The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-04-04
MN an6rrtlssmsnts.
REPORT
or the Committee appointed to Exam
Inc the Report Of the COmmis'
siOners Of Stark County,
Ohio, for the Year
Ending Sept.
1, 1871.

Stark and State OF ONO ~,
The undersigned TO whom was referred tne
finanoIaI statement OF the Commissioners OF
said County for the fiscal year ending Seplen-
ber |, 1917 respectfully report, tnat having
carefully examined said statement WIN Ihe
vouchers In support OF the same on NE ,ii IN Gne
Auditors office in said County, ana haVlng
obtained such information as was possible,
from an eX parte and Informal examination
of the Commissioners, Treasurer, Auditor,
Probate Judge, Clerk, Recorder ana surveyor,
with other persons whose testimony was
deemed important, and having inspected va
rious records, documents, papers, ana statutes
relating to the subjects involved in the eX-
animation, they find that the following cor
Tections should be made In the statement -,
|. The amount expended for bridges, cul-
yerts and flls" should be S32,Al9 6S, instead OF
80. 800 O.: and the amount of bridge, bonds
redeemed should be SS i2O %, instead OF Slo,-
42O 5O This error originated In thls wise, as
we are informed by the AUDITOR All pay
ments made for bridge purposes, and In re-
demption Of bridge bonds, are charged TO
'bridge fundSn and in separating these,
when the financial statement was made out,
a mistake was made IN placing $1,000 Ul 10
"bridges culverts and fills" which properly be-
longed to payment OF bonds and Interest"
This is q pardonable error, and does not affect
the final result of the statement.
O. A payment Of S22 90 for chattel mort
gage record-book was Improperly allowed py
the Commissioners and ought therefore, to
be stricken out. such a record is not coun-
ty requirement, as, in respect to chattel mort
cages, the Recorder fills the place oithe town
ship Clerk of Canton Township; and the
mortgages filed with him all relate to per-
sonal property in that township. In other
townships such records are by dlfecuOn OF
statute, paid for out OF township lunds, ana
this ought to be the case in Canton township.
q The statement shows payment OF $50 3S
for "postage," for which there is no warrant
in law. OF this amount $500 O9 was expended
in the Treasurer's Office S62 90 in the Auditors
office, and SS 90 in the Probate office. AS TINS
postage was incurred, Except in the case or
the Auditorium the main, in correspondence
in which the people of the county in general,
had no Interest, and and related to the bust
ness ofildiUtdUdtS with the officers named IL
ought not to have been paid out OF county
funds. We are informed that the pracuce OF
paying the postage of certain county officials
has obtained for some time; but as the law
does not authorize 1t to be done, 1t should be
abandoned, except possibly, In the case OF lhe
Auditor who might be allowed postage 10 q
limited extent; as the law requires him to send
out annually, blanks circulars and papers,
of q general nature, for which he receives no
stated compensation.
L. Weflnd that the Commissioners allowed
the County Auditor 5000 90 "for clerk hire for
1876" AS there is no law authorizing an al
lowanoe for clerk hire to the Auditor except
Sin the years IN which real estate appra1se-
ments are made" and as no such appralse-
ment was made in 1875, 1t follows that the
for that purpose was improperly made. 1t is
claimed, however, by the Auditor that the
voucherupon which said allowance was made
was incorrectly drawn; and that the inten-
tion of the commissioners was TO allow MN
one thousand dollars as additional compen-
sation, under an act passed April II, 1867. He
further claims that like allowance was
made to his predecessor; and that ne lhe
present Auditory was therefore entitled 10 u
also. As to this, wecan only say that we are
lnl 10 ttliy q hp nrpgnntpn
us as we find them; and having passed upon
the one in question, we must leave the mat
ter for adjustment between the Auditor and
the Commissioners.
S. Vouchers are on file showing payments
made to three county newspapers. amounting
in the whole to S}37 50, for publishing notices
of "Ready 10 receive taxes" Upon inquiry
we ascertained that these notices were In eX-
cess of any required by the statute; and that
no legal aut hOrity exists for paying them out
of the County treasury. There Is not a tax.
payer in the county who is not aware that
his taxes must be paid on or before Decem-
ber Goth, and June 10Th, of each year; or II
there is the law requires that he
shall be notified by advertisements set up in
the several townships, and by ga annual no,
tice of the rates of taxation, 10 be published
in the county newspapers. These adVerJse-
ments and notices were duly printed ana SET
up in the years 1875 and 1877, and there does
not appear to have been any warrant, either
in LdlO or necessity for eXpending S33I 30 in
extra notices 10 persons charged with taxes,
6. From bills allowed the Sheriff we are of
the opinion that the following deductions
should be made, l. He was paid $50 90 for
posting proclamatiOns of State and Presiden-
tial elections in 1875. The law allows hity
cents for each Ofsuch elections, in each town
ship. There being seventeen townships IN
the county, the total bill for 1875 should have
been put Sl7 10. 2. He was paid sundry bills
for copies Of SubpOenaS for Witnesses before
the grand Jury and mileage 'or serving Such
subpOenaS, amounting in all 10 SllI a., Wnlch
payment was not authorized by law.
paying the sheriff "out of the county
treasury" for serving" subpPnas for wit
nesses before the grand jury; and these ices
the Sherit charged and was paid. Ii may be
a hardship that payment Of copies ana
mileage out of the county treasury, is not
provided for: but this can ony be remedied
by legislatiOn the Commissioners have no
power IN the premises.
7. The Commissioners allowed NJ. E. Wilcox,
late County Recorder, S579 ~ for making gen.
eral index which allowance was errOneOusly
made, The law allows the Recorder TO charge
ten cents upon every deed mortgage, power
of attorney, or other instrument Ol writing
presented for record lin addition TO twelve
cents per HUNDRED words for recording,) for
the purpose Ofkeeping up the general index
This fee was charged, IN all cases, by Mr. VIII
cox; and it was an ample compensation lOr
the service TO be performed; and even LhouSh
power to make compensation for services rem
dered, where none is provided for by law. In
an interview with Mr. Wilcox heaVerred that
similar allowances had been made to his pre-
decessOrs IN office, and based his claim main-
ly upon that fact. However this may be, we
can see no reason why q bad precedentshOuld
be permitted to continue indefinil ely.
&. We lind no authority Ol law Tor paying
the Probate Judge 5000 for making report 10
the Secretary Of state of births deaths, mar
riages &c. nor the Auditor 5000 or making
out the annual report Of the Commissioners;
nor he Recorder $40 for making report to the
Of state. Nor do we find such au-
thOrty for paying the Probate Judge $3.50 for
taking TecOgniZances of Byron Smith and
William johnson, and $3.50 for appointing a
School Examiner (Mr WorleyD
While Cu Examination vas in progress we
received communication signed by mum
ber o. abIe taxpayers of the county, re-
questing Us examine especially, the fol-
lowing subjects referred to in the Commits
siOners' statement: Gas, stationery, printing,
blanks, attorneys fees bridges, culyerts and
fills, Commissioners fees, livery hire, board
ing, clothing nj washing for prisoners, post
age, Auditor extra compensation and Child
ren's Home. We were also requested by the
TO embOdy in our report any
suggestions which we might deem oi adVan-
Iage to them in dlscharging the duties Of their
office in the future These requests we have
complied with, as will appear from what
follows
With regard to the subject of "Chidren's
Home" referred to in the communication be-
fore mentioned, it does not come within our
province to examine into this, as the pay
ments made for that institution do not form
a part of the commissioners annual state
ment.
As to bridges culverts and fills" after a
careful examination we found no improper
payments made for those purposes, within the
year TO which the Commissioners statement
relates; nor do we find thateXcessive fees were
charged by the Commissioners for their
services.
Livery hire-The bill mentioned in the
statement was largely for hire incurred in
previous years-only $3.50 having been ex-
pended for that purpose within the current
iscal year; and of THIS portion was for trav-
sIing beyond the county limits, for which pay
nent was lawfully made out of the county
And we are satisfied that in every
within the year, in which livery
hire was incurred by the Commissioners,
money was saved to the county thereby.
Gas-The consumption Of gas in the Court
House and Jail during the year, seems to have
1een enormous For both buildings the total
vas 81 ,6ll 72. The bills for the Court House
DOT up Sl0lS.59, an average of SS4.881I per
month, summer and winter for the Jail s593.l3,
an average of S40.437-l2 per month"; Average
If both, Sl34.3l per month. In November,
1875, the cost of gas for both buildings was
S2i5 O5: in December, S254.l3; in January. 1877,