The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1888-02-16
THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 1888.
THE COUNTY PRINTING.

THE COUNTY PRINTING.
We have been asked why the GOLD
LEAF did not publish the annual ex-
hibit Of accounts allowed by the
Board Of county Commissioners for
last year and how happens it that
another paper, not brinted in tie t0nn
", printed it2 For the present it will
suffice to say that there is an ns0a1N-
ness to this that we may explain here
after. We do not base any claim
upon service to the county Gas our
friends do), nor do we charge the
Board with any lack of gratitude and
appreciation Of such services-(as do
our friends), but we do say they have
gone outside the law in this thing as
the following will show, and for the
time being we simply content ourself
with calling their attention thereto.
The Code, vol. |, chapter II, sec
ton 7I3, says:
The clerk shall annually, on or
within five days next before the first
Monday of December, make out and
certify, and cause to be posted at the
court house, ..and published in a nesos-
paper Ptrnte1 in the county, if there be
one, for at least four weeks, = state
ment for the preceding year, showing:
(I) The amount, items and nature
of all compensation audited by the
board to the members thereof sever
ALLY;
"a The number Of days the board
was IN session, and the distance trav-
cled by the members respectively in
attending the same;
CD Whether any unverifed accounts
were audited, and if any, how much
and for what.
The italics above are ours. This is
plain enough it seems to us. The law
is so Simplifed, and the duties and re-
Quirements Of the Board in the prem
ises arc SO clear that there is neither
cause nor excuse for erring. The &C
ton of the Commissioners in having
this printing done IN 4 newspaper
printed, published and for most part
edited, in Baltimore, in the State OF
Maryland, more than three hundred
miles from the seat of Justice of Vance
county, is unwarrantcd bys the law,
and The lar Of course is what we are
going by. Having gone outside the
jurisdiction of the law, then, the Com
missioncrs have no right to appropriate
the county finances to the payment of
such claim. OF course the work was
not done graft: and must be paid for
by some one. "The laborer is worthy
Of his hire" and the GOLD LEAF in
sists that the "laborer" in this case be
paid his just dues; but ii profess
&gain5! his bang Paid onf of any
tund5 collected tIom the tar payers cf
Tance tonnty. There is no law for it
and of course the honorable Board
of Commissioners 70ouN net kno7O-
iaSB and Intentionally gi0ldte the LAG.
At any rate the Coup LEAF does not
presume they would. And then the
law is very plain on this point also,
for section III, chapter II, of the
Code says: Il"
Any commissioner who shall neg
lect to perform any duty required OF
him by law as member of the board
shall be guilty OF misdemeanor, and
shall also be liable to penalty Of two
hundred dollars for each offence, to be
paid to any person who shall sue tor the
same.
And again, having reference par
ticularly to the publication of the ex-
hibit of accounts audited by the Board,
the Code, vol. l, chapter 752, says
The board shall cause TO be posted
at the court house within five days
after each regular December meeting
and for at least four successive weeks,
the name of every individual whose
account has been audited, the amount
claimed and the amount allowed and
also at the sane time full statement