The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-02-05
SLATER WIRES
:: HIS REGRETS
Unable TO Attend Session Of
State PrOberS.
FIND ALLEGED SHORTAGE

Records In State Treasurer's office
and Books Of Columbus Junk Deal.
or Show Discrepancy Of $500 In
Amount Received by Former State
Printer For Scrap paper-county
Officers Lobby Makes Descent on
Capital In Behalf Of Salary Law.
Columbus, o., Feb. 5.--Although the
senate held no session and the meet.
ing Of the house was of only a few
minutes duration, owing to the alb
sence or a quorum, the Beatty probe
committee managed to perform a
good days work at the first public
hearing In the investigation of affairs
In the office Of the state printer un-
der the Slater administration.
Records from the office of the state
treasurer were produced showing
that Slater, in the summer of 1906,
five days after he had gone out of
office, turned into the state treasury
sl,55O.O5 as the total amount he had
received during his administration
from the sale of paper shavlngs.
scrap iron, etc, at the state bindery.
However, Joseph Schonthal, local
scrap dealer, produced his books and
testified that from June, 1901, TO May.
1906, he had paid Slater a total of
$2,042.94 for scraps from the bindery,
averaging in amounts from about $50.
Schonthals purchases did not include
gold leaf sweepings.
George j. Karb testified that he
simply used the name of the National
Chemical company when he was deal
Ing with Slater. There really wasn't
any such company Incorporated, and
he represented Oscar Schultz of New
York, a gold leaf dealer. He sold
Slater in 1903 200 packs of gold leaf
at 1925. He had bought them at
$S.25. He denied emphatically that
he had given Slater any commission,
but was unable to produce his books.
he said, because they were destroyed
in 1908.
The committee adjourned until
Monday morning, and in the interim
Will endeavor to get In touch again
with Slater and have him present to
explain the discrepancy as well as
others which, the committee says,
have been found
Mark Slater sent his regrets to the
Beatty committee, which is making
an investigation of his Office. A tel.
egram from Slater at Dowagiac,
Mich. told the committee that Slater
had received its subpoena, but that IL
would be impossible for him to attend
the hearing at present. 1t did not say
when he would be able to come. The
committee prepared to go ahead with
the inquiry into his administration
anyway.
The advance guard of the county
officers lobby has arrived and Is
busily engaged In trying out members
of the legislature as to the best
method to secure legislation in the
interests of county officials.
They are still restless under the re-
strictions of the county salary, act,
under which swollen official compen.
sation is no longer possible. Since
Jan ], when the temporary provision |
by which officers got their compensa-
ton whether they collected enough in |
fees to do II or not, expired, they are |
feeling the limitation more keenly.
1t is said that they will probably
decide to ask the legislature to enact
a law providing that the proceeds of
the fees in all the fee collection Of
fees shall be placed In one common
fund, and from 1t the expenses of all
the county offices, including the sal
aries of the officers, paid. Their at
tention is attracted to this because Of
the fact that a number of the offices
are collecting more than they use,
while others, notably the sheriff and
clerk, do not collect as much as they
require.