The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1896-01-17
THElcoUNTY BOARD.

ctnd ass mail matter.
THE COUNTY BOARD.
The proceedings Of the county COM
missiOners this week are OF much in
terest to taxpayers. ltwill bea,otic-
ed that the board have this session
been looking pretty closely after the
fees and salaries OF the county offici-
ais and their deputies aud clerks, aud
have In many clses done considerable
pairing down III the interest Of county
tin.nces. The sheriff's office being
Mustly a matter Of fees has been the
grealest sufferer from the economical
streak. particularly In the salary, per-
Quisiles and board of prisoners OF Jhe
j;lilor. The SALARY of the "custodian"
all office which is largely Of the sine-
cure nature, has been reduced from
$40 TO S. pei month, and the janitor
has bee,, appuintsd custodian in place
OF the jlil0r. Besides this the b,,lrd
Sof prisoners HIS been reduced from
fifty ,;slbs to forty cents per day.
llss Halter ut first Thought, might
i i Seem 4 small sum on which To board
albllnd pigs. linL there are several CIR
cuMst;lnces which the commissioners
t.'ok into view when ''cuunLing the
COST" Among which are these. In
former times food cost more than it
dues n9w. Several years ago the aver
age number Ut .'b0arders" at the lail
was only from one to three, and some-
times long periods passed without
Steady 6Oarders. Now the number Is
rarely less than SIX aila often dozen
or more. Hence from these reasons
it would seem that the price of board
could be lesseued aud still leave
enough to make u little money on.
But this forty cents u day is only for
the price Of food aud the preparation
oft. Besides the forty cents u day,
the jatlOr receives Il monthly salary of
40 per month AS jailor. He has also
y comfortable dwelling. fuel aud
lights furaished him BY the county.
Thereare ccrtaln; Legal fees allowed
for tile arrest, =; 3 s,..sat ttetldance at
COURT" Commandment 70 tail." and
discharge from Jail" etc, varylng in
amount, but averaging about IS per
prisoner which Is also paid to the
sheriff or his deputy. The jail bed
ding, dishes, furniture, clothing aud
/ washing for prisoners IL all paid, for
by the county, aud bills are presented
quarterly to the board, and paid for
scrubbing out The Jail itself, saving
the woOd, and many other such jobs
ssOfsa domestic nature around the court
house aDd jail.s
As exceilsnt board with room, light,
heat, etc - furnished by ut least two
ll-,glk,d hotels I'D this city at the rate Of
% sssr week |. tis perhaps possible to
give prisoners fairly good board at
$3.50 per weekat the Jail when all the
allowance, fees, salaries. etc, conti,,.
gent thereto are rcckOned in. Not
withstanding this however. Sheriff
McCabe has filed written notice with
the county commissioners that he
cannot feed prisoners at the rate Of
J forty cents day, and it il because OF
this protest, and .he fact that the
majority Of the board is not populist
while the sheriff IS, that we make
this rather lengthy explanation, 50
I that Taxpayers may judge for them
selves whether these moves are par.
tizAn In their nature, or are proper
aud just measures Of economy. So
larIas the board Is concerned, the two
rellublicaDs, one democrat and two
py Pulists, we understand TO be unani-
al bus, In the movement TO cat down
sa aries and expenses, ". faf as they,
al able. ~: