Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-25
MIR. LOFTS $ REBUTTAL.

Inasmuch as the State Herald was among Hhl9 papers that printed the Mont gomery special giving the official record of Tax Collector Lott, We reproduce in full tEds mcrzdng MT. Lotts attempted
 rebuttal which appeared in the Mobile Register Sunday. The Register fails to
 state whether or not Mir. Lott's reply
 came cut of the front or back door, but as 1t was furnished no other morning pa
 per in Alabama except the Register, we
 suppose it came out eff the latuer.
 The reader will doubtless agree, after
 careful perHsal, that it was well
 the hack door should have been given the
 prefersnoa.s~
 About the only point we can gather
 from Mr. Lofts tale of woe is that he
 attempts to plead the baby act by claim-
 ir,g that his m!seenings were due to ig-
 norarlce, ard while the state may have
 lest some money he did not get any of it. He further says he has been tax collec-
 tor eff Mobile county for thirty-elght
 years, aril during that time the laws have | been changed SO much he couldn't keep up with thsn1 but the charge that he
 "wllfury,s or otherwise defrauded the state cut of d penny is as base a false hood as could be told.'
 q have always" he continues, 'tried to obey the laws of my country to the bsst
 of Ifly ability, and accJrd to others like
 purpose. have done nothing, said noth- ing, to justify the threefold attack made on my official record. It is ree-u1 in
 which I feel a just pride, and while do not question the motives of these who
 have so Taledlessly brought me into such
 prominence, I am ready to abide the yer dlct of the people,,
 MT Lott has not been charged with "wilfully''s defrauding the state so far as | the State Herald has noticed. That che s.ate has been defrauded through MT. 1 Lott he himself acknowledges, and at I tributes this to his ignorance, notwfth- 1 standing he has been holding the office | of tax collector of his courty for thir.y | eight years As these shortcomings have l been cropping out almost annually ever 1 since Mr. Lott was irdueted into office, two Features are very prominent, the first of which is. he is very hard to learn,
 and the next is his constituents seem ds- termined to educate him into a tax col leoter, regardless of cost, if it takes all ! the century.
 And be it said to MT. Lotts credit tha | he has tried to obey the laws of the coun- | try to the best of his ability This being true, the whole question resolves itself on i Mr LotR5 ability, as he acknowledges l the laws have been so f1ckle he could 1 not obey them.
 | Mr. Lott takes one position, however, i that we cannot agree with him on, and must enter a protest, and that is where 1 in he is willing to accord to others like purpose who may not have any more ability. Mir. Lott can see from his own
 acknowledgement that whatever the pur- l pose might be, such ability possessed by all the tax collectors would bankrupt the state. f1t'i--
 And we must differ with MT. Lott in | that there is not much in his record to l boast pride. He may think so; this is his | free American right. And we assure him 1 WI had no motive wha tever in giving him | prominence than that the people to whom | he himself, relies for verdict might hear
 the evidence, and from our standpoin'
 we think the case should close and an 1 afflrma tive charge be given.