The age-herald., 1897-09-24
ANOTHER OFFICIAL SHORT
Colbert County Again Under the
 Ban.
BOOKS SHOW NEGLIGENCE
Tax Collector clark's Record Badly Reptile Says He Did Not Comply Strictly
 With the Law.
Special to The Age-Herald.

Special to The Age-Herald.
 Montgomery, Ala, Sept 2s--Penllaps the most laudable work of the state admin istration is the systematic examination of the accounts of the state and county officers. Almost every week some mal- feasance. neglsct or iraccuracy is re- ported by the examiner. The following from Examiner Foster to the govern-n. explains itself. The communication is dated Tuscumbfds Sept. r:
 r.Agreeahle to your orders have made thorough examination of the assess ment books of Colbert county from 1893 to date, and while the errors noted are not numerous, 9ats the same time thsy have been large in amount. and very grievous both to the state and county. In 1893 I find thes omission of everal pages of the assessment book from the sum up, CT reorganization, hence the collector was not charged with the taxes contained on these omitted pages, amounting to quite a large sum, in fact, the value of the property so omitted IS $156,1s5 I also note that in 1897 he fail ed by some oversight to enter the as- sessment of the Memphis and Charleston railroad read bed 1n the asse ssment book of this year Hence in the final sum up of the taxes for 1897 he was con- sidarably short of Sthe propsr amount, as the value of this assessment is $7S9,- 537. of course this enror would have been discovered sooner or later, but the assessment would have shown up badly for Colbert county had the abstract been sent in without this correction. The ex- animation fuutfIer shows that several other omissions of a smilar kind have occurred on this book, I mean by this that parties namss occur on the assess ment book with a description cf thsir property, but with no valuation put down, and no taxes run out against them. It further shows that numerous inadequate descriptions occur on each years assessment, especially as to city and town property.
 J. O. Clark, the assessor made a state ment to me under oath in reference to all these matters, and said substantially as foEows:
 .'I have done all in my power to get correct and adequate descriptions of city and town tots in factt have improved the assessment books each year in this regard, and will continue to do so As to the omissions and failures Ito extend valuation will say that this was due entirely to oversight and hired help, I deeming it best Ito do the assessing my self, and depending upon getting com- petent help in tlls make up of my books. l don't think tlie state or county ever lost cent on account of errors in my books except perhaps in 1893, and that error was made by the very parties it now bsars so heavily upon, and I am held blameless by the ex-collector. As to administering the oath when taking assessments I have not strictly com piled with the letter of the law, but have substantially done so. I have failed at times to administer the oath to the smaller property holders, but invariably swear the larger ones and do not think that the state has lost anything on this account. II will carefully go over the books of 1897 and make proper oorrec- tions of all errors they contain'
 "rhe above is certified and very re- spectfully slbmitted.