Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1890-03-05
eonp,ished b uniquA Il coesIsh slmply
Of systsm Of h6gus addltlops 70 he
allcwanee lists made By the court sad
pharstng then 10 The accounts that have
bsen audited aud closed.
The allowances for county expenses
are made at The close Of each term OF the
Levy Court. Bills aad expenss aeeounts
aro prsssntsd 10 the clsrk Of the peace
and By hin scheduled and Numbered,
They aro then presented 70 the court and
allowed 10 tile ogdsr. ip .nhich they ap.
thsn entered
Library Of Congress- rte proceed.

aiowsu 10 tno ofqer. 10 .Ehlch they ap
| bhsn entered
Library Of Congress- RE proceed.
The payment Of these allowances Il
made BY orders upon the county treas-
ufer, issued by tho clark OF tic peace 70
the party named iu the schedule psssed
by the court The orders Tor suc6 pav-
ment must BE- sigued by the president
and clerk Of the Levy Court, and 70 iecilI.
tate business are frequently signod In
blank By the president and len With the
clerk o. the peace to be issued upon the
| demand Of the county'a creditors.
In An houest Administration Of hia
office the clerk oil the peace could only
issus orders 10 the number aud amount
Of Tbs bills allowed by tho court. AZ 4
inaiter OF laot huudryds Of orders that
have not been allowed aud do notappear
upon the records Of the Nourt, except as
fraudulent additions TO accounts that
have bssn closed, have beem issusd.
A large number Of orders, many OF
then A9sued 70 dctitlons persona are now
10 he hauds " =. Fraucis Bacon, Esq.,
Attorney Of the Levy Court.
An examination Of the state auditors
report. In which " . iist Of the county al.
l0wances for zach term, Is IL appears iu
the minutes ol tho court, proves thvt
thess ord, rs were not allowed and dld
not appear on the minutes WHEN the
eccounts were audited. Some OF them
! do appear ~ fraudulent additions made
after the accounts were closed and others
do not appear at al. In several Instances
tbo bogus orders are duplicated, aud In .
fow 0tbers the numbers have beon dupii-
| Gated and the amounts tor which thev
are drawn Increased.
Under this systvm II was only neces-
sary Tor thc Democratic worker to pay
out auy amount oi money for taxes or for
other party purpO 60 and claim the
amount from the clerk Of tho rcace. He
could Issue au order on the county treas.
nver. which that olilcer wouii pay with
INT question. The clerk WON'T then
turn 10 the record 0i some audited and
closed account OF the court and mako y
charge Will b would not be easily dis.
covered.
That these orders have been issucd for
srecixl purposes aud made to keep their
Dwn charncteristi, account, 10 clearly
proven BY tho endorsement ON q ach one.
In the endorsement on fity such orders,
which have boom paid aud car ce.led by
the county TREASURER, the name of the
payce has been written with blue pencil
or blue Ink exactly scr0ss the centre OF
the order, where IL wouii be creased and
obli.ersted. and where It would not be
discovered when placed In bundle and
covered " expose the ends for exam.na.
lion.
Ten Of these boeus orders dated aud
issued IT, April, 1857, amount to SlS6. 20.
and twelve similar ones dated during
May 1887. amount to e324.47, and are
charged TO accounts as far back ~ 1885,.
TIE dates OF thesa ord. 70 Indicate a regu-
lar monthly issuB IN sums Of about 8 rs.
The correspondent OF the Newa fur.
nishes . number OF these bogus orders 10
detail, the amounts varying from Gil to
VS. each. aud making q total OF over
tT0c.
Indications point to the biggest fraud
on tho county having been prscticed In
the matter Of allowances for the road
commissioners. II 10 found that the
inoneys charged sgairst thees account Ia
are very much larger iu election years
than In tie oil ears.
In making allowances for road pur-
poses the appropriation Tor money ex.
wnced N 1883 would be mads iu 1884.
THIS practice, II not understood. would
lead 10 the conclusion that tho greater
expenses were incurred In tho year iol-
lowing the State or general elections
Ahc fctcIbe OF tnAt - true.
The road allowances made In 1881 for
1859 amounted 10 el2. 1871. 60, and in
1888 for 1854, an elsctun year, the
amount was Increased to $l4 32D 80. This
fhows an increase OF ~. l4l,7O.
Tho road allowances for 1880 amounted
to ei6, 3Sl. So and Ia 1888 to $iG,2Il.4s,
both u which were election years, as
sxsinst $12,ssi.S4 for 1885, which was
,ot an election year.
THIS unex xplAtntd increass OF taxes and
appropriation, at times when the Demo-
crAts need mouey tor campaign pur-
poses, connected ~ they mar well be
with tbs proven fraud in thu matter OF
boRus orders issued by the clerk OF the
peace. Indicate only too strongly the
sAuse OF such increase and the purposes
for which the money has been expended.
Tho perfection OF This scheme ior run.
ming the county finances Tor tho benefit
Of ths Democratic party is found 10 the
allowances for delinquent taxables.
The Levy Court allowed q delinquent
This amount divided BY rs cenis-tl,at
representing tho average poll tax 10 this
county-would give 1,940, which repre-
sspt the number Of disfranchi.sd voters
IN Sussex county IN that year.
In 1883 the allowance for DELINQUENT
taxsbles was q, ,3l9.94. This allowance,
BY the same process ol computation, re-
presents ,760 voters, giving . total for
the two years iu which the law operates
Of $500 voters. One-foutth OF this
number would be . big allowance for
| 1estbs and removals, and these deducted
from tho number shown by the coui /
records to have been disfrsnchised would
give an actual disirsnchiselnent OF 2,775
voters. four-nfths OF whom arc known
to be Republicans.
The cost of Democratic supremacy In
Sussex county during 1855 aud 1888 can
he approximately ascertained by adding
the loss BY delinquent taxes in 1887 and
1888, the excessive road allow ances OF
1886 and 1883, and the amount OF bogus
| orders used by the clerk oil the peace
during those years. With these items
brought together tho account ageinst
Democratic fraud would staud as fol-
lows:
Bogus orders for 1886. -. ...........e 2e0.75
Bogus orders Tor rlS57............. l3i. l6
Excessive road tax 1885. ............ 3. l05.6s
Excessive road tax lSSS. ........... 3,2l6 So
Delinquent tax list 1887. ...s....... l,46a0I
Delinquent tax list 1883. ........... 1,3Ig.Dt
Total loss by fraud. 80, $40. A
THIS Ascsrtained sum Is believed by the
Republican levy courtmen TO be only y
beginning Of possib! developments.
BrevitIss.
.Tne chenpess hat house In the city
Num ford nrDas. Ana Mark 1T otroat