Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1913-01-20
TO REDUCE THE COST
ECONOMY ASKED
County Commissioners Pettioned
By Citizens and Taxpayers Who
Protest Against Excessive Fees
EXECUTION COSTS SOME 500
County Board Asked to POSTPONE
Action in Payment Of Bills.

At tlmorrow's meeting Of the Coun-
! ty Commissioners the following will
4 i~ue presented and is another argument
for oil executions TO take place in the
State Penitentisry, and eliminate
the unnecessary cost to the county
Annapolis, Md, Jan. q, 1918.
To the Board Of County Commission
ers Of Anne Arundel County:
Gentlemen-We, the undersigned
citizens and taxpayers solemnly pro-
test against the payment Of the exor-
bitant bills that have been presented
to your Board for services performed
in connection with the recent exscu-
| tion Of the death sentence upon one
William Jacobs at the county jail.
And we respectfully request that
you postpone final action upon all
bills and charges connected with said
execution until all of said bills and
charges have been referred to your
counselor for an opinion upon the le-
gality Of the same.
We, also, respe ctfully call the at
tention of your Honorable Board to
the ilIegslity of the bill passed for
the payment of the States Attor-
ney's Office rent, which is expressly
prohibited by both the Constitution,
Article 5 Section 8 and Chapter ASP
of the Acts Of Assembly, 1912.
Respectfully submitted,
w. HALLAM CLAUDE.
And it is further submitted that the
following bills now on file in the office
Of the County Commissioners and to
be by your Honorable Board carefully
considered and finally acted upon on
Tuesday, January 81, namely:
l. G. Thomas Beasley. Sheriff, for
execution of Jacobs, $500 This item
of expense cannot be finally acted
upon until the Court passes some or
der in the case of Cecil VS.. The County
Commissioners, etc, now pending in
the Circuit Court.
2. G. Thomas Beasley. Sheriff, for
death watchmen for Jacobs, Sl64.
We respectfully submit that this
item OF expense ought to be substan-
italy reduced and that a standing or
der should be drawn and adopted to
regulate the time of employment and
the amount of pay to be received by
death watchmen for the future.
g. w. II. Murphy, extra meals and
cigars. etc, for Jacob. S40.75. This
item of expense is nothing more nor
less than a wanuon. willful and delib-
crate extravaganza and squandering
of the money of the taxpayers, an
itemized statement ought to be de-
manded by your Honorable Board be-
| fore final action is taken upon its
passage.
A. New York Clothing House, suit,
etc. for Jacobs, $I2.25 Your Board
should adopt an order making this
expense an impossibility for the fu-
ture. This bill is itemized and sew
eral Of its items might have been
saved.
5. Armiger and Stinchcomb, erect
| ing scaffold for Jacobs, $99 This is
the most outrageous item of the en-
tire list 1t should not receive SER
ious consideration at all. But your
Board should require another bill to
be filed setting out the number of
days these gentlemen were engaged
in erecting and dismantling the scat
folding and allow them pay for their
services upon the present scale of
union wages now being paid to jour
neymen carpenters.
6. J. A. Adams, coffin, box, etc, for
Jacobs, S25. This item of expense
ought to be reduced by an order
adopted limiting the costs for the bur-
ial of executed criminals to al amount
not TO exceed that allowed for the
burial of paupers buried at the coun.
tvs expense.
z. Last, but not least of the sxtor.
tiouate items of expense is that OF
the physicians who officiated at tn,
execution. Their bills amounting t
$50. should be correspondence reduc
ed to an amount that the sound judg
ment of your Board suggests woulC
be reasonable compensation for th,
services performed. An order shoul,
be adopted that the physicians to tn,
Jail should perform this duty. with
out pay, hereafter.
Very cruly yours,
W. HALLAM CLAUDE,
Counselor for the League of lncor
porate Taxpayers for Anne Arunde