The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-12-29
EX=AUDITOR CAMPBELL
Replies to the Charges OF
the Examining Conn
mittee.
To the Editor of the REPUBLICANS:

rs Report The examining commit l
ee's report was published in the ,
lailies some two weeks since, and from t
he sensational head lines then publish S
ID one would think the committee had
Deen holding cake walk on the bodies ,
Of the county officials.
In referring to the Auditors office
the committee says that there is def
cit in the Dow fund caused by the
Auditor drawing part of his fees from
this fund and issuing refunders con-
trary to law, etc.; that the law only
allows refunder to be issued when it
amounts to $50 or over, and that he has
issued them for less sums.
With all due respect to the Prosecu-
tor, Mayor and former Probate Judge,
and allowing them infallibility in their
various specialties, 1 maintain that
great men are not always wise, neither
do lawyers understand off hand, the
workings of the law in all cases. Now
| believe that in six years of wrestling
with Tom, Dick and Harry in collecting
the Dow Tax, the Auditor learned the
proper construction of this section OF
the law, and knows the proper work.
ings of it better than the committee.
The Dow law is peculiar to itself.
The Commissioners years end August
81, and the Dow law year ends the
fourth Monday in May. Taken in the
middle of the year, the Dow law fund
will always show deficit, If anybody
has quit business and got refunder,
| while at the settlement at end OF Dow
law year there would be no deficit.
The deficit is only a seeming deficit,
and does not really exist now or at any
time in the sense of deficits in other
funds.
| The committees contention is that
the law does not allow refunder for
any sum less than $50. The Auditor
construction of the section is that nc
man can get refunder unless he has
paid over $50 into the treasury and al
least $50 must be left in the treasury
Let us see what is best for the county
Supposing on the second day of oul
county fair 10 parties from Springfield
and Kenton should take out license t.
run saloons in our town paying to thu
fourth Monday of November, $53 each
They each run the three last days o
the fair. On Saturday they ask for
refunder, and make affidavit that the,
have quit business. Their Dow tax TO
three days amounted to about $2.SS, an
: under the committees construction tn
; Auditor would have to refund to eacl
= $50. II or S501.20 in all and the count
treasury would show $2S 80 for ALLOWING
these interlopers to come up here an
demoralize our community, and tn
'dehcit" would be $50L20. The Aud
$50 in the treasury and would only re
Z fund to each man So and the treasur
. would have $500 in cash. The latte
q construction raises more money an
/ keeps out the hy-by-night saloons, an
; the $50 clause was inserted for tina
: purpose.
The committee state that the Aud
/ tor in justification of his course said h
was acting under advice of the Audito
of State. This is mistake on the par
: of the committee. The explanation wa
: made not to justify my course but
3 keep the committee from making itsel
, ridiculous by putting an impractical
Interpretation on the wording of LAY
t and ignoring the plain intent. Th
$ Prosecutor, Mayor and ex-editor of tn
county marriage licenses should kno'
e better.
$ AS to the statement that the AuditO
: should not draw part of his fees fror
the Dow law fund. The Auditor di
that expressly to save Logan count
money. When the Auditor draws hi
fees from the county fund it PRACTICAL
. all comes off of Logan county. But
>. he draws his fees from the Dow la
}, fund the State pays three-tenths an
the rest comes out of funds that receiv
= made the same objection last year, br
when | wrote him that the State shoul
pay it's share of expenses where we ha
l. to force payment and not throw it a
. on Logan county, he said | was corre'
:. and allowed it to be taken out of tt
=. Dow fund.
/ When | came into office in the fall
J. 1893, local option prevailed in Bellefo
e taine, and for three years previous
n that time the Commissioners repor
Z show only $3.50, $246, 1926 per year n
had been collected in Dow tax in OF
whole county; as it was then held tn
the Dow tax could not be collected
local option towns and townships.
did not believe that open violator
m bootleggers and others ought to
'e allowed to avoid one law by simp
lr breaking another and asked several
le our best attorneys, but it seemed to
er the opinion of all that it would be legf
IT. izing an illegal act to collect the t;
T. in local option district. Later [ tot
ut the matter to the StateAuditor' associ
t. tion. The legal committee, the Audit
r. of State, the Auditor of State elect, al
id number of lawyers decided that
I'd could not be collected. told Audit
s. elect Gilbert / was going to do it nj
II. tnska a case. He said '(IO alI1LI M