The Bowbells tribune., 1905-04-14
LYNCH MAKES A STATEMENT
Regulating the Finding Of Expert Brunncr and
5ustifyias His Conduct 0! the Office of
Clerk of Court.

Miuot, N. d., April :, 1908.
To the Editor of The BowbelIs Tribune:
desire to make brief statement in
explanation of the report Of J. a. Brun-
ner, submitted to the board Of county
commissioners in which Mr. Brunner
claims a shortage of S9, ,2SS.31 exists
against me in my official capacity as
clerk of the district court. The facts
are as follows: From January /, 1901,
until July l, 1904, paid out Of my own
pocket for clerical assistance in the Of
flee the sum of S2,100. This amount
simply covers the salary of one clerk at
the rate of $50 per month for the per
iod of time above stated. Further for
the accommodation OF the general pub
liza fact that every attorney in Minot
and Ward county realized and appre
ciated-I kept and maintained in addi-
to the help in my Office in the court
house an assistant in my downtown
Office on Main street where those max
ing filings in the land office could obtain
citizenship papers without going to the
court house for them. This work alone
kept one assistant busy, and the down
town office was thus sustained for three
and half years without expense to the
county. In addition to the above eN-
pended for postage during the time
stated the further sum of 5000, but only
asked to be allowed 500 by the board.
At the February, 1905, meeting of the
board l appeared before them and re-
quested that be credited with the sum
of 1900 for the money actually paid as
above set forth, and the board promised
to take the matter up at the March
meeting and either allow or reject my
claim However, the matter was not
considered until the April meeting Of
the board, and on the 4th day Of the
month the claim was rejected and dis
allowed. Several times during my Off
cial career as clerk of the district court
I was advised by legal authority that
l was entitled to receive and keep all
fees paid into the Office for naturaliza-
tion papers, both first and second.
These fees alone amount to the sum of
Sc, 6,415.56. On the 4th day of April,
1905, I deposited in escrow with the
Minot National bank, of this city, the
sum of Sc, ,416. 56 payable to the county
treasurer upon the determination of my
liability to the county for this amount
by a court Of competent jurisdiction. If
the court decides that am not justly
entitled to these fees the money is al
ready on deposit to cover all fees Of this
character due the county. In the Brun-
ner report l am also charged with a
large amount of uncolected fees due
who are perfectly good and which will,
no doubt, be paid the present clerk of
court. In any event these fees belong
to the county, and in due time they will
be paid in full by the parties who owe
them. 1t was my intention to pay the
county the full sum of Sc, 416. Sc with
out litigation provided | was allowed
the account asked for clerk hire and
pOoCdSe, anu given Uue Cleull lOf IIc
outstanding uncolected fees referred
to. The actual receipts Of the office as
shown by my own report exceed the
amount claimed to be due by the Brun-
ner report by the sum of S18994. Re-
garding the item claimed for clerk hire
l wish to state that the present clerk of
court has two assistants, one of whom
draws salary Of $S5 per month and
the other one the sum Of $75 per month
Also the county court with increased
jurisdiction which takes care of a great
deal of work that would otherwise have
to go to the district court, has one
clerk who is paid 500 per month, all of
which help l think is needed. was
Clerk or District Court for the term of
fourteen long years, and always tried
to discharge the duties of my office to
the best of my ability, and with fair
ness to all, and l most emphatically
deny that have given the people of
Ward county anything but square
deal. Respectfully submitted,
JOHN LYNCH.