Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1921-09-30
REGARDING TAX COLLECTOR

In its issue Of two weeks ago, when
announcing that Ernest c. Morse had
been rencminated to succeed himself
as Town Tax Collector The Patriot
took occasion to state that Mr.. Morse
had held the Office with credit.
On September 18th Mr.. Morse wrote
to the Editor of The Patriot a letter
in which he thanked him for the IN
expected and unsolicited kind re
marks" In this letter Mr.. Morse
stated that he collected every year a
few hundred dollars that no prior col
leetor ever obtained, and which no
succeeding colleete. need collect IN
less he or she were particularly inter
ested in working for the welfare Of
the town. The Patriot, not deeming
that there could be any objection to
this letter being printed, inserted 1t in
its issue Of September 23rd without
consulting Mr. Morse. Two or three
DAYS thereafter Mr.. Morse met the
Editor of The Patriot and expressed
his regret that the letter had been
printed saying that it was merely a
personal letter to the Editor.
In the Observer Of September 2sth
appears letter signed by one "P. j.
R. which are the initials Of Mabel
Duprey Ryan's husband. in which Mr..
Morse is taken to task for writing a
letter to- the Editor of The Patriot
"ostensibly to merely thank the Ed
+ itor." but actually 10 make il cam
paign appeal for his reelection. That
this was not the intention of Mr.
Morse will be seen from the facts as
above set forth. In his letter "P. J.
+ r. also takes Mr. Morse to task for
stating that he is the only one who
ever successfully collected taxes in
Putnam. and refers to the fact that
Alfred Bonneville and Archibald Mac
donald, Jr.. City Tax Collectors, have
made fine records in that capacity. If
p j. r. had read Mr.. Morse's letter
carefully he would have seen that Mr.,
Morse was speaking about the posi-
tion Of Town Tax Collector, and not
City Tax Collector
BY his reference to the fact that he
had collected each year money that no
other collector had collected. Mr..
Morse had in mind that each year
since he has been in office he has OBJ
tanned for the town a few hundred
dollars for personal, or what is COM
monty called poll taxes" from peo-
pie whose names have been omitted
inadvertently from the list placed in
his hands. Obviously the two City
Tax Collectors referred to by "P. J.
X" have nothing To do with personal
or poll taxes. and Mr.. Morse's re-
marks were not aimed at them He, is
not seeking reelection as City Tax
Collector, but as Town Tax Collector
as the City Tax Collector has nothing
to do with personal or poll taxes.
Since "P j. r.. has raised this
point. Il may be said that in the past
the city has had some excellent and
some poor Tax Collectors The two
whose names have been given have
been very efficient, but prior 20 Mr.
AN4lut WIG : tlNNfAuthNN III tflak OF
fee the position was held By more
than one City Tax Collector whose re-
suits were far from satisfactory Hav-
ing this in mind. We personally are in
clined TO think that it is better 10
be safe than be sorry" in other words.
II We have a collector, whether Town
or City, who is giving excellent re-
suits, We do not believe in expert
menting. For this reason. while Ma
bel Duprey Ryan might make a good
Tax Collector, if she were elected. il
Is at least an experiment. and We
know 81 no good reason why the town
should experiment in this respect any
more than any business house should
discharge an employee that was civ
ing good results merely to experiment
with an unknown quantity. We think
that this explanation is due Mr.. Morse
and we believe that il is for the well
fare Of the town that ne be continued
in the office.