Los Angeles herald., 1892-11-08
OF THE FIRST IMPORTANCE.

However the electors of Los Angeles
county may vote upon the presidency
and for congress and the legislature,
they cannot afford to let their political
prejudices influence them to continue in
power the ring that has run things with
so high hand in this county.
Whilst we may differ on national poll
tics, we certainly ought not to differ
upon the question of an honest and
economical conduct of our county affairs.
We shall, of course, suffer indirectly
from false national policy, but when
it comes to filing our local offices with
men who strain the law in order to
carry out acts of jobbery and extrava-
gance; who increase our taxes for the
purpose of pampering favorites; who
squander the peoples money when by
pursuing proper courses they might save
it; who have filled their Offices with
unnecessary deputies in order that party
favorites might gettheir hands into the
treasury we say that when we come to
vote for candidates to conduct our local
affairs, we shall directly suffer if we con-
tinue the men who have thus abused
their trusts in Office.
Mr.. Ward, who is the candidate for
reelection as county clerk, has not only
allowed the public archives to be tam
pered with, but he gave out the printing
of the great register to favorite, when
by submitting it to competitive bids he
could have saved the taxpayers between
three and four thousand dollars.
Mr.. Banbury, who is up for re-elec-
tion as county treasurer, has drawn from
the county over $4,000 to cover the cost
of exchange to Sacramento and of
charges of Wells Fargo & Co.'s express
for the conveyance of coin to the state
treasury but has only been able to ac-
count for single payment of between
one and two hundred dollars for
expressage of bonds to the state
capital, If he had honestly paid
out this money in the course OF bis
legitimate public duties, he would have
FASTENED to show his vouchers for the
same. An officer who is publicly charged
with acts that may be construed into
felony, and who could show that they
were untrue by simply calling upon the
express officers or upon the parties who
did his business, and fails to do
so, cannot blame the people ii they
withdraw their confidence from him.
There ia only one reasonable explana-
tion of conduct so extraordinary, and
that is that he has pocketed the COM
missions without having paid them
either to the express company or to the
banks, and therefore that it is out of
his power to confront the charges with
an exhibit of receipts.
The extravaganza Of the supervisors
has been the subject of comment during
the past year. The jobs that have char
acterized the new court house are
almost without parallel. An estimate
of $4,000 for furnishing it swelled to
nearly 100000 before it was through
with; and the most enormous contracts
both on the grounds and the building
have been given out without competi-
tion. The extravaganza in the county
departments has been encouraged by
the reckless expenditures of the super
visors.
We gave the figures taken from the
auditors books that show Los Angeles
county at the present time to be within
$4,000 of the point of bankruptcy, not
withstanding nearly four and half mil
lion dollars have been received in the
treasury from all sources within the last
three years and half.
People who have the interests of this
county at heart cannot afford to continue
this profigate regime in control, no
matter what their politics may be.