The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-06
County and City Authorities
Are at Swords Points.
Officers Charge Each Other
With Gross Carelessness.
JOHN WRIGHT'S BILL.
Asked for $40 for Making Re-
cord for City.
This Has Been DisallOWed by
the Council.

At its last meeting. the claims and
accounts committee of the city coul-
ell turned down the claim of Deputy
County Treasurer John NJ. Wright fol
$50. and this incident. small in itself
threatens to develop into another bone
of contention between the city and
| county,
John wright's bill, which the city
has refused to pay, was as follows:
| To work on compiling record of To-
peka city funds from the records of the
county treasurer and county clerk;
april Is to 2$ ssG "a !, and 2S to 80
The Presentation of the bill, at the
July meeting of the claims and ac-
counts committee, was a surprise, and
| the committee laid 1t over because they
| did not know anything about it. 1t
/ came up again at the August meeting
of the committee, and peculiar state
of affairs was developed
William Green told the committee
that Mr.. Wright had agreed to get up
a complete list of all the delinquent
| taxes due the city, and had, as he un-
derstood 1t. agreed TO do the work free
of cost. Wright says this is all a mis-
take, and that his proposition was to 80
the work at the rate of IS day. The
committee took Green's word for 1t, and
disallowed the bill. Before Mr.. Green
became chairman of the ways and
means committee there had been some
talk of getting such a record, and some
eouneilmen had received from John
Wright an offer to compile the book
for 50 per day. This offer was declin-
ed because it was thought the city was
too poor to afford it.
When Mr.. Green was elected, one of
his first moves was to look up the ques-
ton of city finances. He found that
he needed to know how much money
the city has coming" to it from de-
liquent taxes. He went down and
~ ITr4rr ~ Tnar1
Mr.. Wright make up the record? Yes,
certainly, would be delighted. All right,
go ahead. That was about the sub
stance of the agreement. Nothing was
assumed that he was merely closing up
the So day deal. Green thought
Wright was doing the work to be ac-
commodating and through personal
friendship.
There is nothing in the state law
which requires Wright or any other
county official to furnish the Informal
ton asked for by Mr.. Green. It was
merely optional with Wright whether
he should do it or not, and it looks
little as though he should have re-
ceived pay for his work, which was
really of great deal of value to the
city.
But here comes a sequel to this lit
tie misunderstanding On Thursday
the State Journal printed this item:
THE work in the county clerks Of
fee has become so heavy that that
office will hereafter demand correct
work on the part of the city officers.
I'm the past the city clerk has certf-
fed to the county clerk property Tor
taxation under certain ordinances.
Later some errors would be found and
the request would be made for the
property listed by error to be taken
off the tax rolls. Hereafter when such
property is to be taken off the tax
rolls the city will have to bear the
ole
1t is said that this indicates that the
county officials have come to the sup |
port of one of the gang and VIII
to allow John Wright's bill 1t will
charge the city enough for extra
clerk hire" in correcting the city
clerks errors to offset the amount
which the city saved at John Wright's
EXPENSE At least that is the way
some of the city officials look at the
case.
This action of the county, however, |
is a reflection on City CLERK SqulIes.
who makes up the city special tax
rolls Il indicates that he is not as
carefuls as he should be. Consequent
Iy, Mr. Squires is on the war path, and
marks about the way business is con-
Quoted by the county clerk and county |
treasurer. He says:
"They have taken a big contract,
to talk about our inaccura-
cies People who live in glass houses
should be more careful. L want to
tell one incident. A man l know con-
.roIIed a farm of 80 acres a few miles
from Topeka and had been paying
taxes on it regularly for some time.
One day a party came around to him
to get some information about the
farm, and in the course of the con-
the agent discovered that the
other man had a tax deed to the 80
acres issued by the county! An in
vestigation followed, and showed that
according to the county records, there
had been no taxes paid on the property
for three years, whereas the agent had
all the receipts for taxes for the same
.hree years. How was that for mac
,uracy? / know that story is true be-
cause 1 was the man that was agent
Tor the S0-acre farm.
I'VE find again and again that the
county is charging up pavement tax
gainst some man who has paid his
AK in full. The man always comes
storming up here to find out about it,
when he discovers that he is being
charged double. and we have to hunt
I'D our records and convince the coun-
y authorities they are wrong
LAS far as charging off the errone-
BUS assessments made by this Office is
concerned, it does not take half an
hours time for the county every year.
4 they charge the city with clerk hire
,or half an hour year, / guess there
will be no objection"