San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-07
THE CITY OotAECrORsEIP.

4 The Office of city collector is one OF
great Importance to Que citizens. 1t
should be filled by man whose char.
scter Is above sWspicioR for honesty,
integrity and purity of life. The man
who now fills that position comes up
to this standard In every particular.
Mr.. EDWARD RGSCHE Is an old citi-
zen; his private lite has b cen uninter
rupted by any episode that would
| bring the blush of shame to an hon.
.Orable man. In the macy vicissitudes
I of quarter OF q century he has
reared a large family, and kept
| the wolf from the door by pledding
\ industry and steady business habits
!. He is a man devoid of speculative In
stinctg, and hence has never awaited
! himself of opportunities to smass
wealth. The Office he holds has been
given him by the people, not because
he is q good rustler at the polls, or
because he is q good we'll.
met, bnt because the people had con-
fidence in the man, that he would
handle their money faithfully. Has
he done SO?
During his term OF office two in
eidents have happened. that through
nisrepEes entatiOn on the part of
those who want to GUST him, though
Insignificant may be made to
appear TO his discrediJ unless ex.
planned. When Mr.. Rische took
charge of the collectors office, the city
business was done in the Kampmann
building; one day at noon he stepped
out of his office for dinner, locking
his door and leaving something over
one hundred dollars In his cash
drawer. Whom he returned the
drawer had been rified;a thief had en-
tered over ttae transom or had unlock
ed the door. The theft had been COM
nitted by some one we'll acquainted
with the premises, and while sus
picion was strong as to the thief, he
has never been detected. This taught
Mr.. Risohe q lesson of caution,
and no more losses occurred while in
the kampDann building. After the
city business was removed to the
new city hall, the collectors office
was located In the third story; vault
and safe were provided, and besides
the building was guarded by the po.
lice force, night and day and opposite |
the collectors room was the city cleo |
tricisn with men on watch all night; |
one morning Mr.. RIsche came
to his office and found his safe door
open and some $500 gone. Here was a |
mystery. Either Mr.. Rische or his |
assistant had neglected to close the |
safe, or some one had secured the |
coon bination and opened the safe. |
How many of our most careful bust |
ness men have not had some such ill.,
cident happen to them. The merchant |
police End bank doors open, store |
doors unlocked, and have wakened |
old merchants from their slumb ers TO |
tell them that their safe doors were
open. But no matter, there was q |
slip somewhere, and there was a sly |
thief very handy. These two incidents
have been enlarged on. Have the |
people lost dollar? No not one cent,
the collector has made the losses |
good. That he should ask the CITY
to reimburse him, as the loss though |
small was hard strain upon his in
come, Is nothing to his discredlt. That
the city did not rein urse him is per.
haps proper in the light of the TACT
that the city holds him responsible
for the safe keeping of its funds while
in transit through his hands to the
city treasurer. On the other hand
Mr.. Rische has collected Millions OF
dollars for the city and has paid in
every cent into the city treasury. Such
Is bis record, and he is candidate
for reelection. The office is not one
of the most pleasant from the fact
that the collector has to meet
the taxpayers who have Justly felt
that their burden was unnecessarily
heavy and in many instances CD.
pressive, and the collector has had to
bear the blame that belonged to the
board of so-called equalizers at whose
head was his present opponent for
the office. The people want lust
such man as Edward Rische for
collector. They do not want q dane-
ing master, or wire puller, or q
schemer, or a man deep dyed in CHI
canery or political trIckery. Mr. Rische
Is not a popular man in one sense
of the word, but with the solid sub.
stanti citizens of our city he stands
we'll and Is trusted and liked, and
every good citizen should see to 1t
that he is reelected. He did not suit
the Callaghan schemers, they wanted
a different sort of q man, one who
could be depended on to pull the
strings for the "boss," and hence Mr..
Rische Is q candidate on the Paschal
ticket.
To those who have known him In
timately for long years, Mr.. Rische
Is known as q kind hearted man,
warm in his friendships; positive in
his opinions, and upright in his
character.
NOTICE.