Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-05-28

law deem it my duty to advise that this
| petition be not granted
Even aside from the new act, under that
| OF 1877 the course is not mandatory up0n
the levy court. Under its provisions the
mere personal appointments to collect
county taxes constitutes county collector.
| The new bill places all this in the hands of
the receiver and collector of delinquent
taxes, There is no office Of county tax
collector. That is abolished
John IL. Rodney, ESQ. then appeared
and handed in the following supplement-
airy report from Mr., Doughcrtys suretes
70 ne Lepp q Wtef SeU Castle Counfg.
TLEMEN; The Undersigned John H. Rodney,
attorney the ~ureties OF John i. Duugherty,
late collector Of taxes for the Northern dHtrirt
oi wilmington hundred, respectfully submits
the following statement in support OF Tho nett
ton iilcd on the 10Th inst, asking that the said
collector be restrained from the further collec-
ton of taxes, &C.:
The books and accounts OF your court show
inst The said collector is charged for Tho ycnr
ls9l with county and poor taxes amounting 10
shi,df5h3; negro school tax for same year. not
.se no from gour books, estimated ut
made cash payments OF s37 ,22i. 10. errors al
lowed him for 1883, S6t52T errors allowed him
Tor 1o9t Sb,IUnI6. commissions for 1890 (esti-
Sl5I9i.5l
Mr., nougherty had in hand on Aprtl aist,
1871, county orders not yet placed 10 h 8 q. edit
tion+ 10 turn over with his books which, with
these orders, will further reduce hi7 ndcbted-
moss.
I'm April 2.d and 2sd last partial examine
ton Of the collectors BOOKS Il as made, yyta his
permission, by two accountants selected by
me shrelirs. This examination showed that
there were II ms marked .'paid' Aggregate
ing:
For, 1889, including negro
schoo! tax ,...... s d,6l0d3
70; 1870 including negro
school tax. .,....,.......s... tO.son3t
rotal ,sI1,sIa74
From this here has boon col
iected and paid over 10 the
county treasurer, and in
Guided III The credit above
sy,.i,,s. H.. ,e?5co
Leaving an apparent shortage Of ..S 1885 n
Since the examination Of tho books. however
IL mas TRANSFERRED tint certain items then sup
posed TO pc unpaid had In fact been paid, and
heHufbiies arc apprchenSive that other SINH
iar errors may yet be- discovered. The short
age here stated will be augmented by what
,yer mount these errors may aggregate.
Moreover, the expense Of collection of the un-
Collected I ,xes must also be paid from the
amount realized ON the open accounts. And,
Us you are aware the col ecton of thu large
amount due for 1889 depends altogether unou
the Willingness Of the tax payers to save tho
sliretles further loss. Any collector appointed
by you would be prohibited by law from re-
in view OF the foregoing the sureties desire
70 have more thorough examination
madh Of the duplicate OF the late
collector collector and proper person APP
lolntcu 70 Gloss up his ac'ounts and they,
ihefetore, respectfully ask that their petition
be granted without fnrthnr delay.
Respectfully submitted
lSisnedl JOHN H. RODNEY,
Attorney Tor Sureties
Commissioner Iolls-"I move that these
papers (thc petition and supplementary
statement) be LAID upon the table In
view of what has been said in connection
with tins case and the statement of Mr. |
Bradford, move also that further consid- |
Grafton OF this matter be indefinitely post
poned
The motion was passed without com
ment.
The purport Of this action is that the
levy court declines to appoint any one to
take charge Of ex-Collector Dougherty's ac-
counts. But between the lines may be |
clearly seen that the court intends acting
under the provisions of the Five Commits |
sioners bill.
This however, was sketched out Friday |
as follows: Mr. Stats will prob
ably reply in the negative. He will then
be Instructed to ask for the books, records,
nc, from the eX-tax collector. These will
show, il is supposed, q certain sum not paid
IN. This balance will be asked for. The |
reply will be, it is alleged, that the money
is not collected. The problem will be to
ascertain upon which of the tax receipts
ot the amount not paid in to the treasurer
money has been collected from taxpayers
and not paid in. This, it is understood,
may or may not be long and tedious
lob II may be necessary to take up the
Individual duplicates and question seriatim
me various taxpayers to ascertain whether
5he payments they made scverally and col
ectlvelv have been paid in to the new
county treasurer.
The action of proceeding upon the off
,ial bond will be determined by the result
lf this investigation.
Mr.. Jolls moved that the following com
be accepted and placed on file,
md the motion was carried
10 The honorable, the ~ court Of Se,g Castle
ou1ltp-GENTLEMEN: There has been pre-
ented To me, as comptroller, draft, check or
rider on the late county treasurer, for the pay
neut oil money, to cuuntersigm, and as the said
Iraft, check or order was drawn before the
ct creating The office Of county comptroll r
'as passed tor became law, therefore having
10 personal knowledge or data. as comptro ,lef
0 warrant me in counters sning the same, /
must respectfully decline to do 40.
ana whereas, II appears from the records
hat there Is a number of bills, Warrants
RATS, checks and appropriations that have
een acted upon, approved and passed by tho
IVY court, and their appolntees and em-
re the act creating the office of I
ounty comptroller became a law,
nj, as the comptroller has no person II knowl-
dye or data 10 warrant him in endorsing Or
tbs same, and a. the parIies
AIMED III these bills, drafts, checks nnd iippr0-
rlations are in need of their money, and as !
I 4 o,is, s warrants, draft, &C., must
sceiVer Of taxes and county treasurer {
nj pay the same, NO 10 prevent any
lrther unnecessary delay or expense 10 the
: couhtersign any and all bill i, checks
iafts and appropriations, which were pre- ]
'nted, acted upon and passed and ordered
aid by the lev. court their appointees
nd employees (Is authorized and appointed j
Z the said levy courp before The act reating :
nee OF comptroller became a law. Unless the :
Nd levy court or IA majority OF them shall \
tilted. JonN +. STATS. q
WILMINGTON, May 81, 1891.
NEW PHASE OF THE SITUATION.
Considerable excitement prevails in !
gal circles over the declaration by some
wyers who have examinedthe Five Com
issioners bill that it fails to provide for
lie collection of taxes now due the county. a,
action 2 of the bill positively and un- K
luivocally abolishes the offices Of tax i
Electors in this county, and it is held n
lat in no manner does the bill provide /,
II the collection of the taxes now h
le. The recent collectors, Dough q
ty, Mckee and the rest, have ii
Il, it is claimed, the right to !,
llect a dollar more of the taxes II
on their duplicates, and some 4
wyers have advised their clients who =,
We back taxes not to pay The 9th see M
IN Of the bill declares that nothingin the i,
t shall be construed 50 as to yacate any :,
llcial bond Of any office whose term il Il
by the act, and says that such II
md shall have full force and effect ''until i,
the accounts Of said officer and all the 81 81
siness Of his said office shall be finally M M