Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1895-02-20
THE TAXPAYERS CHAMPION,
Or the Editor CT the "inaepen-
dent in New Role.

awarded the pr.ntiug ordered and
pad Ter by the county. for the en-
sung year. on last SATURDAY.. ut
the price Of - cents Per Srn3are If
$50 ems. The legal rate IS 81 per
square. There were - squares in
the annual statement Of last year.
and lG .5-loG square, III the report
Of the Board of Equalization, for
which the ''Indcpcndent' received
legal rate Of S'll1.,5. Should
the statement and the report of the
Board of Equalization amount this
year. i'll type. to as niucl, it did last
dld last year. orr contemporary
will be paid the SUM Of sll.75.
The thanks Of the tax-pavers are
due the ''Indcpcndant" fer sub
mittiug a bid and requesting a CON
sidcrati0n Of same. Politically. Of
course, We are not lin it. We
will, however. continue to furnish
our readers with Il full and COM
plctc report of the county court
proceedings. etc., as heretofore. "
''Indcpcndent.' :
The above is Il very pretty little
story, but 70 o,lr mind. it is inr,nn-
pletc and requires Il Scpicl, which
We will proceed to give. and which
may also prove to be interesting t.
the Taxpayers. We shall try to cs-
tabIi-h the fact that the '!ndepcn-
dent" interest in the behalf Of The
taxpayer begins where it, own IN
tcrcst ends. In shown" up the
methods OF our competitor in the
past. we may have to touch lightly
upon the official acts of the past
administration, but this is unayoid-
able and no malice i, intended.
1t appears that Tie present pub
fisher OF the ''.ndcpendant asom-
ed control of the paper in 1881, As
in that year he presented the first
bill to the county court in his own
name.
In lSS7 we had an Independent
county court, but aS the ''lndcPen-
dent" WAS at that time the onI:
paper in the iie!d. ii was awarded
the printing without having to bid
for it. ii- bill in that year for the
county statement and report of the
board OF equalization amounted to
S2Dl.15. IhiS H'mu-t staggered the
court, and when II had recovered
sufficiently to realize that a raid
was being made on the treasury,
it had the prosecuting attorney
measure the matter up, and Sl4~
was allowed. There was no con
sidcration for the taxpayers in that
bill. but the court saved them
S5t.1r on this single item.
In 1855 he was allowed $50.
ana III 1907. IL b'.t' ltl tIlt Sii1l!t
work. but he was still alone in the
field, with the independent court
to hold him down.
In 1890 the ''indcrcndcnt" had
IL competitor in the Potosi
"EagIe," published by j. +.
Mitchim AS an Independent paper.
The court let out the printing to
the lowest bidder, and the Eagle,
was the successful one. This
was the only year in the career Of
the present publisher of the "lnde-
pendent that he did not suck the
tcat of public patronage, and lost
the opportunity to fleece the tax
payers of goodly Sums. The
Eagle was allowed $4o.35 in
1890. and its contract was good for
two years. In this year the court
saved the county over Sloo in
letting ont the work to bidders.
In 1891 the Democratic county
court. the reform court, SO called.
supplantcd the Independent court,
which was economical and Just in
its administration. Right here Is
where the funay business begins
With the ncmorrat, in power,
the editor Of the "!ndepcndcnt
was again in the saddle. ready t.
ride rough -shod over the interest
of the taxpayers he now loves sc
dearly, and continue his raids on nthC
public treasury. When the qucs
ton of the public printing cane
before the new court, instead O
following the precedent eStah'ishe,
by its predecessor. and letting the
work ou. to the lowest bidder. i
turncdthc printing over TO the cditoI
of the ''.ndcpcndcnt at his o":
price. because he kicked long ane
loud that the court should give tn
patronage to the paper that support
d. ed ii in the campaign. Ih
''Eagle" was ignored: it was ne
ovor ,rrnittcI TO fulfil its contract