The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-04-04


Of Canton have been accustomed 10 hold their
meetings In the Court House, ana 10 use gus
nj the county expense. This, II true, should
be forbidden by the Commissioners .
Stationery. We find that within the year
the following articles of stationery among
otheTs) were purchased for the county oince@
85lI doz lead pencils, lSH doz penholders "
gross metallic pens, 30 reams loolscap paper,
(most of It at $500 per ieam,l lBH reams note
nnper (besldes large quantity of letter and
note paper with printed headsO w Dottles INN,
Imostly quarts 8llS doS rubber bands, AZ INK
erasers li9l thousand plain envelopes, DC,
sides large numbers of printed and stamped
envelopes. ii will be seen, at a glance, that
this Is greatly In excess OF the quahClty ol
stationery actually needed for the use OF Jhe
public Offices and can only be accounted i9r
upon the theory that such stationery Is pubic
property and belongs to he first tdker; some
mode OF guarding against this palpable lrreg,,
ulArity ought to be devised; and we would
advise that the furnishing OF all stationery
needed for the public ofhces pe leJ, annuallyi
10 the lowest bidder, (the kinds, quantity ana
quality 10 be determined by the commission
ers alter consultation with the several county
officers or that such furnishing be leJ Dy CON
tract at fair price always giving lhe prefer
ence, when II can consistently be done to
Stark county dealers; and that such station
ery be placed In the custody Of the Auditor,
to be delivered over TO the county oIncers US
the requirements Of their several oinces may
demand, Inc INV allows Illb IAOublO bAuS'
and Clerk TO select their own stationery; but
these officers would scarcely insist upon eXer-
cising this privilege, to the detriment of the
county finances, II proper stationery were
furnished them by the Commissioners.
We learned from the Auditor that IT mas
been his practice TO furnish bottle OF INK,
with pens, pencils and paper, On auulIlon 10
blanks) TO each of the Township Assessors,
annually This does not seem TO be alloWeu
by law, and ought to be abandoned. .,
PRINTING,-As the price OF printing ~ pup.
lie notices is regulated by law, we ala not
deem It necessary to inquire lnto the correct
ness of the bills on file for printing 1one %doat %Sa
that printers be required to attach 10 thelr
| bills copies of the notices for which compen-
sation is claimed so that the commissioners
and others may have the means OF asGerIalnii
| ing the correctness of the charges made; and
that such bills be presented to the Commls-
sioners for allowance, at a regular or extra
session, before being paid. There being az
ference of opinion among the printers OF the
county, as to the construction OF the law WIN
reference to fees for printing public NOTICES, IL
would be well If the Commissioners would IN
form themselves with regard TO the subject,
from interested sources, ana be governed
accordingly, in the allowance Oh SUCH pllls
BIASKs.-Upon this subject we.are [of thel
oplnion that reformation is needed in three
respects, namely: Quantity, kind and price,
| The burden of furnishing blanks TO county
| officers is at best q heavy one, and 1t is there
| fore incumbent upon the commissioners 10
| take active measures to enforce economy In
| their purchase and use. Large quantities OF
| blanks are ordered at time; and IN many
| Instances these become useless by reason OF
| changes in the law or otherwise ana thus
| loss results to the county.
| Officers should be limited, in ordering
| blanks to such quantities as they may deem
| necessary for their offices for period OF Six
| months at q time, and no more
| We earned that 10 has been the practlce Tor
| some years past, in the Probate Office OF the
| County, (and VIC are informed that Che same
practice prevails in other counties OF the
State 10 furnish various kinds OF blanks 1Or
| the use of executors, administrators ana
| guardians, at the expense of the county: we
| found bills on file amounting TO consiuera-
BILE sum, for printing such blanks and fur
nishing the paper therefor. AS we construe
| the law this Is not allowable, Such blanks
are in no sense genera public rCqulremehJ,
nor necessary to the proper discharge OF
| the duties of the Probate Office, 1t might
as well be claimed that each executor, ad"
| ministIator or guardian should be furnished,
| at the public expense, with BOOK or IN
| structiOnS and forms, as with such Dlanks.
| No doubt they are convenience 10 Jhe
parties TO whom they are furnished, but each
| estate ought to bereQuired to pay for It's own
blanks and stationery, and the county reliev-
| ed from further expense In that respect.
We also learned that in several of1ces a
practice has sprung up of having Records
| printed, under the name of 'blanks.' Wheh
the law allows an officer full compensation
| for lUriting Om records, he should not be per-
mitted TO have them printed, for the purpose
| of relieving himself from the labor (or part
of it, of such tCritiHg out; or, If such printing
| is done It should De at the cost of the officer
requiring it. Bills for such work should be
closely scanned by the Commissioners
| In some instances the prices paid for blanks
| seems 10 us to have been nigh; and in order
| to avoid danger of OveTpaymCnt in the future
we advise that the furnishing of all blanks
needed for County purposes. he leu annually,
either by private contract at falr price, or
to the lowest bidder; a. may be thought best
or most equitable, (Stark County printers TO
be preferred other things being equal)
price per quire, for quarter page, hall page
and whole page blanks, should be PAID, ana
the quality of the paper to be used should be
fixed by the contract. By the exercise of
proper care, great saving to the county would
result from such contracts, without wrong
ing the printers who undertake 10 40 the
work
ATTORNEYS FEEs.-We find that the fees
allowed within the year to attorneys, iOr as
sisting the prosecutor, defending INDECENT
prisoners COnductin" civil cases against the
Commissioners Treasurer &c, amounted TO
s25l2 -, exclusive OF the salary of the Prose-
cutting Attorney, These allowances were
made IN pari oy the Courts, and in part by the
Commissioners. They seem large in the ag-
gregate. Dut we have not the means OF deter.
minine whethCr or not the amounts paid
have been excessive. WewOud suggest, how
ever, that in view of the present deficiency
I'm theCOunty funds, and the general deprecia-
tiOn o" OriCoS allowances OF attorneys fees,
as tgcH as an amer 0iJOUdHceS, he made pru-
IDENTIFY, aud with ali proper deliberation.
BOARDING, CLOTHING AND WASHING FOR PRIs-
oNERs-The bills on file relating to these branch
es Of public expenditure are heavy; and call for
greater economy in the future During the year
ending September /, 1877, the amounts allowed
for boarding, clothing, washing, shaving, and
medical attendance for prisoners, aggregated
o. Il &c z H1A fNr h1uF fifVnpr
SSoS6s for clothing, $66S2s for washing, $IIo.7S
Tor medical attendance, and S7I3O for shaving and
har-cutting, A large number of prisoners were
confined during this time; but this fact, alone,
does not account for the apparently large bills.
With regard to the boarding, the Commissioners
allowed the highest price authorized bylaw-ffty
cents per day for each prisoner. Now, IN Consid-
Grafton of the fact that the jailor has no rent, re-
pairs, taxes, insurance, stoves, tue light or water
rent to pays that all these are provided as 51ei TOR
his 05yR family as for he BriS0HerS; that the
furniture. bedding, toweling, ktChen-range, dish
es knives and forks, spoons, and all like articles
used by or for the prisoners is provided by the
county; and that even the washing of the bed
clothes and towels used by the prisoners is paid
for out of the county treasury it would seem that
&c. 90 per week for boarding each prisoner is too
much. This price may have been reasonable |
when the law was made: but now, when the |
prices of provisions haye so greatly declined, there
should be a corresponding deduction made in the |
price of boarding prisoners.
AS to clothing for prisoners, there is no statute
allowing this to be done at the public expense
but the COur Of Common Pleas has directed that
1t shall be done 50 far as necessary But this rule
OF the Court has been construed too literally |
and we accordingly find that within the year the
following (amOng other articles Of ClOthing we're
furnished the nrsOno 5. q COATS, vests q hats
pairs suspendeIS l5S shirts "a pairs pants, 1863
pairs socks lGl psi l,AweTs, 70 undershirts. 10
pairs shoes pau slippers. We find that - Dairs |
drawers vo.. uu chaSedrsla la'" March 3," q d |
y paiIg IGoD n 1911. t q, uerefOrn IuCum- |
benz On he CIu., al Common Deas 10 20 modify |
its order o, me"nnt H'tnec miscOnCeptOn Of |
its scope en-" u.Ioli.
As t. va uIu" 0r r,,sDner4 II appears that the |
Commissioners allowed fifteen rauts TO- each ar |
ticle of clothing, bed clothing aud tOweling |
washed. The amount pald Within the year was |
sGGS 25 For INC prisoner, Who was ~ jail two |
davs, 4j cenh yes pad; 70 another Ave days |
So 80; az other eleven lay stG7' another, seven |
days, S22,: two eight iay days each 81 25 &C. |
&C. The average eXpeBs iOr washing fOr twenty |
prisoners, whose time aggregated 172 days. was |
23lA cents each per day. Il will at once be seen |
that not only was the price for washing each |
piece too high but that too much washing was |
done for the prisoners. Only 50 much should be /
done as a proper regard for cleanliness may rem