The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1922-11-02
TIMES MAKES FALSE STATEMENT
REGARDING AUDITOR PELTIER
"Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor."

SouAA'y PAAACAAAS III OdAudIy 1SAO was
therefore let by the board of county
commissioners and not by the county
auditor. But due to the fact that Carl
Sholin and some other parties made
an attempt to have the designation of
the county board annuled and had an
injunction served which temporarily
made invalid the action of the board in
regard to the printing of the delin-
quent tax list, etc., County Auditor
Peltier was compelled to take some
action. The law charges the county
auditor with the responsibility Of
designating newspaper for the pub
LEGATION of the delinquent tax list if
the board of county commissioners has
not made such provision. County At
torney Doane and two of our present
county commissioners who were serv-
ing on the board in 1920 have made
statements which appear below, show
ing just what Auditor Peltier did in
regard to providing for the publica-
ton of the delinquent tax list.
It should be noted that the total cost
of publishing the delinquent tax list
was $77.25. There we're 515 descrip-
tions and the maximum charge for
publication allowed by law is Is cents
per description. The total cost of the
printing which Auditor Peliter was
forced by unusual circumstances to
| assume responsibility for ordering
was then $77.25. The widest flight
| of imagination could not lead any man
to suppose that Mr.. Peltier's action in
this matter had cost "the taxpayers a
large sum Of money amounting to
hundreds of dollars"
The editor of the Times appears to
be absolutely distressed because the
financial statement of the auditor
which is to be published this year has
not yet appeared. AS was stated in
the Union two weeks ago, Mr.. Peltier
had the financial statement ready for
publication six weeks ago and gave
it to the printer at that time. The
county is suffering no loss whatever
because the statement has not yet ap-
peared. It takes several weeks to get
it into type, but it will be published in
due time.
There has been an unusually large
amount of business to be transacted
in the county auditors office this year,
all of which has been handled most ef-
ficiently because Mr.. Peltier has put
in many more hours of work each day
than is required of him. He effects a
considerable saving to the county by
hiring only the minimum amount of
assistance. He probably did not feel
that he would be justified in securing
the services of two or three expensive
accountants to rush through the
preparation of the financial state
ment even to satisfy the curiosity of
an abnormally suspicious individual.
The county board in 1920 consisted
of the late Forest Cater, Peter Sehlin,
John Levau, Carl Eckdall and John
Axell. Mr.. Doane, Mr.. Sehlin and Mr..
Levau have issued the following state
ment:
In the last issue of the Mile Laos
County Times there appeared an ar
ticle under the heading, Supreme
Court Condemns Misuse of Public
Funds" In this article it was
charged that County Auditor Peltier
in 1920 arranged it so that the
county had to pay the Princeton Union
double the amount necessary for hav-
| ing the. county printing done that
year and that his action cost the tax
payers hundreds of dollars.
The county printing is awarded by
the board Of county commissioners
and not by the county auditor.
In January, 1920, the board Of
county commissioners by MAORI
ty vote designated the Princeton
Union as the official paper of the
county in which the delinquent tax
list, the financial statement and all
accounts of the proceedings Of the
board of county commissioners should
be published for that year. Certain
parties brought an injunction against
the Union which made the ruling Of
the commissioners in regard to the
county printing invalid until the case
! could be decided in court. The case
was not to come to trial until the
March term of court.
The law states that the delinquent
tax list must be published at least
once on or before February 20 and
also states that should the board fail
to designate a paper for the publica-
ton Of the delinquent tax list, the
county auditor must do so.
In 1920 County Auditor Peltier was
confronted with a situation which
made it necessary for him to desig-
nate some newspaper for the publica-
ton Of the delinquent tax list if the
county was not to lose vast sum of
money. The county attorney, con-
sidering the action of the commits
'sioners in designating the Princeton
Union as the official paper, advised
Nv Do1t;or n howe thu 4o1, let ,o,,1,