making known
his crooked transactions. But, in view of
/ the fact that Mr.. Smith holds an impor-
tant public trust; that he is the peoples
servant, not their master, the people have
a right to know how he manages his
finances and how he discharges the du-
ties of tile Office they have intrusted in
his care, and, so far as we are concerned
they shall know, at least, some of the
crookedness that has characterized the
administration of the Sheriff's Office since
he has pretended to discharge its duties;
tits due the people to know whether he
has been true to his trust, true to the peO-
Eple, and we do not intend to make sin
. gle statement or charge in relation to his
acts but what can be sustained by the
facts.
And now, since we have commenced
to ventilate the crookedness of Sheriff
i Smith, we may as well mention few of
his blunders- Ito call them nothing more
criminal. For instance, the sale, on exc
Eeution, of 500 acres of land belonging to
Newton Evans, to the Peoples and Dro-
vers' Banking Association, of this place,
; for. $65 per acre The sale failed to be
confirmed by the Court, from the fact that
one of the appraisers chosen was inter
ested in thejudgment. The property had
, to be reappraised and again advertised
4 for sale by the sheriff, when it sold for
500 per acre, or 81, 900 less than the Bank
ing Association had bid it of at the first
: Esale.
Another: the house and lot belonging
to Irions and King was sold by Sheriff
: Smith, on an execution, for 81 900, but
!. the Court refused to confirm the sale, be-
cause of Sheriff's failure to make correct
: description of the property. 1t had to be
Fadvertised again. and sold this time for
So, 900; thus, in consequence of this in
excusable blunder, the parties lost thou
: sand dollars on this property.
i Sheriff Smith sold the farm of John
T. Cox, Esq, but the court refused tc
:, 1 confirm the sale, because the Sheriff made
), a return that the money was not paid
The reason set up for the nOnpayment ot
:, the purchase money was that the prop
= erty was leased till the first of March
y and it would be three months before tn
Sheriff could put the purchaser, Mr.. JnO
3, Matthews. in possession of the property
L This was a very thin subterfuge. Tn
= statutes of Ohio do not require the Sher
itf to put a purchaser in possession of rea
I'd estate purchased at Sherif's sale, that i
s. the duty of the Court; as the propert
was sold without exceptions or reserve, o
3 subject to any lease. The Court refusin
to confirm the sale, for the reason give
by the Sheriff, it was again advertise
1e and sold to the same party for $500 les
IS than the first purchase. This was a heav
= loss to the judgment-debtor as well as t
the creditors.
Ok In another case, the Sheriff advertise
- for sale piece of real estate, to be sol
7N on the premises; whereas, the statute RI
quires that real estate shall be sold at tn
~ door of the Courthouse, unless the Cour
" in the order of sale, designates some othe
"a place for the sale of the property.
oi this case the Court had made no orde
:. - with the plain provisions of the statnt
IL the Court refused to confirm this sal
W and the property had to be advertise
g again and sold, with additional costs fl
Sheriff's and printers fees.
: The above are few specimen cases OF
: of many, in which the sheriff S incomp
- tence and inexcusable carelesdness
- the execution of his official duties has CO
:. the parties interested heavy losses.
"a In making his return upon executions
- is not in the habit of making an itemizt
% return of his fees for official services,
81 the law requires, but makes his return
a. the back of the execution, only statir
- that the Judgment and cost, amounting
a. SO many dollars, has been paid. One ge
tleman Informed us that he had overpa
a fee bill charged to him by the Sheriff
- $17, and afterwards, on telling the She
if of the fact, he said it was mlsta
mo- and graclously paid the amount bac
nm We hear of good many similar mistak,
n,t where the amount exceeds his legal fet
NV In addition to these little official mistak
nle of Sheriff Smith, we hear of great dC
hat of crOokedness in the sale of prOpert
ltI, and excessive amount of advertising, t
-, cost of which somebody has to pay.
an, The statutes of the State impose hea
% penalties upon a sheriff, constable,
-, other person, whose duty it is to sell p
lei lei sonal or real property on execution,
en- purchasing by himself or another, or h,
mr. ing any interest in the sale of proper
= he is offering for sale. 1t also impo
heavy penalties upon such officials
charging more fees than is prescribed
law. ti.#