The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-01-05
Grand Jury Report.

The Grand Jury held a special session
on tuesday and Wednesday for the pur-
pose OF receiving the report of the COM
mltfee which has been making an investl-
CATION through an expert, Mr.. Ayers, INTO
the financial condition of the county.
The experts report will be published later.
The Grand Jury report is as follows:
IL the Honorable, the JdJes of The Circuit
o"ttor Prince Georges County, Nd:
The Grand Jury of the October term of
the Circuit Court for Prince Georges
county beg leave to make the following
| report.
We have been in session two days eX-
| aiming the reports of the Committee APP
pointed by US to examine the condition Of
| the pubic offices of this county, and we
ma that there have been many and gross
violations OF the law bv said officers, for
instance, the present Clerk of the Circuit
| Court we find has failed to keep any book
| OF ltemlZed cash receipts of his office as
| required by law, but on the contrary keeps
only Slate upon which lie enters the cash
| receipts OF the office, and at the end of the
| month, the lump amount is said to be en-
tered up in book. This is certainly a
lHost lcuidl haulcr irregular ana SnameIully
unbusinesS like condition of affairs and
should not be tolerated longer. We also
| find that the present Clerk of the Circuit
| Court has failed to send his returns of alb
| stract of deeds to the Land Office of Mary
land by the first day of June of each wear.
as by law required but he gives as an ex-
| cuse that he is having same prepared and
will complete same to January list, 1900,
in four months.
We find that the following County Com
missioners, Messrs. B. y Hardisty. George
w. Rawlings, Horace Crosier and Ex-
| County Commissioner George 7. Donald
SON have had many and various accounts
against Prince Georges county assigned
| to their individual use, in violation of the
| law upon that subject. We also find that
the County Commissioners of the county
have in numerous cases appropriated
money from the License Fund for various
| expenditures, while the law directs that
the same shall be used for the public roads
| only. They have also failed to publish Il
minute and detailed statement OF the ex-
penditures of the county as required by
law, particularly in regard to the Road
| and Bridge expenditures.
We find that the county is paying for
the collection of its taxes for the past
three years the following amounts: 1896,
IS, 96S Sc; 1897, S., 1l9.S5; 1893, $4,S55. 70.
! The present tax year not being completed
| we are unable to give any figures, but
| Judging from the unprecedented large levy
for this year, amounting to $l23,5l9.0O,
the costs will not be less tnan about
$4,000. This amount appears to us to be
much too large, and We believe competent
citizens of our county could be found who
would collect the taxes of our county at a
salary of about $4,000 or $4,000 per year.
| We find upon examination OF the books
/ of School Commissioners of the county
that Mr. H. H. Sasscer, one of the Com
missioners, has been in the habit OF FUR
nishing supplies, such as fuel, hauling,
etc which is in violation of the law.
| From the vast amount of tedious work
| invo!ed in our examination of these mat
tiers and from want of time to make a
more thorough examination into the con
| dition of all public offices, we trust that
subsequent Grand Jures will take up the
| work and persistentlv insist upon the
county officers complying with the full
measure of their duties and relieve our
taxpayers of a portion Of their burden
which is much heavier than the tax rates
of our sister counties, Notwithstanding
| the permanent improvements to roads
| in those counties, while we have yet our
| first mile of such roads to build
In OF Upon much good may result
from tue introduction of \ system of Sta I
Auditors, whose duty it shall be to eX-
anime the accounts and proceedings of
county officers at stated number of times
within each year and thus be in position
to discover mistakes and violations OF the
law soon after they occur.
We find upon an examination OF County
Commissioners books that the aggregate
of items passed by the County Commits
sioners to go into the Levy of 1900 is 81
705,2S
We would suggest that all moneys COM
ing into the County Commissioners hands
from the Clerk of the Circuit Court from
the License fund he paid to the County
Treasurer, and by him paid out by war
rant of the County Commissioners as
other moneys are paid.
We, the Grand Jury, find that the office RS
| charged in our report have violated the
law in regard to their offices, but believin g
| the same was not done with any malicious
intent. but in great many instances
through ignorance of the law, we refrain
from presenting them, but hope and trust
the violations which we have shown in
| this report will be the means in the future
of making the public officers OF this coun-
ty respect the laws appertaining to their
| respective offices.
Having examined the accountant, MIR.
John P Ayers, of Baltimore, under oath
| who was employed to assist our Commit
tee. we do hereby adopt and submit as
part of our report, his report this day
! made to US. R. BOWIE,
Foreman.