The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-07-19
That Controllership Law.


under the Kline act intermittently 2t-
tract public attention. One of the lat.
est instances has to do with the fand-
ms of prisoners in the Wilkes-Barre
Jail The warden is under contract
with the boara of prison commission
ccs to feed tt' county's penal charges
at 80 cents day. Controller Lloyd, ty
processes of his own. arrives at the
belief that ~, cents worth of food a
day is all that these Jail birds should
get apiece. Therefore, he refuses to
allow the warden's bills on the 3O-cent
basis and declares that to get his sig
nature the food bills must be whitfield
down to the 712-cent basis. This
forces the warden to go into court for
an authoritative definition of the con-
troller's powers, making the second or
third appeal of this kind within as
many months.
The necessity for an early adjudca-
ton of these various points at issue
is strongly hinted at in the Pittston
Gazette, which in referring to the 714-
cent-per-day notion of the controller
is moved to note the possibility that
men might be kept alive on such food,
but if the owner of good sized dog
were to limit HIM to such a diet we
fear that such owner would be in dan
ger of arrest by the society for the
prevention of cruelty to animals. Be
this as it may, however, the question
hAg l,1 ss. T..
county controller may set aside a con-
tract made by the lawfully authorized
officers of the county and arbitrarily fix
a price for services that have been
rendered in accordance with such con-
tract; and every man who has deal
ings with the county, or who may
have, should be interested in the early
decision of this question" "In county
affairs" the Gazette continues, the
controller is but one Of many executive
officers whose duties are distinct, and
when a county controller takes the
position that he is warranted in over
ruling and setting aside the official acts
of not only all other county officers, but
the judges upon the bench, we hold
that it is time to determine just what
the legal functions of Luzernes coun-
ty controller are, under the essentially
special statute in force in two counties
of the state relating to the office; and
If the courts say Mr.. Lloyd is correct
in the claims he makes, and the people
think it is a good thing to perpetuate,
why let us have the law made general,
extending it's provisions to every coun-
ty in the state-and then dispose of all
| other county Offices"
With due respect to our esteemed
Pittston contemporary we must demur
to its suggestion that this law be made
general, if it's Interpretation by the
LuZerne controller be the correct one,
Whatever the verbiage of the law may
be we do not believe that it was the
| intent of it's trainers or that it is the
will of the people that one man should
have supreme authority over the reg
ulation of bills and contracts for the
entire government of q county. To
put such power within the prerogative
of the controller would be to offer un-
| exampled invitation to it's corrupt and
despotic use and would end by making
of it's occupant either the prize SCALA
wag or the premier boss in his baiii-
| wick. Neither idea accOrds with the
traditions of good county government.
| The Kentucky judge who freed the
murderer of his wife's seducer under
| the unwritten law which allows a man
to protect his home will probably he
condemned by fussy folk; yet the de-
cision was manifestly just, and human
| custom has from time immemorial
sanctioned it. To expect a wronged
husband to seek redress for such an
injury as was involved in the Kentucky
case in the hating and inadequate
| processes of a modern court is to ex-
pect the incredible. No man worthy
of the name would await such tri
| bunal, and no state of civilization
which leaves to mankind a modicum
of manliness will expect him to. VIC
may pretend otherwise but it will be
only pretence,
The report of Major Symons of tho
Engineer corps upon the proposed shiT
canal from Buffalo or some other lake
port to the Atlantic ocean offers nc
encouragement to that much mooted
project but suggests that If the Erie
canal were improved to admit 15OO-tor
barges the result would be cheaper
freight rates than if there were a deep.
water ship canal. We think we see tho
railroad lobby at Washington or AL
bany permitting the Erie canal to bt
thus improved.
In the eyes Of the London Post
"every indication points TO the certain
ty that Great Britain will be compelled
to fight for her existence against the
United States as soon as the American
government believes that war can bc
safely begun" This will be tearfu
news to Tommy Bayard.
~-------
Governor Hastings is showing thes,
days that while he is not anxious Il
foment trouble he proposes to do hi,