Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-01-20

cities and towns having no fire de-
partments, 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 in
vestigate 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 proper
ty involved amounting to $416,S06.20.
The record shows the cause or origin
Of the fires to be as follows:
Nine were reported as incendiary.
Eleven suspected incendiary.
Nine from lamps exploding.
Twenty-one carelessness.
Twelve rats and matches.
Thirty-fve defective fiues.
Three defective electric wires.
Three from lightning.
Five accidental.
Two from gas jets. E
Ten,, sparks from engine.
One hundred and fifty-four un-
known.
Fourteen fires were investigated by
this office: six arrests were made, Of
which four are out on bond, one mol
pressed, one released, evidence INSULT
cient. So
The following letter relative to the
cneraw fires explains itself and the
laws should be amended as suggested
by Solicitor Johnson:
Marion, September %, 1904.
The Hon A. w. Jones, Comptroller
General, Columbia, 8. C.,-Dear Sir:
Your letter Of September 21, enclosing
report of the investigation Of fire
that occurred at Cheraw on July IL,
1904, received, and have examined
same carefully.
I think the case a strong one against
I--, but to burn ones house Is
not arson in this state. See State vs..
Sarvis, as follows: "A person cannot
be convicted Of arson for burning his
own dwelling house, either at common
law or under criminal statutes, 1908,
Section 14O, even when burning Is
done for purpose of defrauding an in
surance company. State vs.. Sarvis,
As s. C. 6SS.
You may, however, investigate fur
ther, and find out If any other house
was burned, or even charred, in which
case an indictment will lie.
Please refer to the above named
case or refer to the attorney general.
The legislature should have passed
an act making the burning Of ones
own house arson, and then just such
cases as you report would have easily
been reached. ..
herewith return the report and all
papers sent me. Yours very truly,
]. M, JOHNSON.
Receipts and disbursements on ac-
count Of enforcing this law were as
follows:
Receipts to Dec. 1. 1904. were. 1882 ~
Disbursements for same period 5s2 81
Cash balance in bank, Dec. l,
| 1904 ........ Ao0 %
Itemized statement will be found on
page -. An examination Of this Item
lied statement will show that this
fund has been used exclusively Tor
printing blanks, postage, investiga-
tions and expenses incident to such In
vestigation of suspicious fire reported.
Nothing was paid for extra work
entailed upon this department although
the auditing clerks time Is now entirely
taken up with this work and that OF
the insurance department proper. he
has rendered heretofore great assist
ance in helping with the clerical work
of the tax department. / would prop
ably have been justified in paying for
extra help out Of this fund to supple
ment the work heretofore done by the
auditing clerk, but my convictions are
deeply grounded upon the principle
that the state should enforce Its laws
through its regular channels, and
should discover anu punish the PSiPS
traitors of the crime Of incendiarism IN
the same way that it sees Its duty TO
prosecute murder, stealing, swindling
and other crimes. Is it wise to allow
corporations to practically usurp the
power of the government, when the du-
ties Of sheriff, magistrates and other
officers charged with the execution OF
the criminal and civil law are trans
ferred to other officers to be compen-
sated or paid by the corporation!
Where is this tendency to end? Is not
this concentration Of indirect corpor-
ate influence dangerous. to the people,
especially when a large number OF
public employees and officers of the
state are paid by the corporation? 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 1t Is
directly or indirectly imposed.