Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-01-01

year. On OctODer 3lSt, 1889, the
county's floating debt, officially re-
ported, was $4,000. This floating debt
had been accumulated in four years.
That is to say, the county had expended
In four years $4,000 more than it had
received. Every business man knows
that it is uphill work, starting with a
deficit, to pull out upon current receipts
and that the county would fail to do
this was foretold by the GAZETTE
In very plain language twelvemonth
ago.
There are two main causes for this
unsatisfactory condition of the county
finances. One, upon which the GA
GAZETTE has dwelt in detail, has been
the acknowledgement and extravaganza
Of our levy court. 1t is not worth while
to recapitulate the counts in this indict-
ment. They have been rehearsed over
and over again by the GAZETTE, by
the majority of the county papers, by
the farmers institutes and other gath
erings, by the county convention of
Democrats at Middletown, by the grand
jury of the county, by the Wilmington
Board of Trade, by nearly every one in
terested in local retrenchment and re-
form. And the result Of this general
agitation is, we believe, about to bring
forth satisfactory fruit at the forthcom-
ing session of the General Assembly.
This is the most important matter to
be attended to. Cut down the unneces-
sary and unjustifiable disbursements Of
public funds, remedy the mismanage-
ment inseparable from cumbrous levy
court system founded upon and perme-
ated through and through by politics,
and place the conduct of county affairs
in the hands Of capable and bipartisan
men, as has been done with the Viii
mington water department, and like
wholesome results may be expected d
follow. So much for the expenditure
end of the problem.
For the collection end, let the example
of this city be patterned after. En-
courage promptness in the payment Of
county taxes, just as promptness has
been made the rule in the payment Of
city taxes, by making it worth the while
Of property owners to come up early to
liquidate their Indebtedness. We say
property owners, since it is evident, BY
the large vote recently cast, that there
can be no material default this year in
'oll-tax collections. Our Republi-
can friends, who are the chronic
grumblers over this item admitted
before the election that they
had nearly all their men on-and it
would appear from the vote cast in
some of the upper districts of this city
that they had more than all their men
on. So that any shortage that may exist
in the poll tax collections must be but a I
drop in the bucket. 1t is, therefore,
sufficiently manifest that, assuming the
collectors to have accounted to the I
county treasurer for what taxes they /
have received-which we gather from +
the levy court reports has not vet [
been demonstrated-th outstanding
shortage must be due to slownegs
of property Taxpayers in settling up.
Setting aside, therefore, ut this time, /
consideration of whether the deficit in
the county treasury represents the actual /
tbo censfdarati1 lss, ,.t, oN'iue Y" y
mar ond frn,s ~, ~ 80 ~ ~ "
put off the payment Of their county
taxes till nearly the last moment; and +
,,,osatia - !, Z - = - = seeh tle eA-
ahava Ill., / z p .s. ~ w sala
80 L 'l-o = ~ iit'''ieeiiieil'i petona
49, ~ - el'til'' pallioVic Piliah-
~ AL, ~, =. T - - 9es' y iis'lIe
IN, - a.,es W. = aesite p Ply "
II -. ~ , nj ins.eoa = tiie iolloWltg
-. n - y tAiiu y = ny u
IT. .ia'.'ie y expect tlle heavier
1 l,efasl = 9qa'''e accounts ~ months
~, - 80, ~ i,ase ~ Tiieh mere + NOM
~. .hs ~. 49, suUs'"istai q gam merely
49,, " IL Il, IoitsslSllsileSs q having
,-,aat 49,. ~ -. ~ ii.5 5...,y q Govern.
"ne y ii.,iNi,t3ai '3r liie urn
$500 90 e. a.ti,.ai ooh'iiputi.,il amounts Y
~ 49, ~ r. Malii,ie; u = a3t 70 'hlak,
,, -, - ''l'ess''.iaoi5 tntU tal sow +
- !; \ - ,a, ~ = nv " ~ months
lora ,a s3a'a 49,, = ~, = tig eourty We Il
~ ~ oaliao.is II .,.,liS..ls lois i'so
- sAe 12ite9'i9h - onf clty lanes by
ment, and we feel safe in saving. wltb.
out looking up the figures, that the "
suit has been that, Al d rule, III leas,