The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-09-23

| whether one or the other party wins. Sue
| cess in the minor election Is the key TO sue
cess in the greater, since it maintains plrty
discil line and gives prestige.-NiichiganC city
Dispatch.
Since the discovery OF the voucher swim
die OF several Township Trustees in the State.
the majority OF the counties are examining
the books OF their Trustees. Miami County,
We are glad 70 say, has not been disgraced by
the issue Of such fraudulent vouchers The
Trustees OF the various townships made full
settlement with the Board Of Commission
ers about a month rgo. in which they were
| required 10 make affidavit 10 the indebted
ness and outstanding orders Of their several
townships. This settlement shows a credita-
bic state OF affairs. Peru sentinel.
The Cambridge City Tribune says: The
leading newspapers in the western part of
the State are exposing some Of the "secret
workings OF the school book publishers and
supply houses of the country, and the OPP
pOrtunities given by them TO School and
Township Trustees for imposing a heavy
burden upon the taxpayers. There is almost
n unanimous opinion that it is gigantic
scheme, and that the people who have to
pay for the books and supplies are defrauded
out of thousands of dollars annually by these
establishments. Let the people call for an
investigation board I'm every county i'm the
State, and thus find out the real condition
OF affairs.
The crookedness OF Township Trustees re-
ferred to i'm the News last week is developing
huge proportions, and the most recent de-
velOpments are in our neighboring counties
Harrison County has one bad case and Others
are expected 20 come TO light soon. Three
Trustees from Davies County have become
citizens of Canada, leaving heavy defalca-
| tions for their bondsmen to max good. The
| Drownstown Banner reports suspicious cir
| cumstances in Jackson and Owen Counties
which are doubtless the fOrerunners OF SEN
| sational developments there. In the light
| of what is already known there Is scarcely
room TO doubt that this kind of stealing has
| been practiced in almost every county i'm the
| State.-Paoli Weekly.
In view of the recent wholesale frauds
| committed by township trustees throughout
| the State the Commissioners have issued
call for the various township trustees of this
| County to meet and give an account of their
stewardship. We wish in this connection 10
| state that any impression which may have
| got abroad concerning the Trustee of Ander
SON Township that he las expended money
| In am inappropriate manner II radically
wrong What furniture and supplies Mr..
| Campbell has now i'm his possession all the
supplies he has purchased and invites any
and all persons who wishes TO see the sup
| plies TO call at the Magnolia Exchange and
| see for what purposes he has expended the
| Township money.-Anderson Review.
What now gives promise of developing into
one of the most gigantic swiudles OF the de-
| cade is gradually being unfolded i'm this
State. Ii is the result of the combined work
| OF various Township Trustees and the selling
agents OF school furniture and supplies. The
practice has been for the agent to go To the
Trustee, and under the pretense of the sale
OF school furniture have the officer issue
warrants to the extent of thousands OF dol
| lars in payment for the pretended purchase.
| The warrants were then sold wherever pur-
| chaser could be found, and the profits di-
vided between the two rascalS. Honest
| transactions OF a similar nature are of fire.
| uuent occurrence among the Trustees who
| simply anticipate, in this way, collection
| of the tax already levied.-Laporte Argus
The indianapolis papers of this week give
| a complete expose of the township order
| swindle on which a number of Township
Trustees throughout the State have been
| taken in for thousands of dollars, which the
| people will be called upon TO pay. II. b.
| Pollard x Son, of indianapolis, have benn
] conducting the business in this State, and it
l is likely that every county has been can
vassed. The extent of their OpergtionS will
| not be known for some time. but new vic
| Tins are turning up daily, and large emmi-
| grafton of Township trustees is headed for
| Canada. None OF our trustees have been
| spotted i'm connection with the swindle. and
| il Is the opinion of a number of prominent
citizens that none viii be; still under the cir
| cumstances no such official would object to
an investigation.-Delphi Times.
| Nothing has created such stir i'm Indiana
| of late years as the recently exposed Town
| ship Trustee frauds. One Pollard seems to
have been the master spirit and leader in ev-
| cry case, and he seems to have been gifted
with a peculiarly persuasive manner when
| dealing with township officials. The
| free trip of a number of Putnam County's
| Trustees "a Chicago couple Of years ago is
\ food for talk ut present, and the public com
| ments are unfavorable to the Trustees. We
| have made inquiry in regard 10 il, and have
| been informed that eight Trustees went to
| Chicago at that time, but not a single one of
I them purchased any school supplies what
| ever. If there have been any cTOOkel l
| transactions with Trustees of this county
1 they did not take place at thae time -Green-
| castle StarPress.
Elsewhere in the Dispatch we print the de-
tails of one of the most gigantic schemes Of
| official thievery ever uncapped i'm Indiana
| We refer 10 the conspiracy of township trus-
| tees with a Chicago sharper named Pollard
| to rob the special school fund of thousands
| Of dollars. Already no less than six cOun-
| ties of equal political complexion have
| turned up these dishonest officials The
| total amount of these robberies to date can
| not fall short of half million dollars. The
| Jennings County Bank, which held largely
| of these rotten securities, has been forced to
! the wall. completely ruined. All over the
| State the local boards of County Commits
sioncrs are citing the trustees to an examina-
| ton into their affairs. Let Howard County
| follow suit at once. While the Dispatch
does not believe any of our trustees has
| been guilty OF such conduct yet an inyesti-
| cation can do no harm and may bring about
much good. Let the books be opended.-
| Kokomo Dispatch.
| Judge Elliott rendered decision Tuesday
bearing upon School Trustees. 1t was on the
| rehearing of an appealed suit Il Union
| Township, Montgomery County, against the
| First National Bank of Charlottesville, to
recover a large sum of money loaned TO the
| Trustee OF the township. The Supreme
| Court held, among other things, that Town
ship Trustee bad no right to borrow money
| or give obligations of the township unless he
| has no funds oh hand of its own, and then
| only tOpay for necessaries furnished and ac-
tually received by the township; that u
| Township Trustee is an agent with special
| limited statutory power that he can not
| bind the township unless expressly author
lied TO do so by law, and that every person
| who deals with him is bound to take notice
| Of his want of authority, and any person
1 bolbipO mr. clain,inp IN hold an ohiiOatinn