The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-02-13

A~AN Af's $50 ~ VA SeB
ervisors require the superintendent t.
give sdequsts bond. also formulate anc
advise him fully as to his powers anc
duties.
We examined the county home b.
committee and found that the dining
room needs a new roof, and that there
are quite ? number Of broken window
Panes, which should be replaced.
We find the scaffoId used at the last
hanging taken apart and lying subject
tn weather conditions. ard We suggest
that the sheriff nave same removed
without delay,
We examined the Jail by committee
aTd found that the roof over the prison
norton was badly in need of repair, and
recommend that the boarl of superyis-
ors give this prompt attention.
We discovered the fact to be that
there heve been quite a number of loans
of school funds made to private persons
Nv the board Of supervisors, aggreeat-
ing some thirty odl thousand dollars.
In a great number of cases the interest
on these loans has not been paid. and
in some instances the interest has new
or been paid, though the loans were
made as far back as 1905. Our i~nvesti-
cation discIoses the fact that in one or
more cases the borrowers of this honey
not only refuse to pay the interest due
the county, but when demanded so to
do said that the county could take the
property, as it was not worth the debt.
Our information is that it is the duty
of the county treasurer to collect these
funds and that for a failure or refusal
on his part to do so he is subject to in
dictment, and in addition to this, is liza
bic on his bond for any loss sustained
by the county because of his failure or
refusal to a t in this behalf. We re-
quest him to take immediate steps to
collect these loans. We ask that the
next grand jury find a bill against the
trea 'urer should he fail to do so, and
we further state that this grand Jury
thought very seriously Of doing so, but
to give the present treasurer a reason
able opportunity to correct this have
for that reason passed it up to the next
grand jury.
In this connection we find that the
Immediate members of the family of
the president of u board of s~upervis-
ors are the largest borrowers of these
school funds. and while we are not in
position to say that members of the
family of the members of the board of
supervisors cannot legally borrow these
funds, we do consider it extremely
questionable as to the propriety of such
loans. This impropriety is doubIy man. !
Tested by the eason of the fact that
the loans made to the members of the
family of the president of the board of
supervisors are in some instances long
past due, and our Information is that
repeated demands have been made for
the payment of the interest on them
without avail. In view of the uncer.
tainty as to the legality of such loans,
we recommend to the board of supervis.
ors that they call in as speedily as they
can all loans made to members of their
respective families, and that in the fu-
the board refrain from making
to any person related to any
member of the board by blood or mar
rage.
The grand jury has been reliably in
that the Office of the sheriff and
tax-collector is not kept open during
the day as is required by the statute,
that, on the contrary, the office is
closed from about IL noon until
} pm. We are informed that the sher-
# is of the opinion that he has a right
% close the office at the noon hours for
he purpose of going to dinner and
hat such belief on his part accounts ,
or his failure to keep his office open. d,
Ne direct his attention especially to !
he great necessity of observing the /
in this regard, as it is especially
important that the sheriff's office, above
others, should at I'll times be omen 9
uring legal hours. :
AS stated in the beginning. we can !
'ot cover every detail of OF r investiga- =.
ion in this report, but for the benefit :
+ the next grand jury to convene in +
his county We wish to say that we y
ave especially directed the county at.
'rney to make certain inquiries and
'vestigations and be prepared to pre-.
snt this report to then, together with
hstever evidence is available covering T
lie inquiries to be made by him.
We wish to recommend especially,
I'd to urge upon the board of SUPER.
sors' that they at nee engage the p;
'rvices of a competent auditor, or d'
and have all of the county b
'oks and records thoroughly audited.
We request that copy of this report $;
furnished the board of supervisors. he
And now, having discharged our la. q.
RS, We ask to be discharged.
r. B. SCHLATER, Foreman. c.
lhIs' the 9th day of February, 1914. ST
CT
HOW is YOUR BOILER?
It has been stated that a mans stom.