Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-11-18
THE "GRAFT" FIASCO.

,sion of the county board on Wednes-
day evening. w. A. johnson had
introduced a So called graft" reso-
Aution, and it was mp for considera-
ton.
The resolution called for an ex-
animation by the district attorney
eof all bills allowed by the county
BOARD for all purposes, and in cases
where the orders exceeded the legal
mate, collection was to have been
made of the excess amount, by in
sstituting thousand suits, if neces-
ssary. Although the resolution was
sfathered by Mr.. johnson, the handi-
work of Ed. Pollock was so apparent
that not a single member of the
county board was deceived as to it's
authorship, and not many as to the
sanimus prompting it.
Possibly here and there few
dollars in excess of the legal rate
have been collected by county off
Gcials, printers and others; but if any
such cases exist, the fault was
ignorance Of the letter Of the law,
zand was not confined to any person
eOr class. Certain it is that no coun-
gty official or printer ever received
ecent more than a reasonable com
pensation for intelligent service
rendered Grant county.
District Attorney Kopp expressed
the opinion that no money could be
collected of people who had done
any grating prior to six years back;
and doubtless Ed. Pollock had this
point of law in mind when the
resolution was prepared. Years
ago he had large printing bills
against Grant county, and probably
had not the time to go over them
ITO see if he had exceeded the legal
rate.
The board is composed of repre-
sentative business men of all kinds
from all parts of the county, recog-
uaized by their respective commune
e5ies as mon of honor and integrity,
and after days deliberation and an
hour of discussion, the vote stood 80
against to 16 for the resolution. The
sconcensus of opinion was that
Grant county had been served we'll
and at reasonable figure, and that
ut would be manifestly unfair to
prosecute possible offenders within
she six-year limit, while all possible
grating before that time could go
unpublished.
Attorneys fees for collecting
small amounts from people now
scattered all over the country would
amount to more than the total col
aected, and the county would not be
the gamer by such course, even
&hough there happened to be any
thing to collect.
Grant County's business has al
ways been economically and ably
managed, by both board and offic-
ials. The records will prove it, and
"a comparison with the records of
eother counties will still further con-
firm it. Each year the county has
been fortunate in securing for mem
5bers Of the board practical business
men, who have sufficient patriotism
to sacrifice their own business in
terests to the public good.
The resolution introduced by Mr..
leighton, to cut out pay for time in
going and coming to this city, while
well-meaning, does an injustice to
the members, who save the county
several hundred dollars by doing
two weeks work IL six days. The
evening sessions are from two to
four hours long, and fully make up
for any loss Of time in going and
coming.
The efforts of the Teller to stir up
a terrible graft" bugaboo in a
community Of honest tradesmen
and farmers, is simply cheap at
tempt to ape the prosecutions and
Investigations now going on in
several of the large cities where
there is a legitimate demand for