The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1913-05-29

ers certificates and which by law he
was required to pay into the county
treasury, only few hundred had
been paid, and that the great balance
was still in Warren's possession.
Then we found that whereas all Of
our inquiries would visit from eight to
fourteen schools when in the distant
parts of the county before returning
to the county seat, and most of them
aim at making the school visits at the
least possible cost to the county, that
Warren was so planning his trips as
to make it q source Of great possible
revenue to himself. So vicious had
this practice become in Ward county
and whereas the other county super
intendents report their last year mile
age to be as follows: Cass, $910.1O;
Grand Forks, $925.SO; Stutsman,
$S45.1O; Walsh $75s.4O; Bottineau
SO6.60 and Morton county, with over
fifty schools more than Ward county,
only $664.0O, the situation in our own
county of Ward was, and is, the joke
of the educators of the state, with q
mileage of $7733.1O for the past
school year and sum Of about $17,-
667.5O for the past two years and
five months.
In the meantime had at my own
expense made trip to Bismarck,
Fargo and Grand Forks and consult
ed with the Attorney General, Judge
Engerud and others in regard to
whether or not Warren was acting
within the law in his methods of Wis
iting and the large mileage he was
charging up, and without exception,
the advice of those who looked into
the matter was that he was drawing
the greater portion of that money
without warrant of law, and so re-
ported to the County Commissioners.
This was a serious condition of af-
fairs and the Board of County Com
missioners deserves the greatest cred
it for the vigorous and intelligent way
in which they took hold of the situa-
ton. Throughout the controversy the
County Commissioners have shown
themselves possessed of fairness, good
judgment, and desire to serve the
people of Ward county faithfully and
we'll according to their oath of Of
flee and the laws of the state.
They made E. G. Warren pay into
the county treasury the sum Of $1374,
teachers certificate money that he had
been holding out; they made him dis
miss the one field deputy that he had
been keeping contrary to law; to-
gether with the states attorney, they
estimated that in the past twenty
nine months Warren had overcharged
the county at least $4,000, and then
instructed the auditor and treasurer
to apply his salary warrant in pay
ment of at least part of his indebt-
edness to the county.
/ / then brought an action against
him for the sum of $12,201.5O, which
was then the nearest correct estimate
of the overpayments that could get.
! had tried to get chance to look at
his school visiting records, but re-
ceived only denials and personal abuse
and the information that he did not
have to show me these. Through his
attorneys he then asked for bill Of
particulars and after a couple of
weeks of evening labor, l furnished
him one of IA pages, and in preparing
that l applied the rules in visiting
that are employed by the great ma
jority of the other superintendent of
the state, and when the work was
completed l found that he had over
drawn nearly $15,O00.O0.
4 The laws of the state provide that
the county superintendent and his
4 field deputies shall receive the sum
Of ten cents for each mile actually
, and necessarily travelled in the dis
charge of their official duty, and the
same laws provide that the county
commissioners shall audit these mile
age bills as presented to them. The
duty to audit makes it their duty, al
so, in case they find the charges ex.
cessive, to cut the bill to the amount
that seems just and reasonable &C.
cording to law.
On the basis of the investigation
made, they have audited the bills pre-.
sented by the superintendent during
January, February, March and April
and have allowed those bills in such
sums as, according to their best judg.
ment, would pay for the miles actual.
ly and necessarily travelled by Mr.
Warren and his field deputies, and as
compared with the charges Of Other
county superintendent in the state
the allowance made by the county
commissioners is not only reasonable