The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-24
COUNTY OFFICERS QUESTIONED.
An Assessment of Per Cent. Made for
Legislative PURPOSES.

Legislative Purposes.
The Senate committee on fees and salaries
held meeting at the Statehouse last even
ing for the purpose of giving the County
Officers Association a hearing. Notice had
been sent to the officials of the organization
to be present and make a showing, and the
invitation was accepted by Secretary Foun-
tame, of South Bend, and a number of
others who have been active and conspicu-
Gus in advancing the interests of the or
ganization. 1t was denied that the county
officers demanded or expected a return to
the fee system as it formerly existed, but
it was asked that the men represented be
dealt with in a spirit of fairness and JUS
tice. Secretary Fountaine read a carefully
prepared statement in which the views and
demands of the people he represents were
set forth He deplored the misrepresenta-
ton and exaggeration that have, as he
claimed, set the county officers before the
public in false light and prejudiced the
Legislature against a fair consideration of
the case at the outset
He then went somewhat into detail to
show the inequalities and Determinations
in the present law, and cited number of
cases where it was shown that the COM
pensation provided was totally Inadequate
to the services performed. A number of
counties of the same grade and practically
the same amount of business were COM
pared and a difference of from 10 to rs per
cent. in the salaries was shown. This was
not difficult, as the policy of the Legis-
lature that passed the act of 1891, as often
heretofore stated, was to make office ho-d-
ing in Republican counties Improbable.
1t was asked that whatever measure might
be passed should at least have the merit of
consistency, and II was asker tnat where
living wages they be raised to scale con-
sistent with the work done and the re-
cd hers of r1,oe
officers present followed in the lines
mapped out by Secretary Fountaine, and
the county officers at least established the
fact that the act of 1891 is not uniform
and impartial measure
A number of the representatives OF the
county officers were then put under oatn
and questioned concerning the report that
they had raised or were raising a fund,
variously estimated at from $4,000 to $l2,-
600. for the purpose of influencing legis-
lat.on favorable to their demands. In an
swer to the questions put it was adduced
that an assessment of / per cent. had been
levied, but 1T stated that compare
lively few of the officers had responded.
and instead of a fund of $1,000, the
newspapers had reported, the treasury of
the organization contained scarcely $780,
1t stated that the assessment hitherto
had been per cent. but the officers were
too poor this year to pay large ASSESS
ments. The charge that 1T was the inten-
ton of the organization to corruptly infiu-
ence any one in the passage of a fee and
salary bill was emphatically denied.
Being questioned concerning the charge
that some county officer, or some one act
ing for the association, had offered bride
of a thousand dollars to Senator Boyd, 1t
was emphatically denied that such an at
tempt at bribery had been made. The de-
NAL was square and uneQuivoca and on
the basis of the showing previously made
it was demonstrated that if the organiza-
ton started out to buy the Legislature at
thousand dollars a head the association
would go into bankruptcy before it had Sc
cured a single member.
The meeting last night was for the pur-
pose of hearing the ease that the county
officers had to present. and none of the nu-
merous bills which have been submitted
were passed upon.