The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-21
A SUM OVER $4,000
NOT SCRAP or PAPER TO SHOW
Why TAGGART WAS ALLOWED 1T.
This Merely Represents the Last
Term, During which e. VI. johnson
Pulled In the Plums for Him.

The farther back the examination of the
books is made in the auditors office the
more the evidence piles up that E. NJ. john
son, when deputy auditor, managed the af-
fairs very proftably for Thomas Taggart.
Until yesterday one item had been over
looked. 1t was the matter of making road
books for the township trustees. Some of
the trustees have made a practice of hiring
the auditors to do this work for them in
stead of doing it themselves. AS it was not
a part of the county business. and was not
paid to the auditor by the county, it does
not appear in the record of county war
rants, and hence it was overlooked by Mr..
Shepard when he was making up list of
the payments to Taggart. Mr.. Shepard's
attention called to this item by a re-
porter of the Sentinel yesterday. who was
digging into the allowances and various
payments that had been made Auditor
Smith. Yesterday morning the Sentinel
published an itemzed statement of amounts
paid to Mr.. Smith. without the road book
item, as follows:
Salary three years, at 81, 500. $3.50. $50, 100
fdlu Dy clty......... 3,OOO.O0
Paid by township trustees........... $4,000
s76,O52.e7
The Sentinel did not contrast this with
the sums the Taggart-Johnson regime re-
ceived from the treasury the last two years
and eleven months it had control of the Of
flee, period corresponding to the time
Auditor Smith has been in office. 1t shows
a very large saving for the taxpayers dur
ing the Smith period, as shown by these
figures:
Iaggart .................. .$109 6279
onilh ..'....'........ .................. tbVoz67
Taxpayers save under Smith adj
manlStration .......... ............ $33, 575.2
This is a saving of over $1,000 year.
This fact was not published because it
would not look well in paper that is at
lacking Auditor Smith.
The Democratic papers keep misrepresent-
ing things with regard to the law under
which the auditor operates. His duties are
prescribed by various laws that have been
passed from time to time since the new
Constitution was adopted. None of these
laws was repealed by the fee and salary
law except as with regard to the salary
and the requirement to pay the fees of the
office to the county. The fee and. salary
law stipulates the salary the auditor shall
be paid for his official duties as laid down
by other laws. He is paid salary for do
ing the things the law says he shah do
IlS IL AoC required 10 90 InlngS tnar are
not prescribed. If he does them voluntarily.
If he makes a contract to do certain work
for other county officers that they might
employ outsiders to do, attorneys say it is
legal and right for him to be paid extra
compensation. This was the condition when
e. M. Johnson ran the office before and it
is the condition now. Under Taggart and
Johnson. when the population was smaller
than now. the expenses of the auditors Of
flee were $1,000 year higher than under
Auditor Smith.
VOUCHERS FOR 1892 MISSING.
AS in other years referred to this week.
Taggart received many sums of money for
which there are no bills on file, for the
year ending Nov. g. 1892. The books simply
show that it was paid him for services"
without indicating what those services
were. Following are the amounts: