The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-10
Redding's Tax MuddIe Brought
 To a Settlement

ties with Town by Pay ment of $1,Q16
 Bedding, Aug. 10-After a week. s | deliberatfon, Ex-Collector Gorham has | notified the Selectmen of his accept | ance of their terms for the settle | ment of his tax funds shortage, these terms being his payment of s1,016. The compromise marks the ending of the towns financial muddle and is re- ceived by the Selectmen and the pub | lie with a sense of relief even though 1 the amount to be turned over leaves 1 a deficiency of about s40O in the total
 tax collections made by MT. Gorharn and does not include the further sum
 of about S200 due for interest. The
 case from the beginning has presented some peculiar features. The Select | mems first inspection of the collec- ] tors rate books showed shortage of 1, 400 for which MT. Gorham was held accountable. Some weeks after this ! checks for $1,141, drawn by him to the | order of Town Treasurer Hill, and | claimed that these should be added
 to the credit on his books. The claim | was conceded, and to Mr. Hill, as we'll as others, the evidence seemed l so conclusive that he paid over to the town the $1,141. A subsequent ex- l animation of all the books by Expert Accountant Soule led MT. Soule to the conclusion that the sum represented by these checks were comprised in the | amounts credited on the collectors 1 books. Thereupon MT. Hill proceeded
 to readjust matters on the basis of f11n o%o d~I o1~ to himself the s1,141 minus the sum | of $740 which represented an actual shortage found against him by MT. Souls and which the treasurer admit ted. This threw the burden of the originally discovered shortage back upon the collector and after much ne- aotiation he has concluded to- settle. alleged fictitious padding of, the cred- its on his books to the amount of about $400. Who did this padding, if 1t actually was done, has not been determined, and probably never will be.
 succeeded in having killed in the House the other day a resolution giv-
 ing the Connecticut Railway & Light ing Co. charter rights for the making
 and selling of gas and electricity in
 Bedding and Weston, he performed a
 service which has the approval of his constituents. They remember how
 the Consolidated R. R. Go. obtained
 the franchise for an electric road through this town and after holding
 1t for a number of years allowed 1t to lapse without doing anything in
 the way of construction. The effect
 was to close the field to other parties who might have taken up and carried through the enterprise, the exclusion
 also enabling the acquisition by other
 interests of the Bethel and Danbury line which was esential to the success
 of the Bedding scheme. It wass a like pre-emption of this field for
 lighting purposes which Mir Peck ob- jected to. As he said in his remarks to the House, there was no local de- mand for the proposed service and therefore why should a monopoly be granted to remain unusued until the distant day when the public might wish to make choice among seekers for the privelege. The only locality affording a market for public light ing plant is Georgetown, and that place is already supplied with electric ity from Norwalk. Meanwhile should stephen Sanford, who has electric lighting facilities for his own use, de- sire to furnish the service to his neighbors he might be debarred from doing so if some corporation held
 
 soon enough to bestow such rights | when the community to be served give | the measure their sanction
 At last accounts the hitch over | prices between the Crescent Milk Pro- | ducers Association and the Bridgeport | been adjusted. Owing to the drouth | and consequent shortage of pasture the association recently raised the rate from 33-4 to 1-2 cents On being notified of the raise the retail CTS made rejoinder declining to pay the advance and offering four cents as a compromise. This proposition now awaits action on the part of the which will hold a special meeting to pass on the question Some of the members are in favor of withholding deliveries unless their terms are acceded to. but it is doubt [ul IT matters reach this extreme. to continue to Oct. 1, but the members say the conditions justify the higher price. When reminded of their dis regard of contract obligations they say they are only pursuing the, same policy as the retailers have done The atter, three or four years ago, cut prices when they found they could get milk more cheaply from other sources and the association had to accent the ,ut.
 The probate court hearing on the s2, 400 claim by D. w. Green against his fathers estate was further post- poned last week at the request of rhe claimants brother Thomas who is now in the West and expects to re- turn soon. A New Haven attorney was present last Friday to represent James, another brother in opposition to the claim. Distribution of the es- tate of the mother, who also died in estate, is now being made. Each of he five heirs will receive something ,ver $500
 The terminus of the road which Commodore Luttgen is building through the Hopewell woods is beautiful grove admirably suited to oicnc purposes. The Commodore in ends to allow the public the use of , he highway on which is located Ther- ,n Platt's residence, but a cartpath ; gives access to that thoroughfare From the grove the new road will wind around in circular form to near the artificial lake ( with the other road which Commodore ' 4uttgen built from Sunset Hill across lis own land and that of L. O. Peck f o the Dodgintown road i
 No notice has yet been filed of an