The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1878-09-19
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
BY d. MACKLEY.

There are several matters not credita-
BILE to the management Of the last Demo
cratic County Commissioners, to which |
| have not referred, because no money was
lost. A large amount of the public
money was loaned to the Citizens Bank,
private banking company of which one,
at least, of the Commissioners was a
stockholder, or partner. The records
show that there was at one time ten
thousand dollars loaned to this Bank.
out of these transactions, and during one
of the trials the County Auditor was on
the witness stand with his books, explain
ing the transactions of the Commission
ers when Judge johnson, who was pre-
siding, stopped the witness. and with ap-
parent surprise and indignation exclaim-
ed: "What Were the County Commits
sioners banking upon the public money!
| The Auditor had to admit, under oath,
that that was just exactly what they had
been doing.
The balance due of the money that
Treasurer Westfall loaned to himself,
and which has never been paid, some
| So, 800, does not show the real loss to the
people. The Commissioners had to bid
in the mortgaged property, and after
wards dispose of it as best they could. l
bought four acre out-lot, after much
urging by the Commissioners, and Mr..
Tripp bought one, and Albert Kabisch
got one or two, all at very low figures.
Long before the Iron Valley loan, the
people became very uneasy because the
Commissioners were banking upon the
public money, and they were very sus-
picious of the solvency of the Citizens
Bank. AS the Democrats could then
elect any man whom they might nomi-
nate, many Republicans favored the nom
ination of John Sanders, man thor
oughly honest. and not mixed up in any
way with the Bank or furnace Many
Republicans voted for Mr.. Sanders, hop
ing he would be able to get the money
secured which the Bank had borrowed.
But the trouble with Mr.. Sanders was,
he was in the hands of the demagogues
who then ruled this county, like clay in
| the hands of the potter, and they used
| him to carry out their party purposes,
just as they would now use Emmitt, or
Mclaughlin, or Meldick, to subserve the
schemes of the party leaders.
Last week I came up to the point
| where the $4,000 and accrued interest of
| the Iron Valley loan appeared to be hope
| lessly lost, on account of the loan having
been made in direct violation of highly
penal Statute.
William McGhee and William Radclif
| had had the furnace rented, and the war
| had greatly raised the price of iron. The
| business had become profitable, and fur
mace property was going up. Mr.. Nc
Ghee had bought in the claim of Daniel
& Rathburn, and was making an effort to
buy the entire furnace property He
| knew that the Commissioners could force
| the property to sale, although he, (Mc-
| Ghee,) would get all the money for which
it would SELL He did not know but
that some one, or some company, might
bid more on the property than he would
like to pay, and as he wanted the
property, and not the money for
which it might sell, he proposed
to the Commissioners to compro-
mise the matter by paying them few
1 thousand dollars if they would drop the
proceedings. By the, advice of Mr.
Hutch1ns, Mr.. Walden and myself, the
Commissioners accepted Mr.. McGhee's
offer. 1t was in fact a gift to the county
on the part of Mr.. McGhee, who was an
old citizen of the county and a large tax
payer. During all these transactions
Mr.. McGhee acted in a very liberal spirit,
and no one can attach any blame to him,
or to his attorneys. They had the law
completely on their side, and the Com
missioners, or rather the taxpayers,
whom the Commissioners represented,
were at their mercy, SO far as any recov-
cry of any part of the claim was con
cerned.
No man dare deny one word Of the
foregoing history of the management oi
the last Democratic officials of this
county. Do the people desire to try
these men, or men of the same party, in
office again? We guess not.