The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1884-04-10
Our County and City Affairs

roSance 1t started out, some weeks ago, to eX-
pose alleged extravaganza and inefficient man.
agement of our county affairs. but the only
successful show it made. was that of its own
ignorance and in this attempt to critcise May
or Johnson's and the present city governments
management, 1t has simply made itself ridicu-
lous. 1t has, however, unwittingly. done one
good service. 1t has enabled Mayor johnson
and his associates to show the people that the
city government has reduced expenses and has
conducted the city affairs prudently.
1t is SO seldom the Prog. Age publishes any
thing OF interest, it is perhaps not TO be Won
dered at that it should direct attention to com
muncations filled with abuse of private eiti-
zen which it ''ineanly and maciously" admit
ted to its columns last week. That the Age is
opposed TO reform in any direction is well
known, and ii is naturally hostile TO those who
voice the sentiment of the people in demand
ing reform measures. As TO the Journals eN-
pose of county affairs it was based upon the
official figures contained in the treaSurer's re-
port, and has not been and cannot be rcfuted
in any one particular. We take this opportll-
nifty of again directing the attention Of taN-pay-
ers to the matter. The report Of the treasurer
shows that last year the county was run in
debt nearly S4000-or. to give the exact fig
ures, S3,991.20. The lump sum of S4.400 is set
down as expended for general bills" and the
public is yet to be Informed for what purposes
this large amount was paid out. The aor's
bill and criminal costs for the past wear amount-
ed to s6,6O9.63, and in commenting on these
figures The journal asked Does any one b.
leve there is that amount of crime in our law
abiding communities: The greatest offence
coming before our courts in the past year WIS
for burglary at Morrill,. What. then, is the
crime for which our people are taxed annually
nearly $1,000: 1t is for the support Of lot Of
drunken tramp, who are gobbled up by the Of
tcers." And ii is these arrests,-made in nine
cases out OF ten without warrants, aud an even
greater proportion of which are unnecc~>arv-,
that drain the county treasury. This evil is
simply continuation of the practice, 70 which
the journal called attention two wear, ago.
when a detailed statement was published show
ing how and for whose benefit these costs are
created A Boston Journal CORRESPONDENT in
vcntilating this matter said 'tTrampiug be
came Il regular ay0catiOn in this section in 1876
= and IS. 4 crowd of vaeabond> travelled
ing to be arrested by Sherls if they could be
sent to Il jail where there was no work to Do
The opportunity to turn an honest penny was
so inviting that some officers could not resist it
and 50 many trampS Were sent to jail for 30
days in certain localities that public attention
was called TO it. The Fusion Legislature Of
1879 was called upon to amend The law, but the
bond of union appeared to he 30 strong between
few political tramp> in that body and the pro-
fessional tramps wandering about the country
stealing whatever they could find and terroriZ-
ing women in spar>ely settled towns. that a bill
TO make tramping State prison offence was
defeated. 1t was enacted by the Republican
Legislature which followed in 1880, aud the oc-
/ cupaton of the INSCRIPTIONS officers and the
willing trampS was gone. But the refOrmers
in Waldo were not 10 be baked in this way
If tramps could not be sent to iail As tramp~
they could be arrested, tried ana sent to a for
drunkenness and disturbance" And th> was
done. The Fusion county officials found ar
rested tried and sent to Jail in one wear 81 per-
sons adjudged to be common duInkards in the
town Of Stockton alone. Commenting ON these
facts the Boston journal said cLitoralv: "a,
the population Of Stockton is 1915. it appears
that there would have been sent to ai during
/ the year 1881 for drunkenness in Maine - $50
fuil-Srown men if the officers elsewhere had
been equally yigilant. And Stockton is one OF
the most temperate towns in the State At the
last election Stockton cast $40 votes. When
the officers of It temperance town send MINI
Der of men equal TO - per cent. of IFS voters to
Jail as habitual drunkards in Il single year one
is led to suspect that they are overworking the
business for the sake Of fees. At the Stockton
price Of &l} each, the arrest and punishment Of
the $3.50 drunkard> in the State ION the stock
ton basis would have cost the taN-payrrs OF
Maine 1872 Dps"
Because We have presumed to direct atten-
ton 10 fragrant abuses by which the TAXPAYERS
have been robbed, and the county run in debt.
the Age accuses the journal of 'loftv AFRO
Sanre' Well really, we did not suppose that
the county officials regard themselves as above
| criticism; nor 90 they, in our opinion 1t is
their stupid and iniudtcious organ which does
them injustice in This instance. as we trust il
has done on former occasions when declaring,
in effect, that 10 reform in this or any other Ill
rection may be expected under the present
regime. The Age has, however, "unwittinolv
done good service" in again bringing these
abuses to the attention Of the public. and a rem
edy will be sought At the polls in September
next.
One word in conclusion with regard to the
city government. The Ace makes the singular
statement that but for the Journals criticism
Of the Mayors address that official ana hi> As
>ociates would not have been able "to show the
people that the city government has reduced
expenses and has conducted the city affairs
prudently." Why not? The columns OF the
journal We're open to them in which to make
such q statement. unancompanied by black
guardism; and with that addition it would. Of
course, have found place in the Prog. Age.
Unfortunately for them. however, "NIavor
johnson and his associates" have not given
facts and figures to sustain their assertions,
and the violent and abusive language with
which they are coupled deprives them Of What
little weight they might otherwise have had
The kennebec Reporter has Just completed
the publication OF an interesting review of the
manufacturing interests of Gardiner and is
doing the same thing for other towns in the
vicinity. 1t deserves much credit for its an
cellent work in this direction The Reporter
well says:
The one thing above all others which has
made the West what it is TODAY and which ha,
done more than all else to draw from us so
many of our Young men, is the local pride and
enterprise displayed by the newspapers in that
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