The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-06-03

We should like to print the report of
Mr.. Louis A. Searson, expert employed
by the grand jury to investigate Clar-
en6on's financial condition, but it is
impossible to get it in one issue, and to
makes a serial story of it would
destroy its usefulness; the document is
so voluminous, and is of such charac.
ter that it will take financial expert
to fathom it. Mr.. Searsou claims that
there is very large deficit, some $780,
900 and the grand jury gives it as its
opinion, by the end OF this year, it will
be an Indebtedness of $4,000 The ex.
pert and the grand jury may be correct
but we will have to be convinced to
make US believe there is anything like
so great deficit.
There is no way of getting absolute
information from the books OF the
county commissioners. the system OF
bookkeeping is such that it is impos-
'sitle to know just what is the true con.
dition. Mr.. Searson told US this him
self, and be further said, the Comptrol-
Ter General was going to bnstall sys.
tenn of bookkeeping for all the counties
which will correct this condition. The
legislative delegation comes in for
share of the grand jury's criticism for
not providing tax levieS sufficient to
keep down these deficits, and for not
having delegation meetings during the
Legislative session to consider this mat
ter Notwithstanding what the grand
jury says, the delegation did meet Just
before the assembling of the legisla-
ture with the county commissioners,
and at that meeting the financial con-
dition- was thoroughly gone into. 1t was
represented to the delegation, the de-
icit it had inherited from the r. E.
McFaddin administration was about
paid off, and the running expenses had
been kept down to the income Of the
county. With this information from the
fountain source, the delegation went to
Columbia and, at the proper time made
up the supply bill. 1t is true, that later
the commissioners did send q written
statement to the delegation, but it was
so vague, and so different from the i'm
preston made at the meeting it was
not given consideration
1t would have been very unbusiness.
| like to have undertaken to burden the
| taxpayers with an additional, or an
increase in levy on uncertain estimates,
and, rather than do so the delegation
preferred to know more about the
affairs before it assumed the response
bility, and too, experience has proven
that it is an easy matter to impose a
tax levy, but when once imposed, it
is difficult to get it reduced. There
fore, a representative does not want to
raise tax levy unless it is absolutely
necessary and imperative
The question was asked why was not
informa tion sought by the delegation
from the Comptroller Generals Office:
Our answer is. the proper place to Sc
cure information about county's fnan-
cial affairs is the commissioners Office,
that this is true, is demonstrated Mr.,
Searson, the expert employed by the
grand jury, coming to Clarendon from
the Comptroller Generals Office, and
from the books in the commissioners Of
fee secured the information upon which
he relied to make his report. If Mr.. Scar
son could have gotten from the Comp
troller Generals Office the necessary
information, he would not have come
to Manning, spent money needlessly fol
railroad fare and hotel bills, but ht
I would have done his work in his Office