The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-16
THEY DEFY THE LAWS.

The county commissioners of this
county appear to be extremely bump.
tious and reckless with regard to their
llIegal illchlng from the county treas,
ury OF number of thousands of dol
lars IN order TO grease the Smoot
Mouth, They gave to that organ
the publication of the delinquent tax
list without either the annual call for
BIDS, which the law requires to be made,
or tho supplementary call for special
bids on that publication, as has been
the custom in this county heretofore.
Undoubtedly, if bids had been received
and accepted on that work, the advcr-
tislng would have cost not 10 exceed
one-quarter of what was paid, largely
In gratuity, TO the "Mouth.' -
The law fixes the amount which the
county treasurer can collect from de-
lnquents on advertising account at
twenty-five cents per description. Bids
would have secured the publication for
about half that sum. But the Smoot
Mouth y was given more than double
the maximum amount which the law
permits to be paid and collected from
delinquents. The excess over the TWEEN
ty-tlve cents was clearly an illegal
grab, steal for which there is not the
least justification in the law or excuse
commercially, or in any other form.
There does not seem even to have been
any contract entered into between the
commissioners and the publishers Of
th MOUTH for this work.
So that on all accounts the action
taken by the commissioners in this mat
ter was illegal and wholly unJustifiabc
1T was simply a partisan grab for the
benefit of the party organ, made in
defiance of the law and in robbery Of
the taxpayers. For it is clear that no
more than twenty-five cents Il descrip-
tion could be collected from the dc.
linquent taxpayers. Any excess paid for
the advertising of the delinquent list.
over that maximum amount. must he
stolen from the pockets of the prompt
paying taxpayers who have IN fact
and in law nothing to do with the pub
licatlon of delinquent lists, aud as to
whom the law must necessarily be a
complete defense against this sort Of
robbery.
The statute makes it the duty of the
county attorney to prosecute the coun.
" commissioners in any case where
they Illegally or fcloniously pay out
public money. Mr. Lyon, the county
attorney, is simply doing his duty in
instituting proceedings to recover from
the county commissioners the money so
paid out in defiance of the law, and
in robbery OF the taxpayers of this
county. And yet the county commits
sioners, so far from acknowledging their
error. reply to the demand of the coun-
ty attorney that they make good what
they stole from the public treasury,
with gibes and insults, aud the
Mouth" which was the BENEFICIARY
of the steal, contemptuously mispripts
the county attorney s name aud is un-
dertaking to assail him for alleged neg
lcct or breach of duty on other. ac-
counts.
Undoubtedly. Mr. Lyon will be treat
ed to abuse and persecution by the pc
lltical bosses and buns if he continues
those prosecutions. They VIII be even
more virulcntly abusive and proscrip-
tive of him if he succeeds in the prose
cutioE, as it seems entirely clear that
he must do. And yet he will receive
the plaudits in such successful prosecu.
tion of all honest men, and the graft.
tudc of the taxpayers of Salt Lake
county will be his due,