Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1919-11-08
GRAND JURY FLAYS
OFFICIALS IN REPORT

appear DeIOrR us ana ulu not appear on
time or have either not been properly
summoned, or have not treated the
summons as very serous matter. This
has at times retarded the work of the
jury. We believe that in the future, wit
nesses should be properly summoned
and impressed with the importance
OF reporting on time.
Concealed Weapons Too Prevalent
Carrying concealed weapons seems
entirely too prevalent in the county,
and we recommend that the county Of
ficers be instructed to make every eff
fort to stop 1t.
Urges Cooperation
Our attention has been called TO an
apparent lack OF cooperation between
the various departments Of the county
government and we would recon-
mend that they try TO work in har
mony, which we believe, would be TO
the benefit of the county.
These j. P's. Must Report
1T has been brought to our atten-
ton that the magistrates throughout
the county, especially the two magis-
trates at Glen Burnie, have not made
their reports in accordance with the
law, We believe that it is the duty of
the County Commissioners TO see that
these reports are promptly and regu-
( larly made and we urge that every
means be used to the end that these
reports be regularly made in the fu-
tire or that the magistrates be re-
commended for dismissal We find
that in the instance of the Glen Burnie
magistrates that, although a consid-
cradle amount Of money has been paid
in fines. no report of these Offices has
been made since January. 1919
School Trustees DereIict
I'VE believe that the school trus-
tees for the various districts are not
giving efficient attention to their duties.
We recommend that their attention be
called to the powers invested in them
and that they be urged to take a more
personal interest in their duties.
I No PrecautiOn, Prisoner Escapes
After investigating the case of the
escape of the prisoner Pocock, the
Jury was of the opinion that ii was
fdue to the negligence and lack of pre-
caution on the part of the Sherif's
Office"
The committee that investigated
/ nuhIio huiIdipoc apd ipctit,,tioDc mo 4 n
several recommendations AS to the
city high school. the report states
that the third floor OF the building is
I very crowded so much so that the
State Armory has to be used for ath-
letics; that the fire drill of the stu
dents is good. the teachers being able
to empty the building in l minute,
while the grammar school requires
! half minute longer.
"MOvieS' Toe The Scratch
THE Republic Theatre was found in
good condition so far as we were able
to ascertain, having three good, wide
exits We. however, recommend two
rails on the outside, leading up to the
ticket Office and turning to the right
as to prevent people going in from
coming in contact with the people
coming out
"As TO the Palace Theatre a few ad-
| ditiOnal fire escapes with sliding door
were put in above about five months
ago. complying with the request of the
last Grand Jury-now having four
exits, two in rear and two in front
CLAY Street Hall, Annapolis. Md
for colored people-in a very unsani-
tary condition and regular fire trap
one small door in the rear and two
doors in the front very much congest-
Fed.
| The committee named to inspect
the county books finances. etc. re-
ported that the system of record-keep-
ing in the Office of Clerk to County
| Commissioners was found to be very
clear and satisfactory.
Tax Assessments Unfair
while we were unable to go thor
oughly into the situation, we are of the
opinion from an examination of the
records of assessments that there are
shown many cases OF unfairness in the
! assessments, which operate to the dis
advantage of the small property own
ers; the man who owns small prop
erty or only the house in which he
lives being in many cases assessed to
within 90 per cent of the value of the
property, while the man who is a large
property holder is only assessed tc
around so per cent, thus it may be
seen that the man who is least able
to pay is required to pay the greater
portion of the taxes, We. therefore
/ recommend that the larger property
holder be assessed on the same basis as
/ the small property holders. which will
enable the county to procure more in
come without decreasing the tax rate
over $500 was collected last year
/ from the Dog Tax Law, and up tC