The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-22
SUIT AGAINST THE GRAFTERs.

County Attorney Lyon has filed
his snt to recover for the taxpayers Of
this county $5721.50 illegally paid TO
the Smoot Mouth for advertising the
| Delinquent tax list last December The
allegation in the complaint set forth
the fact that the law requires bids to
! be submitted (among other thlngs) for
the county advertising. and that this
was not done, but that the money was
paid out without bid and without con
| tract. Therefore. the payment was il.
legal, and the money should properly
be returned to the public treasury. Ac-
cording 10 the Salt Lake Herald the
advertising was also illegal because, as
the Herald says, the "Mouth' - did not
print the list in all of its edition. but
only in Il limited part of it. If this is
true, the advertising itself was illegal.
and any sales of property for delinquent
taxes made upon such advertising would
be illegal sales. We do not ourselves
claim to know as to this point. but take
the Herald's word for it, supposing il
to be true, and supposing that that pa
Ppi Nouiu bVt liiihC Sutll al tudl ~ hh
less it was satisfied Of the truth of
that charge
And so the whole amount paid to the
Mouth for that advertising is an
illegal payment, according to the law
as construed in the complaint. The law
seems TO be reasonably positive i'll this
point, and to forbid any such graft as
was worked in this case.
But even if it were lawful to advcr-
tise that list without contract or bid,
it clearly was unlawful 10 charge more
than the fec set down in Section 1922
Of the New Revised Statutes, as the sum
which the treasurer is authorized to col
leet from delinquonts for such advcr-
tising. This amount is stated in the
statute TO be ''twenty y-five cents for
publishing the name and amount of
taxes due on each piece Of property
sold. - And the treasurer is required
to pay this into the county treasury.
This payment is meant in the law to
reimburse the treasury for the sum paid
for such advertising, and it Is expected
to completely reimburse the treasury on
that account. Manifestiy it is the in
tent of the law to make the delinquent
taxpayer foot the bill for his own de-
linqueucy. 1t is no contemplation of the
law that those who have paid their
taxes promptly shall GO down into their
pockets further for the purpose of pay
ing for the delinquencies Of other tax
payers. But any other charge for ad
vertising this list would compel the
prompt paying taxpayers to do this,
Therefore, both because the payment
was illegal in not having been made
upon bids received and contract
awarded. and because the amount paid
for this advertising to the Mouth -
was more than double the maximum
amount which can be charged and col
lected on delinquent account under the
law, the whole transaction was fraudu-
lent. and robbery Of the taxpayers;
especially of those who paid their taxes
promptly and have no right to be called |
upon to pay anything whatever on ac
count of the delinquent tax list.
We do not see how it is possible for
the grafters TO get away with this |
money. 1t is impossible that the courts |
would allow any such theft as this, or
that they could fail either to compel |
the restitution of the money or to pun
ish those guilty Of graft.