Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1905-01-25
8lNcENDIARY FIRE REPORT
Comptroller General Has Made His An
nual Statement Of This Matter to
The General Assembly.

comptroller General Has Made His An
nual Statement Of This Matter to
the General Assembly.
Following is the part Of the report
Of the comptroller general which re-
lates to the operations 81 ths Mautdin
law Of 1901 which Feaaifes thyestiga-
ltif9QRs ltif9QR 81 ihqeHdiafy ;fres-and inciden-
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
restigatioh ST incendiaiy Hres,' the
duties 81 tie enforcement were devoly-
g 81 tie 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 i tax ST
6ae-tenth of one per ceat Oh tile grbss
leceipts af ail fire Insurance. co6mppahIess
was authorized to be isvied for that
purpose, and a separate account re-
quired to be kept by the comptroller
general of such receipts aid disburse-
ments; Tht law has been in opera
tion for about eight months. We have
done our best to put it into practical
effect. 1t is with some regret that
undertake to present for your consid-
Grafton q report which is Necessarily
lnshmflste il STATISTICS . and deficient
II detail: Neeessafy blanks wefe i'm
tnediately furnished chiefs Of fire de-:
partments, chiefs Of police of citieG
and towns, having no fire departments,
and sherfffs, with a copy of the law
and with ample instructions to report
all fires occurring. The act does not
make = eohIphlsory up0ti tie officers
10. Investigate and report fires, but
they are simply authorized to inves-
tigate the cause and origin and cir
eumstances 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 peeembe11
1904; ,2fA fires, the yaliie Of the prop
srty inyglYad .smoutiting to $416,SO6.04.
The record shows the cause or ori-
gin of the fires to be as follows:
mine. were. reported as incendiary,
IL. suspected incendiary, 8 from lamp
explosions, 81 carelessness, IL rats and
| matches, 35 defective fues, defective
electric wires, 8 from lightnning,'5 5 ac-
cidental, 2 from gas jets, 10 sparks
from engines, 154 unknown.
Fourteen frs were investigated by
this Office, 6 arrests made, of which
a are out on bond, one mol pressed,
one released, evidence insufficient.
Receipts and disbursements on ac,
count of enforeing. this Law were as
foll6Ws:
Receipts to Dec. ], 1904 ..ss52.29
Dish. for same period =. -. 592.32
Cash balance in bank Dec l,
An examination of this itemized ac-
count will show that this fund has
been used exclusively for printing
blanks, postage, Investigations and ex-
penses incident to such investigation
of Suspicious fires reported.
Nothiflg was paid for extra work
entailed upon this department, al
though the auditing clerks time is
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.
I wdtid pfbbably. hape. 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 it's regular
channels, and should discover and
punish the perpetrators Of the crime
+ OF ineendiarism In the same way that
it seems Its duty to prosecute murder,
stealing, swindliIg; and other crimes.
Is it wise to allow corporations to
practically usurp the power of the
government, when the duties OF sher-
sflfs, 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 is
this tendency to end? Is not this
concentration of indirect corporate
influence dangerous to the people, es-
pecially when large number Of pub
:lic 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 the
enforcement OF its laws, for after ALL
the people pay the tax whether it is
directly Of Indirectly imposed