The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-01-26
INcENDIARY FIRE REPORT


Comptroller General Has Made His An
nua. Statement Of This Matter to
the General Assembly.
Foll3kin is the part of the report
Of tn comptroller general which re-
lateHto the operations OF the MaalaiH
law of 1904 which requires investga-
tion Of incendiary fires-and incideH-.
tally to let the Southeastern Tariff
association come back into the State:
Under the act approved 24th Feb
ruary, An act to provide for the in
vestigation Of incendiary fres,' tha
duties Of the enforcement were devolv-
ed on the comptroller general. Ex-
penses necessary for the enforcement
Of Its provisions were to be betrayed
by the fire insurance companies doing
business Of the State, and a tar Of
one-tenth Of one per cent on the grosa
receipts Of all fire insurance companies
was authorized to be levied for that
purpose, and separate account re-
CURED to be kept by the comptroller
general Of such receipts and disburse-
i ments. The law has been in opera
ton for about eight months. We have
done our best to put it into practical
effect. 1t is with some regret that I
undertake to present for your consid-
GRAFTON a report which Is necessarily
incomplete in statistics and deficient
in detail. Necessary blanks were i'm
mediately furnished chiefs OF fire de-
partments, chiefs Of police Of citieG
and towns, having no fire departments.
and sheriffs, with a copy Of the law
and with ample instructions to report
all fires occurring. The act does not
make 1t compulsory upon the officers
to investigate and report fires, but
they are simply authorized to inves-
tigate the cause and origin and cir
cumstances of any fire occurring, etc. >
'The record Of this Office shows that
there were reported from the first OF
March. 1904, to the first Of December.
| 1904. 274 fires, the value Of the prop
erty involved amounting to $4l6, ,80604-
The record shows the cause or orr
gin of the fires to be as follows:
Mine were reported as incendiary.
IL suspected incendiary, 9 from lamp
explosions. 81 carelessness, IL rats and
matches. 35 defective flues, detective
electric wires. from lightning, ac-
| cidental, 2 from gas jets. 10 sparks
| from engines, 154 unknown.
Fourteen fires were investigated by
this Office, arrests made, of which
are out on bond. one mol pressed.
one released, evidence insufficient
Receipts and disbursements on &c
count Of enforcing this law were ~
follows:
Receipts to Dec. 1, 1904 :. ..$s522S
Dish. for same period :. ;. go. 592.34
Cash balance in bank Dec 1,
An examination of this itemized ae-
count will show that this fund has
been used exclusively for printing
blanks, postage, investigations and ex-
penses incident to such investigations
of suspicious fires reported.
Nothing was paid for extra work
entailed upon this department, al
though the auditing clerks time fS
now entirely taken up with this work
and that of the insurance department.
proper He has rendered heretofore
| great assistance in helping with the
clerical work Of the tax department.
would probably have been justified
in paying for extra help out Of this
| fund to supplement the work hereto
fore done by the auditing clerk, but
convictions are deeply grounded upon
the principle that the state should en-
force its laws through its regular
channels. and should discover and
punish the perpetrators Of the crime
of incendiarism in the same way that
it seems its duty to prosecute MURDER
stealing, swindling. and other crimes
Is it wise to allow corporations to
practically usurp the power Of thu
government. waen the duties OF sher-
| ifs, magistrates and other officers
charged with the execution OF the
criminal and civil law are transferred
to other Offices to be- compensated or
paid by the corporations? Where ia
this tendency to end? Is not this
concentration OF indirect corporate
influence dangerous to the people, es-
pecially when large number Of pub
lie employees and officers of the State
are paid by the corporations? In my
! opinion. it is far better for the State
to pay by direct appropriation for tho
enforcement OF its laws. for after al. !.
the people pay the tax whether 1t il
directly or indirectly imposed"