Gilpin observer., 1910-03-03
THINGS POLITICAL

The arrest of George Crom. depos-
ed boiler inspector Whitney's deputy,
and the swearing out of warrants for
the arrest Of w. E. Stockton and
Charles Taylor the last two Republi-
can boiler inspectors for embezzle-
ment Of state funds shows that the
present state administration is 60
ing toNmake a clean sweep of all who
are guilty of grating. This course on
the part of Governor Shafroth, Audi
tor Kenehan and Attorney General
Barnett, assisted by other state Of
ficers demonstrates that the people
made no mistake in 1908 in the selec-
tion Of their state officials.
George v. Cosseboom, the new
boiler inspector, is probably the most
expert boiler-maker in the state and
from this time on a certificate of in
spection will mean that the boiler
has been inspected. A new form of
certificate has been prepared and this
will have to be countersigned by the
state treasurer. and therefore there
will be no chance in the future for
any graft.
At last after years of maLadminis-
tratior the gang that has ruled Huer-
fano county with an iron hand, and
beaten into submission anyone who
dared to object, is going to have its
affairs examined. Last fall Assessor
Sanchez Of that county was, called on
the carpet for failure to assess q
large amount of coal land belonging
to the Colorado Fuel & Iron company
and other corporations. An investiga-
tion by the public examiner forced
him to put on the books several hun
dred thousand dollars worth Of prop
erty that had not previously been as.
sessed. The books OF County Treasur-
er Dick are now to be gone over and
as Governor Shafroth put it the other
day when told that Dick had refused
the examiners a chance to check up
his books, We'll go down and ex-
anime the accounts no matter how
much they may object" This is right.
Huerfano county has been absolutely
in the hands of the Colorado Fuel &
Iron company for so long, with the
approval of the previous anarchistic
state officers, that Jeff Farr, Dick
and one or two others Of the gang
figured that they could do anything
they pleased. Now for a thorough in.
vestigation and the. Punishment of
any guilty ones.
The State Engineers office under
the careful management of the pres
ent engineer, Charles w. Comstock,
is making a record which he may be
proud Of. For the first ten months
of Comstock's administration the fees
collected for filling. ETC., were within
81 10000 of as much as for the en-
tire biennial period from December
first 1906 to December first 1908.
This shows a remarkable growth OF
business in the office and also shows
that the present state engineer, like
his Democratic colleagues in the
State house is looking after the in
terests of the people. The number of
Filings is greater than ever before,
but not nearly SO great as the fees
he received would indicate. The pre-
vious state engineer did not keep a
complete set of books and SO the
exact amount of business done is
hard to estimate. The increase in fill
ings for the present administration
is about twenty-five per cent, while
the increase in fees is over one-hun-
dred per cent. Thus again demon
strating that the present state ad-
is attending to the pub
lie business first last and all the
time.