The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-04-18
A Word of .Aunoni:ion.

Now that the noise and smoke
of town meeting has cleared away, it
may be we'll for the people Of oupe-
rior to look again into our town af-
fairs both retrospectively and pros
pectivelv. The result Of election
shows that the people were determined
to have "a new deal. Not a single
old officer was reelected. r. form is
the order OF the day, and in the mat
ter Of taxation the amount levied Is
about as much too low as 1t was too
high a wear age No one objects to
the people of Connor's Point having
fire apparatus, bridges, or any thing
else that IS needful and proper, but
they and their heelers must not here
after limit the miscellaneous fund for
Douglas County to barely enough to
pay the police force. -Four policemen
are now employed at a salary of over
$50 month, each, say $50, which
1910 a month, which Is 81, $50 a year
$1,000 was levied for miscellaneous
purposes ont Of which assessors, police,
sheriff, justices, etc, are paid. Where
are we? General Hammond and his
crew voted down an amendment in
creasing the amount to $1,000. Some
one has been shorl-sighted!
1t is said that the highway and
bridge fund is large enough to borrow
from and that the board can do as
other boards have done borrow"
This opens up very many Of the evils
that heretofore cursed this community
and impeded prosperity, namely, a dis
position on the part OF the town
boards to follow precedents either
good or bad, mostly poor ones, in ut
ter disregard Of law Now a decent
respect for law is essential to the we'll
being of any community. Regard
for law is the thing that pre-eminently
distinguishes civilization from barba
rism. | venture to say that the pan
ishment prescribed in Section 823
r. 5. to clerks and supervisors of
towns for issuing orders without auth
ority is a passage as strange and IN
familiar to our officers for the past tea
years as the Lords prayer or st.
Paul's famous admoniti0n to Timothy.
Officers and people are not inclined
to read the law in the statute books.
and desire to lay down a few rrspos-
itions in this newspaper TO see if they
will be read.
First, as to town orders Town
orders are receivable to a limited
amount in payment Of taxes and that
only. They are not negotiable paper.
They are nst receivable in payment
for liquor license fees; and if our pres
emit treasurer accepts them for that
purpose Il determination has been eX-
pressed to hold him liable upon his Of
fetal bond Town orders are receiva
bic in payment only for one thing,
to-wit; taxes.
Second, As to diverting money ley
led for special purpose to other uses.
This has been crying evil here for
years. Money levied for town hall
has been squandered in this way.
Money levied for shade trees last year
has gene where the woedbine twineth
by that road 1t IS sufficient to say
that no town board has power thus TO
misappropriate funds and defeat the
will Of the people. Five hundred dol
lars has again been levied for shade
trees and unless this board makes an
honest effort to secure its proper eN-
penditure there will be row. RE
form" is a spasm that comes and goes
and it has probably gone from the
minds Of the mass in Superior already,
but there are a dozen or mere men
here who are determined that nancy
levied for special purposes shall here
after be expended for the purpose for
which it was levied.
Third, Another fragrant vice is
town boards allowing bills not sworn
to. The law distinctly states that no
bill shall be allowed or order drawn
therefore until the same shall have
been sworn to. a year ago about
two thirds Of the bills allowed By the
town board were sworn to and last
year about one half And for the
5000 worth of abstracts bought by the
town Of Superior in 1884 not even the
bills are to be found. Let this board
read the laws Of 1882, page 1856, care
fully in this connection. The law re-
quiring claims to be swern to is not
a meaningless provision. 1t is well
understood that most people consider
"a steal" from municipality legiti-
mate plumber, and the design is to
be able to reach saoundrels, ana 9TH
ers, for perjury if necessary when the
money Is gone past recovery and the
claim Is without merit
Fourth, Another very great evil is
supervisors and other town officers
proceeding as soon as elected te draw
enormous salaries for very inefficient
services in many instances.
No one begrudges the town clerk
and supervisors the pay allowed by
law which is 81, (unless recently
amended) day, for time actually
spent In the service of the town.
There are twenty-six working days in
a month, and assume that the super
visors work for the town every day in
the month lbut who does?) it would
be So. Section 1919, r. 5. in re-
gard TO official maIfeasance might
have been interesting reading for town
officers for the past five years or more.
Fifth, Another circus this commun-
itY has been treated to several times
lmanagers not paying a license either
Is levying unauthorized taxes by a
perversion of section 1918 r. s. which
authorizes a board TO levy Il tax, not
voted, for the rebuilding and repairing
of bridges 10 the extent of $500 for
each bridge, not $500 extra for two
causeways TO it making $500 for each
bridge.
Only tho vo-arS pcr, low n to- g..