The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1918-01-25
REMOVING IHR MASK.

u nay 1E lE.1L l2-E y1I4lS--E u LAA-
paper % too susceptible To rsprez1tz-
tons made By raose n trouble, and
hence IL frequently imposed upon
Tnis susceptibility arises from = dis
Dosition To believe good rather than
evil Of zen, q sympathy for the under
dog, feeling thai life "a hard enough
Il the best, that snTironlnsnt IL often
rszpo1sIbIe for the moral lapse OF
yeopIe, that he who is without sin can
cast the first sto1e- This statement IL
called out By feeling that the Gazette
hzs been recently wasting some mis-
placed sympathy.
Last week an article was published
IN this paper referring to the short
coming Of = county official which, IL Il
did not excuse 2 wrong committed, az
least might tend To create compassion
for him Since that time We have seen
q shsaf Of Documentary evidence let
terra written By the ex-county official
himself, that were shockingly conden-
nstory, and indicated that he was the
wrong man In the wrong place.
Those communications were On pa
per bearing his official letterhead In
reference TO the old series 3" war
rants, Issued by the county years ago,
upon which the interest now Ia about
four times the amount OF the original
gum for which they we're drawn. The
existence Of those warrants IL well
known 10 the public, and also the
many plans that have been suggested
in years past TO raise money to liqui-
date the same. A bond issue has been
considered On various occasions, but
that method was dropped as insxpe-
dent. The commissioners at last bold
~ faced the situation land IL would
have been well had the situation been
faced years ago. and at the meeting
In October levied a special 5 mill tax
to raise the necessary funds to take
up and cancel outstanding series B
warrants. II Ia calHcuated that within
two years this long suffering incubus
can be eliminated.
Now, the communications that we
we're permitted to look over were in
reference To the settlement Of come OF
these warrants. The correspondence,
at least on the side Of the ex-county
official, Ia very voluminous, and the
trend Of some Of those letters cannot
be explained away by claim OF inno-
cense Of intention. There IL a strain OF
sickening sycophancy In some OF them
the "crooking Of the pregnant hinges
Of the knee that thrift may follow
fawnlng," that IL contemplate, espec-
tally In the Acknowledgement OF the
receipt OF the municifcent sum Of $50,
money paid To public official for per-
forming his sworn duty. This accept
ance Of gratuity for exchanging a
called warrant for cash, which has TO
be done In the regular routine OF BUSH
ness, may not be criminal. yet 1t Is
certainly fshy transaction. But this
| Is not the only questionable feature Of
this extensive correspondence. From
the trend Of the communications 1t Ia
plainly evident that the writer was en-
deavoring to secure the purchase OF
outstanding warrants OF series B at a
heavy discount on their face value,
under the representation that the
county would be the beneficiary in the
thropic motive was behind the officials
action, and that he would have
given the county the benefit OF the dis
count, most praiseworthy inspiration
| but II that was the idea he did not take
the commissioners, or any other off,
cial into his confidence. II may be pos
| sible that he intended to surprise"
the county authorities by his financial
acumen, yet, even In that case he was
| making the county an accessory to a
fraud because even after the commits
sionerg had levied special tax to
meet these warrants this Official wrote
that none OF those old warrants
would be paid during the war;" and
possibly some years after the war or
words to that effect, thus creating ap-
prehension in the minds Of the holders
with whom he was in communication
which would be potent influence in
inducing them to part with the war
rants at heavy discount.
Now, what inference would you
| draw from such correspondence, car
ried on by county official? Would 1t
not create the impression that he was
not exactly on the square, and that his
claim Of innocent" after having been
found guilty OF malfeasance in office,
by jury Of his peers, was without
foundation OF fact? The only charitable
way OF looking at 1t is that the indi-
vidual has slipped cog. as the whole
transaction was densely raw and
bound to be discovered at some time.
The letters that contain this evil
Gence of official delinquency were
written to Mr.. Aaron d. Rhead, OF
Brookly, N. Y. and Mrs. Ellen Lanning
Of Montreal. Canada. All that accusing
evidence is In the hands OF Prosecuting
Attorney Johnson.
These letters were signed by F. w.
Plessinger. as treasurer OF Okanogan
county.