Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1889-10-31

EvERT EVENING has kept watch Of the
county collectors Office 70. week. It
, would have been mueh more satisfactory
10 ourselves and our readers 10 have kept
that watch on the inside Of the Office and
to have chroniclod, as we purposed doing
in the hrst place, everything of public
nature that went on there. Bat the COL
lor;ors refused to permit this, and com.
psiled our reporter to Withdraw, under
threat Of forcible expulsion. In go doing
they placed themselves before the COM
munityin an uufa7orsble light; and laid
themselves open to suspicious and accu.
sAtions which disposition to Welcome,
instead Of repel, publicity might have
shown TO be unfoundld. But that is
their looAout; not ours.
Pfe;luded, therefore, by the collectors
own act, from reporting what wen. or
inside the Office, we have done the next
best thing kept systematic ald unim.
peaohsble record Of what went on on :
side; Of the visitors to the Office, their
arrival and departure, VIA. they said
and did on going in or coming out, and
o. the arrivals and departures .. the COL
lsctorH Themselves, This record is before
the public for what it is worth. We
print to-day the comments of some Of
our neighbors on the same and the in
ferencss they draw therefrom. These
comments tell their ogn story.
The chief value of this work has been
the production Of this record. 1t has
shown that for given time, from Mon
day morning mp to Collector Dougherty's
leaving the Office OF IL 20 q. m. of sa.ur.
day, the business Of the Office went on
without much interruption aud without
complaint from persons calling to pay
their taxes. Il Ia the only actual record
ever mads for tha public extending con.
tinuously through SO many successive
days. 1t sho~s that for four days in
succession the visitors were few, not
averaging more than four or FIVE per
hour, and there lie prssumptive evidences
that by no means all OF them called on
tax paying errands. Beginning on Fri
day there was an increase in the number
Of callers, but still by no means what
could be called "rush Of citizens clam.
orous to pay their taxes" This increased
current OF yiHitors appears to have been
attended 70 without friction up to IL. 20
a. m. Saturday, when an alteration,
more fully reported elsewhere, occurred
between Collector Dougherty and Mr..
MahRfy.
1t was also shown that there has been
regular headquarters established where,
the evidence indicates, impecunio1s me-
Rroes are provided with funds to pay
tbeif poll taxes and from whence they are
escorted, under convoy, to the collectors
office. SO far 81 tls Indications showed
anything, they showed that large pro.
portion, estima ~ EvEET EyEsIsa's
reporter at so per cent, OF the increase
noted on Friday and Saturday morning
was made Of of negroes who seemed to
belong to the class which is thus depend.
IL On the party to pay their taxes.
Tbs investigation also demonstrated
that taerewere very few indeed who called
during the week to pay their property
tGIss. This dilstoriness may have been
enhanced by advice recently given by
the Republican press Of this city; but,
under normal conditions, persons are il
no hurry to pay county taxes on real
estate simply because the county Offers
no inducement TO prompt payment. The