The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-01
HELD Up AND ROBBED.
Ramsey County the Victim of a
Legal or Illegal Assault by a
Number of Its Servants.
How the Milo Are
Deed the
Mas Done. Ones in 1t.
The County Salary Law Permitted Them to
Help Themselves to the Taxes Which the
Fiard=Working People Had to Pay. They
Are Not Giving 1t Back Either.

The half has not yet been told con-
corning the iniquities attending the
spurious law passed by the Republi,
can ring officials of this county. 1t will
always involve some question whether
all of the cOnspiratOrs who engaged
themselves in that successful effort ia
buncoe the taxpayers of this county
really We're designed to be protected by
it.. But there is no, question whatever
that the county taxpayers have not
only been buncoed into the belief that
a Republican Legislature had effected
q bona fide reduction, but that they
have been actually and literally~fobbed
by its operation.
The charge which is here made Is
that the county treasury has been rob.
bed-literally and actually robbed
through the operation of this spurious
law. 1t was, and here is the proof:
Among the offices in regard to which
that law was declared unconstitutional
were those Of county commissioner and
county surveyor. There are others; but
they have nothing to do with this pres
ent charge. Before that law was pass
ed. the county commissioners were each
receiving $500 per annum as salary,
When the law was passed it was con-
strued by these county commissioners
as authorizing them to pass a resolu-
ton increasing their own salaries. Now.
mark this: The law was entitled an act
to reduce salaries. Certainly this did
not include the right to increase those
salaries, unless it can be said that the
less includes the greater. But despite
the title of the law, and because the
body of the law gave the commission.
ers power to fix" certain salaries on
basis of not to exceed $4,000, this Re.
publican board Of county commission,
ers proceeded at once to pass a resolu.
ton increasing their own salaries, and
they did accordingly increase those
salaries from $500 annually to $3.50
annually. This was done as soon as
they came. into office, and every man,
Jack of them accordingly drew at tn
rate of $3.50 during the entire year Of
1897. There are just seven of them,
and in all they drew 5000. They Were
entitled to draw just 81 100 when they
undertook the pleasant performance OF
increasing their own salaries, and they
have never been authorized to draw
another cent at any time.
1t was some time in February that
the supreme court decided the law un,
constitutional with reference to these
officials, and by the time that the court
did so declare each and every county
commissioner of Ramsey county bad
drawn from the county treasury $3.50 Oh
over that he was not entitled to- Former
Mayor Doran alone of the whole bunch
refused to draw this money. Now, did
any of these men return that money
to the county treasury, and if they did
not why did they not? 1t was and is
the money of the taxpayers, not theiE
money. They voted to put it into their
own pockets. The highest court in the
state declares they had no right to do
this thing. Have they refunded this
money? Not a dollar, so far as the
public records show. Here is a salary
steal which is as rank as any which
ever aroused public Indignation.
But lest it might be said that these