The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1888-06-30
A GARD.

EDITOR lNTELLIGENCER:-I wish to
answer IL communication which apiocar-
ell in your paper of the I'D inst, Sign
ed "Dcmucratic Tax PAYER" la the
first place, for the information of the
public and that they may under
stand the spirit that dictated the arti-
Gle, | will state thai Mr.. Geo. NJ.
Mountjoy, candidate for the Office of
collector, procured some one to write
the article for him, and hon got MIR.
Joseph Bailey, OF this city, To become
responsible for 1t With his fight on
Mr.. Worlhington | have nothing to do,
but il becomes necessary to assnil me
III order to reach Mr.. WorthIngtom,
and | nave to deal with il in so tar as
il affects me The substance Gi the
charge il that ! lnvO not, as collector,
made the settlements nj the times re-
quired by law; and the impression
to be conveyed is that | have been I'M
faithful To the trust imposed on me by
my election, and that the public inter-
est has suffered thereby, aud Tins gives
a prctense rt color tor suspicion that l
was keeping money of the county in
my hands for some purpose of my own.
| state frankly that tho dates given
in the article are true as shown by The
records, are correct as TO the times
when the UTIften settlements were
filed and made. By reference To the
article il will be seen that the main
charges relate to two settlements of
mine for the taxes collected in Decem-
Der, 1885, and those collected in Decem-
Der, 1857. The spirit Of the article APP
pears by a remark in reference to the
settlement OF taxes of December, 1885,
where Mr.. Mountjoy says:-"We want
to know why and by what authority
he (mcaning Ine) was holding this
large mOu of money in his hands
for nearly two mouths after he should
have paid the same to the treasurer"
and in reference to the taxes of DeCem-
Der, 1887, where he says:-"We want
to know why and by what authority the
collector held this large amount of
money in his hands for nearly one
month after he should have paid the
same into the county treasury" |
suppose these two cases are the very
worst thing Mr.. Mountjoy and the
hidden gentlemen who wrote the arli-
Gle tor him could discover in all of my
record as collector, for the manne that
is used would not lead Inc to believe
that they have kept back anything for
fear of doing me an injury.
Now, as a plain man, without any
concealment or hiding in the bushes
behind some other man, I will make a
plain statement OF the JdctS in reference
to these two statements. AS is known
to everybody most of the taxes col
lected are taken in in December OF each
year, and the biggest part OF what
comes in that month comes i'll during
the last ten or fifteen days of the
month, and orders for tax receipts come
i'm from the banks in different parts of
the county at the last of he month, SO
that it takes, and did in the W cases
specified take, several days i'll January
to make out the receipts, and this is
especially the case where Il large
amount of back or delinquent taxes
come in, and my books will show that
q very great amount of delinquent
taxes were paid in December of both
of tho years mentioned, much more
than usual. This was the reason of
the delay in settlements, as they APP
pear by the records, except as TO that
for December, 1887. l returned my
delinquent list for 1887 on the 9Th day
of March, 1888; this book had to be
copied by the county clerk, and the
delay i'm making the copy and necessa-
ry calculations was the cause OF much
of the delay in the date of the settle
ment as it appears on the record. But
| will say here, and | want every man
in the county to know that the money
itself was in the county treasury long
before that date. On or before the oath
day of January, 1888, | paid to the
treasurer 800, 900 of the December col
l~ections for the county, and much of 1t
had been received but a few days be-
fore in return tor the tax receipts sent
to the banks in different parts of the
county for the convenience OF the peO-
pie. And of the taxes OF December, 1885,
the great part of the money was paid
In January, 1876 The way of il would
be that when | had accumulated a large
amount of taxes OIL hand, | would
give the treasurer u check for some
thing near The amount | estimated
would be coming TO the county, and
afterwards used his receipts when the
proper settlement was made. A con-
siderable amount OF the money was
turned over to the treasurer sometime
in advance of the date OF the settle
ments as it appears by the record, and
while the dates OF the settlement are
behind the times required by law, as
stated in the gentleman's ele%ctioneering
article, tho money was in the county
treasury within a few DAYS of the time.
and such delay as was made vas
ed by all accumulation of extra work
in one month OF great payments OF
taxes and large numbers of back taxes,
1 So, sha I@oI-, ,.slI ,r, shnl tho hnoIr
taxes have been better collected up
than aver before l came into office. l
have collected delinquent taxes left
by others for every year back TO and
including 1866. This is the reason why
the matter appears so Oh record, and il
is well known that il the county should
have had any use for the money, no
matter how long in advance OF the day |
had TO urn it over under the law, it
could get all there was on hand at any
time.
Now in the showing that Mr..
Mountjoy while he was collector de-
layed his settlements beyond the time
the law fixes for the settlements to be
made, | do not wish 10 give occasion
for suspicion against him tor using the
money for his W purposes, rs he has
tried to do to me in his article, but
only to show how easy ii may be TO
criticise a critic who is so particular.
| will say that Mr.. Mountjoy's settle
ments were not all made on time. The
settlements made in July, August aud
September, 1881, three consecutive
months in which he did not come to
time, will serve a. illustrations. Now
if Mr.. MOuntjoy had wished to act
fairly about the matter he would not
have sneaked behind somebody else in
his attack Oh INC, and he would o
have made false statements as to the
taciS OF payment when he says "not one
dollar OF this large mount of money
way pail to the treasurer until
the 9Th day of February, ISsS,
when by referring 10 my checks
to the treasurer he could have found
that this was not true, but in fact ! had
paid 100000 on the oath of January,
and similar statements in reference to
the settlement OF the taxes of December,
1885. He knew that | could reap no
possible advantage by keeping the
money for so short u time rs | really had
it on hand. lie knew that the county
had not suffered in one cent of loss by
what he 30 wronglully maguifies. No
one for u moment can believe that he is
prompted by any love or care for pub
lie interest 10 raise this charge against
me, but every one must see that he il
actuated by supreme se~lfishness, 81
much Sd that although ] am not al
| opponent Vi his, yet in order to gel
back in Office he will not stop at any
! injury tha be may do 10 others. Hi