The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-11-03

From time to time reference has been
made to gigantic steal that is in its
inclpient stage at the court house, ana it
has been within the province Of the Dem
ocratic press If the county to make men
tiun of indexiug contracts and other
matters that seem to aim direct at the
treasury without. any adequate return
to tie taxpayer. Nearly every voter in
the county is familiar with the matter
in a general way, but tAir and candid
history of the index scheme may not
be out of place. Every voter ought to
understand just what difficulties have
been encountered in the effort to place
the whole matter before the voters that
they may understand 1t and stop it by
their verdict at the polls. 1t should first
be shown that Stark county has an In
dexing system that was secured at great
cost and which is corceded to be far
superior to the one it is proposed to
foist on the county ard charge up in
exortitant ratio to the taxpayers Of the
county. What kind Of an indexing s. S
TEN has Stark county at present?
The present system Of indexiOg in the
recorders cfIlco was adopted in 1870.
Tie system is patented and cost the
county a large sum of money for the
privilege Ct using it. At that time the
system that was in use was the same
that is used in majority Of the counties
10 the state at the present time, even in
Guy hogA county, except the last twenty
years # records, which have been in
dexsd under the syste now in use in
Stark county. CuyahOga county adopted
the system but did not transcribe the old
indexes as stark county did. The old
system iudexed simply the surnames.
Attorneys and abstruCtcrs from other
cities, wLon they have occasion to seaIca
Stark county records, invariably praise
the system and say it Is the most
compl. te in the state.
Now there is big county like Cuya-
hoga that has the same system Of index
ing that Stark county has, and there is
no cry being raised there for new sys-
TEN. The people Of that large countg
find the system that Stark county has
been using since 1870 amply adequate for
its. business Surely if it were cumber-
some for Stark county it would be more
umbersome for Cuyahoga county, With
its vastly greater volume of business.
No howl goes up in CuyNboga county for
Uhe OOtJ system GhaI As atVShiPVOu w D'
forced on the taxpayers Of ttis county be-
cause few favorite fellows have a graft
ia it. They can get along finely with the
system they have. shouldn't weH
When the present system was adopted
there were about 10 volumes Of records
in the recorders Office and required .
indexes, and the county paid H. 3. Fogle
S4,787. SO for reindexing the same. The
work was not compared and proven at
the time, and it afterwsrd developed that
the work was not accurately done, and
Henry H. Trump was employed by the
comm issioners to prove and complete the
work, and received about $4,000 for bis
work.
There are now. 857 volumes Of records,
indexed in ~ general indexes, and the
county has paid TO the different recorders
since that tine over $4,000 to keep up
the. indexes, to say nothing OF what ex'
Recorder Joe Reed received and. still
claims from. the county or recopying.
That, is surely large sum, but what
sense would there be low, ofter paying
it, to set it aside snd pay twice as much to
have it done over' If the present index
system were not practical it might bG
different, But competent judges say
II. is. superior, to the system proposed
For indexing. and. rtcopying alone, the
county has paid ex-Recorder Reed, in
various items and at various times, q
sum total of o., 8s6.s6, The very sans
work that he. got all that money fol
would have to be gone over again undel
the new system the commissioners have
contractsd. for and which they will b,
made to stand TO. il somebody doesa't
get in the office that has some backbone