Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1911-01-07

; an accounting, which has been waged by him for some months.
 He criticised Judge A. B. Grace, oI the Jefferson circuit court, who, as the Citizen had permitted himself to be drawn into the controversy be tween the District Attorney and the county Judge. MT. Nixon said he went out of his way to criticise him Tor an effort to do his duty as prose- cutting attorney.
 The speaker reviewed the several attempts he had made to get .Iudge Phllpot to approve the contract and also cited the law governing the duties Of the various county officials in making annual reports. showing the gross receipts of their offices, also requiring them to file statements of expenses of their offices with vouch- CTS attached, which, ill most instances had not been done
 It comes with mighty poor grace Tor A. 5. Grace the Citizen to lay aside his judicial robe, said the prosecutor, and permit himself to be quoted in the press in such man. her as to likely leave a false impress sion as to the trHe facts connected with the matters about which he had i written.
 No board of commissioners Of ac- counts has ever undertaken to audit the accounts of certain officials with view of ascertaining how much said officials had received to themselves as fees for seryces performed and how much had been the legitimate expen- ses used in the conduct Of their Of fice.' Here Mr. Nixon called upon D. l.. Franklin, who had served as a commissioner on several occasions, to bear him out in his statement, which he did. MT. Nixon also said that on Thursday Drew White and E. A. How ell, two other good citizens, who had frequently served in the same capa- city, had made the same statement to him, and that no man who had ever served in this county as commission CT could truthfuly make a statement to the contrary.
 MT. Nixon said that the agitation which begun with his race for prose- cutting attorney in 1907, and continued until the present time, had resulted in about 5000 being voluntarily re- turned to the county treasury and that he believed that if an agitation would bring back $7, 900 proper investiga- ton might bring back much more. He cited some of the figures recorded al being refunded, viz:
 Clerk Brewster in 1907. $55464: 1 1908, S424.50; 1909, $S24.70, and that his settlement this year would show about $2,100.
 Sheriff Philpot in 1907, s1,125,o2; 1908, S3S6.36; 1909, $42222, and that this year, he was informed that his settlement would show return of a little more than $1,0O0.
 That J. H. Shelby's report in 1919 would show a return of about $132 Treasurer c. M. Nichols report, the only one which has been filed and approved, shows a refund of $424.
 "In the past thirty years,' said Mfr l ba hon,, h nd Ipd hyy th Ia various officials of this county fully billion dollars that came into their hands by way of various taxes col- lected, fees, fines, forfeitures, etc, and yet in all this time no officer has ever been checked to see whether or not he had properly accounted for that part of the funds handled, which by statute went to him as fees, com missions, etc.
 While the law requires each offi- 1 cial to file with the circuit judge vouchers show fer what purpose moneys had been expended in the run- ming of his office this had never been done by the sheriffs and I personally observe some items, on their expense accounts which had been approved by the court, such as the paying for daily papers, contributing to cotton assoc1a- lions and charities, which was chare- ed as expenses of the sheriff's office and which came from that part of the