New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-10
THE BIG PAY OF SUPERVISORS.
1yyEsycgEs7EP sRERIFFS ALSO HAVE PUT IN BILLS
FOR EXTRAVAGANT AMOUNTS.
rvppNc1yF METHODS IN CARE OF CHILDREN OF POOR.

a.. -o,r ae1av the Supervisors OF west
ehes.er C,ountv Yesterday adopted the la"ie VI
eoualjzation and assessments of taxes ia 'e
towns and cities Of the county TINS repoi 81
have been in weeks ago. as all taxes l"i
and county purposes are due ana pay -,
March / but it has been delayed by lie ui''-
tory methods of the board ana ITS coiii'ii'
The collection. however. cannot Desih iVi
rev, DAVIS more as the officers In uhe to"'o
end cities viii have to pass their budSet9 anu
compute the tax rate. The delay OF the sup
visors has put a number of towns anu ci'i'' ~
much Inconvenience and expense Many OF
them have rot been able to pay lhelI sO"o'
..,,o-s ana other employees. In some places the
town officers have had to issue Ger -.
dobteaness TO creditors. which will draw interest,"
~ & nor cent. New Rochelle has just
been forced TO put through bond Issue u
saoeoo tn nav the school teachers ana othel
o,., en,r,loves and creditors The manner III
u.,.,b +bis DELAY has been caused is coming in
for much criticism throughout the county anu
The Tribune is receiving praise on every manu-
for showing il up.
According to the computations MADE py 'he
Supervisors the full valuation Of real ana pei pei
sonal property in the county is
The hoard has assessed II at S1SI.962'2 go On
This valuation about 100000 for state anu
county purposes will be raised. The board every
wear publishes bulky volume to give the 'aA
nsvers an account Of how this money Is speH''
hp- no tsxnayer not an expert accountant can
tell anything about 1t after going through '"e
hook The table Of salaries the Supervisors re-
ceive from the county is printed In one Pi"o7
and the amounts they receive from the towns
are scattered through the town accounts III 'iie
hack Of the book To find the total amount eaeh
S,,nervisor received the taxpayers have TO go
.brouyb both tables and then there are IN
s+ances when II is difficult to arrive at the cor
rect amounts. The published salary list. whlcn
is the only lucid feature Of the book, SHOWS lhdl
the Supervisors received last year sIo4s- 90
but it is generally admitted that TINS does moi
represent one-tenth of what they actually re-
ceived from their various sources OF revenue
NOPE THAN A CONGRESSMAN GETS.
-,r;brne renorter. who. with a prominent
citizen Of the county. figured out how nluch one
,na,,,ber received last year, found that II was
81 631 IS or more than the pay Of Congress
man There are citizens Of Westchester County
who have spurned nominations for supervisor
because they could not afford 10 neglect their
business TO serve on the board for the 500 or
$500 a year 1t is supposed 10 pay These hgures
will open their eyes. II is said that the member
who drew this prize salary did not put in one
-bird o< his time in White Plains. The office OF
Clerk TO the Board is also said TO be good
thing. The clerk is supposed te receive an annual
salary of 81 500 but the reports show that he
gets much more in allowances. The board has
also lust paid Harvey Green. an ex-Supervisor.
$500 for helping the clerk. Another autocratc
power enjoyed by the clerk is the distributing
of nrinting to the county newspapers. The law
saws that he shall give the abstract of town
accounts 10 "a newspaper Of the county" Last
fall the clerk gave this printing TO all the Re
publican and Democratic newspapers of the
county numbering about thirty. at a cost OF
$4,000 taxpayer brought an injunction 10
prevent The board from auditing these bills,
saving that "a newspaper did not mean thirty
The board has had the injunction vacated Sc
that it can pay the bills this time. but the ques
ton Of fact is still to be argued.
The publishers of westchester County have
been compelled to organize for their own protec-
tioa. A member CT their organization told a
Tribune reporter yesterday that they are thor
oughly in favor of reform in the giving out
of public printing as under the present system
the board holds a club over them and can de-
prsve them Of everything IL IL desires.
system like this, it IS generally admitted Is not
likely to foster the independence Of the press.
As things are run now il not infrequently
happens that the newspapers having the small
est circulations and influence get important re-
ports and information publish. while other
publications which generally read through
out the county, get nothing. They are almost
certain TO be ignored IL they dare to criticise
the board and this is probably the reason that
a large body of the taxpayers OF the county
have remained in ignorance Of the true state OF
affairs at White Plains so long.
THOSE OUT OF THE CLIQUE HELPLESS.
Supervisors who do not belong TO the clique
that controls the board find themselves almost
helpless 10 anything in the way Of reform
II was only by the hardest kind Of work that
.he Republican organization in the county and
the conscientious members Of the board sue
ceeded in getting the salary bill through. which
will cut down expenses materially after June u
The cos. Of running the Sheriff's office and the
County Clerks office and the office of the Dis
tricf Attorney has been materially reduced by
the Republicans now in office Sheriff Miller
since he has been in office, has lowered the
running expenses of the jail $1,000 by economy
.n the expenditures for supplies The daily cost
a man CT supporting prisoners for the year end