The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-11-26
COUNTY HAS AFFECTED SETTLEMENT
OVER SHORTAGE IN COUNTY FUNDS
National Surety Co., c. v Fisher and ]. T. Canuth to
Reimburse County for Portion Of Loss Suffered ].
County Will Lose About S | 5, 100000.


the sheriff's office in which tn
sheriff boarded the prisoners witt
meals purchased with the count,
money at II n cents per meal an,
then sold them to the county at 81
cents or to the city as so cents, put
ting the cost Of the meals back int,
the county treasury and pocketinJ
the 17h cents or the 33 cents pro
fit on every meal. This practice wal
followed until 1t became a custom
| and the people and county official.
came to look upon it as a PRIVILEGE
and the sheriff received when he wa.
| elected sheriff, and was practiceG
openly and defended as a right and
honest transaction until this paper
uncovered the graft and explained
the matter, week after week and
month after month until people real.
lied that it was not only a steal, but
placed premium upon the practice
of running men in" who had com
mitted no offense. Every time q
man was run in" it gave the official
more graft on the meals.
Fhe graft in the treasurer's office
dates back for several administra-
tions and it is all outlawed. Every
| other graft that happened more than
| three years ago 'is outlawed. That
is the reason the county will lose
about $4,000 of this recent graft
and other thousands of dollars that
were mulched from the county by
the administrations that have not
been audited.
There is another source of loss not
shown in the above statement. When
mans taxes become delinquent he
cannot pay them directly to the
assessor as he does other taxes. He
goes to the county clerk to see how
much they amount to with interest
and penalties added. Some one in
the clerks office computes the inter
est and penalties, fills out the
amounts on large sheet, gives him
the total and then he takes a section
OF this large sheet, that the auditor
hands him, and goes to the county
treasurer, to whom he pays the
amount indicated on the sheet. The
county treasurer uses his rubber
stamp and stamps it paid and usually
signs across the impression made by
the rubber stamp to indicate who the
person is that received the money.
This closes the transaction between
the property owner and the county
and when the man wants to sell his
l',Terty the trcasurer's re ,eiot can
be used to show that the title is
clear. The right way for the pro-
perty owner tc do after paving the
money is to present the receipt again
II the recorders office and have the
tooks there show that it is actually
paid. The fact that the man re-
ceived his estimate from the auditor
and walked out headed for the
treasurer's office is not proof to the
auditor that the money was over
paid.
The firm of Byron Defenbach and
sons, who audited the county records.
found that $5,583.66 of delinnuent
taxes have been receipted for, that
Bingham county did not receive the
money on. c. ". Fisher claims that
the money was not paid to him as
county treasurer, and Mr.. Carruth,
who was then county auditor, issued
the estimates, or it. was done by his |
deputy, and the books show that the |
money was paid. Mr.. Carruth |
claims that he did not receive such |
money. The records do not show
where the money went to IL the pro-
pretty owners ever paid it. Men Who
were In the habit OF transacting busi-
ness with the recorders office re-
member instances when such delin-
quent tax money was rendered to
the county auditor and he refused
to take it saying that 1t must be paid
to the treasurer. Such requests
were sometimes made after banking
hours on the plea that the property
owner wanted to get the deal cleared
up that day and could not get into
he bank to deal with the treasurer,
but still the auditor refused to take
he money.
Under this state Of affairs the
county is unable to prove who did re- \
,eive the money, but It was the duty
u the county treasurer to receive 1t
md the presumption is that he did
receive 1t.
All OF these transactions are out
awed and the county loses the S.
1886, this being part of the $15,-
700 loss spoken of above. The city
md the Blackfoot school district
lave lost considerable money, but
hey will probably receive their pro-
,ortion OF the amounts paid as in
Heated above. The Blackfoot school
,oard authorized its chairman on ,
ne twelfth day of November to in
titute criminal prosecution against
J. V. Fisher for embezzlement.
VICTIM OF THE ELI