Deming headlight., 1893-08-05

aud influential newspapers, the
| HEADLIGHT Is conservative. We
certainly have no disposition 10
do injustice TO, or unfnlfIy orlil,
elao our Board Of County Com.
mlaalouers. II ls to be regretted
that the position os commlsslonol
IL one which gives the lneumbanl
an abaurdly Inflated notion OF his
own Importance. County Com.
ioisniohern are api 10 imagine
Themselves possessed Of unlimited
lpowors aud apt 70 believe that
their station IA 80 axnlled that
thoro ID none above thom 70 whom
they can be held accountable. II
seems impossible 20 put Ia The
place sensible, straightforward.
business men who will 20 forward
and transact The business Of the
county IN common.senso manner
without imagining themselves
magnates and iurists--mcn who
can fiso superior TO the small IN.
huenecs Of tricky politicians.
Some months ago tho HEAD.
LIGHT had occasion TO criticlse
tho action Of the present Board IN
unlawfully Withdrawing about
$4,000 from the current expense
fund Of tho county and using II to
pay interest on the county bonds.
The circumstances under which
this transfer was made may be
stated IN plain terms as follows;
Silver City was negotiating it's
boncs at per cent, and the deal
was about closed, when the par.
ties who proposed to purchase
discovered that Grant county had
not paid the interest on her bond.
ed indebtedness. AS Silver City
was In Grant county, they de.
clined TO consummale tho purchase
Of the city bonds until the county
made good its credit by paying
the interest due. The city gu.
thorities, Of course, were anxious
to iund their indebtedness. The
money was needed 70 take up the
old bonds and interest and TO pay
o fow thousand dollars due the
Silver City Water company, IN
which last payment II is rumored
that more than one individual had
o sab rosa interest. TO q very
considerable extent, the Silver
City Water Works and the Board
Of County Commissioners OF
Grant county are identical. In
fact, It 10 q wide spread belief that
the same set Of brains which con.
troll the water works controls the
Board, aud she case presents the
somewhat anomalous situation of
the Silver City Water Works pre-.
tending to represent the Deming
district on the Board Of County
Commissioners. However this
may be, Il is pretty we'll ascer.
tanned that official influence IN
Silver City combined with the
water works TO induce the Board
10 take this unlawful action.
We entirely acquit two mem.
bors Of the Board Of Commission.
ors Of any evil purpose or corrupt
influence Ia connection with this
matter. These two, we arc salts.
iied, acted with the bert Of inten.
ton, behaving they had the pow.
er, and feeling that the necessities
Of the ease ~ presented TO them,
made their action necessary. In.
deed, one Of them openly stated
that he .didn't think that the law
warranted the act but still II
seemed 10 be necessary under the
circumstances and he therefore
acqniescedp-upon the theory, We
presume, that, the Board being
Omnlpotont, syen wrong doing
would be right If II had that
body's approval.
The real difficulty Ia now faclng
the county authorities. The eur.
rent expense fund IL exhausted,
and the $500 Is needed 20 pay
tho bills accumulatlng on tho
handa Of the Board OF County
Commissioners. The money which
the Board unlawfully pale TO
b0ndholderH and coupon clippers
Is demanded by those who have
rendered service to the county
and who are lawfully entitled to
their compensation ont Of this
very fund. Tho fund must be
made good IN order TO meet these
demands, The Board aud the
Treasurer or tho suretios on their
official bonds will sooner or laior
DO compelled 10 make that fund
good.