Nevada County picayune., 1886-08-04
Greenback Misinanagement.

Editor pICAYUNE:--ln the DIS patch of July 2S, appears a short editorial notice of my letter to tue PICAYUNE published some time ago. A person not acquainted with the facts might suppose from req ding the Dispatch editorial that I had opened the fight, when 1t IS well known to the readers of hls paper that my letter was written in reply to one from Mir. John M. Pittman, previously published in the Dispatch, and which contained statements calculated, as l under. stood them, to deceive and mislead the people. l supposed from the tone of his letter that Mir. Pullman desired an investigation and com parison of the management of the county's affairs by the two parties, or that he supposed he could make such statements and they would go unchallenged. Capt. Ansley throws up his hands in holy horror, and says it comes in bad grace at this late day for me to make the statements l did in my letter.
 The people will bear in mind that Mir. Pittman opened the fight that Capt. Ansley published his letter without any disapproyal, but by it's publication, tacitlY endors' ing 1t. It seems to me that the matter comes ill as bad grace from Mir. Pittman as from me. If he had let his pen alone there would have been none of it. The truth is Capt. AnsIey has begged the question, and neither he nor MT. pittman desire an investigation.
 Those who read my letter will bear me out in saying that did not pretend that had made dis coyery of any particular wrong on the part of tine Grecnhack party ill the management of the countS's nifai-s. l did intimate and do still! , tha. there WAS bad management of the countA's affairs, and think a fair statement of what the records of the county clerks office dis closes, which l now propose to make, will satisfy the people that ] am correct.
 The Grecnback party got con. trol and possession of the offices of the county in the fall of 1880. The revenues of the year 1879 were the last collected and used by the Democrats. In that year the as- sessed value of the taxable prop. erty of the county was 3l ,3S2,26l. The Greenback party had control of the affairs of the county four years, collected and used the rev cnues for the years ihoU-ol-S2 and S3. iu that time the assessed val ue of the taxable property mcrea5' ed until in the last named year Il amounted to $2,325 .3l5, an average anunal increase for the four years of *23j, 1G3,
 Now, while the Democrats for years before this time, had been paying off and dischargitg the debt of the county, the Greenbacker5 in their four years, with this great increase ot taxable property, instead of paying off and decrcas- ing the debt of the county, by their bad financial management actually increased the debt to an amount nearly, if not quite, double what it was when tho offices were turn ed over to them.
 Jndgc Hale was elected and qualified as county Judge in 1881. He has cOntrOlcd the rcvcnue col lected for the years 1881 and 1885. Tn these two years the assessed value of the taxable property ot the county has decreased 22SS. D, an average annual decrease of %l44, 377, and yet by his management of the affairs of the county he has re- duced the debt several thousand dolaIs-perhaps as much IS slO,- 000 or more.
 Now, I ask Capt. Anslcy and MT. Pittlnan to explain, if they can. why the deht ofthe county was so greatly increased in the four years the GrecnbackerS had the offices, If it was necessary and legitimate, show us wherein it. was so. Show us why it was necessary for y"ur party to increase our debt SO mnch with such increased rcvenucs as vou had, when Judge Hale, with less rcyclues than yon had, has not only met and paid the current expenses of the county, but in less than two years has paid off slO,' 600 of the debt you left hanging over us. In what respect were the legitimate expenses of the county greater while yonr officers had control than they have been siucc1 You may say you had to build and repair more bridges. Grant it, and l reply that you had the ad- vantage of the increased revenues. nAnrn thnn sniNrinnt fn nnN fnr