The Cecil Whig., 1880-05-22

added every dollar of uncollectihle bal
ancc outstanding i'll the hands of collect
ors, why was this excess levied, and why
this deficiency created? just here let the
tax payer note that Mr.. Reese "leaves
the orgnmet to editors and taxpayers"
What argument?
IJhy Wr RcGse cohcedeS tie rFegHlarity
Of the acts, else there ,could be nothing to
a,y"e.
1t is possible that even the editor of
The Democrat can grasp this.point.
Why was this excess of levy made, and
what became of the money?
1t is a fact that it was collected and
disbursed-'' properly applied for the use
of the county" TIE Democrat says.
But why state in so vague and general
a way what became of it =?
Is it regular to take from the people of
the county this sum, part of it, stated
as Il blind to be for credit on bond ac-
count, and making no note, or mention
of it. pay it to party favorites as extras !?
Has any account ever been taken of this
aggregate sum of So, 200 (Mr. Reese's
tigures) in any annual exhibit Of county
expenditures?
None.
Year after year this accumulating sum
has been taken out of the pockets of the
| taxpayers, q"ist2y transferred to the pock-
,4.. 81 {,x ,,,Jnr fha II
tcrranean term of contingencies, extra
compensation, etc, etc, but special pains
being taken to exclude all notice, entry,
or recognition of it in the annual exhibit.
Why cOrtr it up'
If the expenditures were legitimate,
why conceal them? Why not levy for
them as such openly and above board?
Why, under an illegal and unwarrant-
able crccxs of levy for a specific purpose.
levy and collect taxes to be applied to
other concealed and, so far as the taX-pay-
ers were concerned, unknown uscs'
This is What Mr.. Reese means when he
leaves the argument to Taxpayers. 1t
strikes him just as it does any square
business man and taxpayer.
But the editor of Tile Democrat very
complacently assures the latter that
no effort has been made within twelve
years to deceive the public
| Certainly not.
II didnt rcquire any effort 1t could be
easily done. The subterranean office was
sealed book to the people. Its affairs
were strictly and solely under its own
surveillance only. and 10 other. No OBJ
trusive eye peeped into forbidden pages
and scanned meaningless memoranda.
| 1t made its own entries, estimated its
! own lcvics. audited its own accounts. ap-
propriatcd vast sums of the people s
moneys prepared its own statements
without let, check, or hindrance. Its
accumulated transactions for 4 period of
twelve years cover the enormous sum of
! 81 140. 90211, or nearly million and a
| quarter of dollars collected Us taxes from
/ the people of Cecil county, in the dis
/ bursement of which no audit of the ac-
| counts of that office has ever been made
in the interest of, and for the protection
| of. those whose moneys are annually col
lccted and constantly disbursed.
Worse than that.
No system of accounts, such as any
practical business man would think requi-
| site in his individual business when COW
cring such sums. has ever been adopted.
| And yet every business man knows that
such systems are every where in vogue
among all large corporations and busi-
ness concerns. Such systems as indicate
at glance on Il single page the exact
condition of the financial affairs of Il cor
poration or a county. Such 4 system, we
understand, Mr.. Reese has suggested,
but its adoption has been opposed by
| those to whom ether methods are more
familiar.
! One single fact will Illustrate the igno-
rance of the people of the county as to
| their own monetary affairs. There is
not one IF tie MOusaAds Of tar-payers in
! Cecil county, erh0se sertdnt tie clerh Of tie
! lcry court IS, nrho knotcs rhot sulary they
! poy Heir orr strsant.
In the recent investigation by the grand
jury, the minority report, prepared by a
well-known Democrat of the 1st district.
censured most emphatically the past bust
ness methods of the Commissioners Of
/ ffiCc.
That report for some reason mystcri-
ously disappeared Immediately upon the
adjournment of the grand jury.
! The editor of Tie Democrdt may well
say that mo effort = has been made to
deceive the public. 1t required none.
The machinery has been too well oiled
to work stiilly. For extra compensation
and commission to the engineers IN twelve
years, $50, S2S.24 nerer lcried fer as such.
sedulously concealed from the taxpayers.
And to this Sc, 600 more levied for, and
still further by every fair inference fair
proportion of the nrtnal deficiency of So
900, and we have Il grand total of $:i1,-
12S. 24, the expenditure of which the tax
payers Of the county, out of whose pock-
cts this handsome sum was taken, were
solely in ignorance. The effort = of the
managers Of the - Hole in the Wall " has
been up to date directed to keeping them
so. They owe no thanks to hem, for the
little light recently east in dark places.