Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-07-12
ADDRESSED THE TAXPAYERS.
Mr.. James w. Owens Makes Some
Very Pointed State
ments.
OTHER ADDRESSES ARE MADE.
First Meeting Held By The Asso.
citation For Several
Weeks.

The NEE ting OF the County Taxpay-
ers' Association on Tuesday was an i'm
portant one. as stated in yesterday g
Capital. President George T. Melvin
and Secretary W. X. Boswell were
present. Mr.. James w. Owens made
an address giving some very interest
ing figures in reference to the finan.
eial condition of the county. He
said
In opening his address Mr.. Owens
said that Tom Watson, of Georgia,
when in Congress. propounded the
query "Mr. Speaker, where are we
at, ;" which the people of Anne Arun-
del county might well repeat. and
that the answer would be sin the
soup" To illustrate he said the levy
just passed was for 5000, 600; that the
bonded debt of the county was about
500, 600 and from the best information
he could get that there were now out
certificates amounting to between
$50, 600 and $50. 900 for years previous
to 1905. He further stated that he had
learned casually that there was a
floating debt not yet levied for. He
was not prepared to assert the abso-
lutte figures of the two latter items.
but that it was mp to the commission
ers to give an account of their steward
ship and let the people whose trustees
they are, know the kexact financial
obligations of the county.
Mr. y Gens further recited the pro-
ceedings in reference to the appoint
ment of a special officer for German
town and read from the law showing
that the appointment was absolutely
prohibited by Chapter II of the laws
of 1904. Continuing he said "At
the approaching primaries the ques-
tion of fitness of the candidates will
he ignored and the only question is
which of the many factions shall con-
troll the convention, and when this
control is secured the representatives
chosen will not be representatives of
the people, but of the factional lead.
ers, who will dictate all policies. Be
it known that all of these factional
leaders are officeholders, drawing fat
salaries. while on the subject of sal
aries if you will observe the conduct
of Office you will find that the men
who have the honor and draw the
salaries put in an appearance occa.
sionally at their respective offices. but
the work is all performed by depn-
ties. If the deputies can do the work,
why not pay them the salaries Moth
ing but words of commentator can
be said of our deputies. We should do
away with seven commissioners and
return to three. Seven commissioners
are too many and too accessible to the
people who constantly demand unnec.
essary improvements. We should de-
mand of our representatives intelli-
gence and integrity. To place the
county ON a cash basis we should fund
the debt by the issue of long time
bonds, prohibit the issue of all certiti-
Gates and limit the amount of levy.
Mr.. Owens spoke of other matters of
interest to the people and said that he
did not Intend to attend the primaries
and that if proper men were not nom-
mated he proposed to fight them out
in the open.
Judge Grafton Duvall spoke on the
same lines, calling attention to the
extravaganza of the present Board OF
County Commissioners, and at the
conclusion of his speech he offered the
following order, which was adopted :
"Ordered by the Taxpayers Associa-
tion of Anne Arundel County, that a
committee consisting of the president
of the association and four other tax
payers of the county to be hereafter
named by him, shall be appointed,
whose duty it shall be to make and
have published statement of thestrue
conditions of the county's finances,
aud particularly the cOuntY's out
standingscertificate Of Indebtedness,
and also to investigate and make re-
port upon the condition of all the
public offices of the county"
w. X. Boswell offered the following
resolution : 'Resolved-That the
Taxpayers Association of Anne Arun-
del County hereby calls upon all polit-
ical parties and conventions to be
held in the county and insists upon the
nomination of the very best men, and
we hereby declare that we will sup
port none other" Mr.. Boswell made
strong plea in support of this reso-
luton, as did also Judge Duvall and
others. !after which it was adopted.
Joseph L. Brennan presented the fol-
lowing resolution, which was adopt
ed "Resolved-That the Taxpay-
ers' Association learns with great sat
isfaction through the Maryland Re.
publican that the Tepresentatives1 OF
the press have access TO the official
minutes of the County Commissioners
and it hereby calls upon them to ex.
ercise this valuable privilege and
keep the people Informed as to the
official actions of the board.
The following resolution was also
adopted "Resolyed-That the COM
mittee on legislation be appointed i'm
meditely to formulate laws and
measures? of laws necessary for the
good of Anne Arundel county and the
candidates for office be requested TO
endorse these laws before election
Elihu S. RELY, James @. Collision
and others made interesting speeches.
ON motion of Judge Watkins it was
decided to hold a meeting on Tuesday,
the sth of August, and that promi-
nent taxpayers be invited to be present
and suggest such laws as need to be
enacted by the next Legislature, so
that the same may be put in form and
discussed by the people of the county