The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-04-01
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the sheriff is made the purchasing
agent" of the county. Such in fact
is not the case. Each county officer
is permitted to purchase such sup
plies as are needed in his Office
which is as it should be, as nc
one else can know exactly what
is needed. 1t is necessary, however,
that some one be given authority
over the county buildings and
grounds. In Kalamazoo County the
clerk is made the custodian; in Van
Buren, County the sheriff has been
selected. AS such custodian, he
makes what necessary incidental and
trivial repairs are needed on the
buildings and grounds. No expen-
diture of any considerable amount
is made by him without authority
either of the board in session or of a
majority of supervisors as individu-
ais. The only way in which anyone
can tell whether these expenditures
have been extravagant, is by inspec-
ton of the itemized bills as filed in the
Office of the county clerk, which are
open to the public at any time. The
NoRTHERNER knows what has been
done in this line, and we have no
hesitancy in saying that there is no
county in the state of Michigan that
has expended less on county build
ings and grounds and in the purchase
of supplies.
And so we might 90 on from charge
to charge as made against the super
visors, and show the falsity of each
and every one, but that would be
useless. The NoRTHERNER is by far
the heaviest taxpayer of any news
paper in the county. We have been
on the ground and have closely
watched the workings of the board of
supervisors and the handling Of the
county affairs, and we are satisfied
that no county ever had a more hon.
e st, conscientious board of supervis-
ors than the present one in this
county.
1t has been asked that a change
be made from the county to the
township system of caring for the
poor. This is a matter that in no
wise enters into the controversy as
to the honorableness of the present
board. Both methods are sanctioned
by law. The board of supervisors is
given authority under the statutes
controlling its actions to revive or
abolish the distinctions between town
ship and county poor. If change
is desirable, those who favor it should
present their wishes and arguments
to the board in session, where it
would doubtless be settled for the
best interest of all concerned. The
county system has long been in use
in Van Buren, County, and no board
Of supervisors would think of chang
ing it without public demand for
the change.
The equalization is attacked also,
and this is perhaps the most vulner-
able point in the record of the pres.
ent board. No township has paid
so dearly for the unjust equalization
as has Paw Paw, and yet we do not
charge upon the board any dishon-
esty or corruption in the matter. The
board at it last session did something
towards wiping out the inequalities,
and we would be perfectly willing to
entrust the next equalization to the
same board and the same committees,
as we know that they have come to
better knowledge of the facts than
they have ever before possessed, and
we have not the slightest doubt that
they want to be just in the matter Of
apportioning taxes among the town.
ships.
Lawrence, perhaps, next to Paw
Paw, pays proportionately as heavy
a tax as any township in the county
and its equalized valuation should
likewise be reduced. The reason
we mention Lawrence in particular
is because the whole animus of these
attacks on the board seems to be in
the interest Of the reelection Of
Supervisor Branch of Lawrence, i
| indeed thew were not directly insti