The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-06-13
Random Remarks.

The Board of Freeholders, wednesday
turned down the proposition to patro
the county roads. Whether this was be
cause those who opposed it do not know
the value of the system'or whether they
lido not relish the idea of relinquishinl
the employment Of men and teams anC
the per diem that goes with the work ii
not known, but there is not the slightes
doubt that the patrol system is one thai
Twill save the county money and will
keep the roads in good shape. Ofall the
miles of roads in this county which have
cost thousands of dollars, there are few
that can be pointed to with pride or can
be driven over with comfort. To have
some one on the job all the time and to
patch up holes as they appear is much
better than waiting until several miles
have gone into ruts and hollows taking
dollars and time to repair. Other states
are using the patrol system to good adj
vantage. II the freeholders could only
Danish the personal part of affairs and
study the best interests of the county it
would work wonders.
Some time ago an Atlantic county paper
criticised a prosecutor of the pleas. The
Atlantic county Court of Quarter Ses-
sions made rule on the editor to show
cause why he should not be attached for
contempt in causing the publication of
an article criticising the alleged mac
tivity of the prosecutor and the court in
criminal matter. The editor was adj
judged guilty Of contempt, and he car
ried the case to the Supreme Court on
the ground that the alleged contempt
was committed when the court was not
in session. The published reports Of the
decision of the higher court were to the
effect that the editor was guilty of con-
tempt, but such was not the finding.
The point that was argued before the
Supreme Court was not on the merits of
the case, but whether a court could pun
ish for contempt when it was not in
session. The decision was that court
has the power to punish summarily for
its presence. But whether the utter
ances of the editor were contempt was
not passed upon. Just criticism of any
public official is certainly in order, the
only thing for the criticiser to look out
for is not to get over the boundary line
OF prudence.
The report Of the expert who was en-
gagged to examine the accounts in the
various county offices disclosed a state
of affairs that is not at all creditable
1t was thought by many that the Office
Of the county clerk, which has recently
been the subject Of so much criticism,
would be shown up to the gratifica-
ton of some who could not see any good
whatever in the administration ofEthe
affairs there. But the report shows that
the accounts of that Office are kept in
the most systematic and most satisfac-
tory manner OF any that were under
scrutiny. Search clerk Harris, who has
been the target for those who wanted to
find fault, is entitled to credit for the
way in which the clerks Office accounts
are kept as he instituted many of the
systems in vogue there. The offices of
the sheriff and surrogate are also COM
mended, but the collectors Office was
given such black eye that it astound-
ed even those who were somewhat &C
quainted with conditions existing there.
Nobody charges fraud or intention to
mulct the county but the carelessness
that was disclosed is such as to cause a
feeling of uneasiness. 1t is to be hoped
the finance committee will be able to
bring order out of the present chaos.
The expenses of the expert exceeded the
appropriated and the extra sum
was all due to the hard work entailed in
the records in the collectors
Office,