Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-24
MARYLAND HOUSE BACKS LEE
AND COUNTY AGAINST CRITICS

Rockville, for s25. That is 40 per cent
of the ownership of this paper. Forty
nine per cent of its equities in machin-
cry. equipment, good will and standing
and prestige, everything else. Twenty
five dollars was paid for it by Editor
Bealle himself at the Sheriff's sale, and
he stated that he had purchased it for
the benefit of the treasury of the indie
pendent Publishing Co. The previous
owner of the Independent whose stock
was being sold was in Florida at the
time of the sale and wired me asking
me to buy 1t and asking me if I would,
with that stock, also purchase a writ
ing under notarial seal with the vot-
ing power of Mr. Bealle's 40 per cent
of the stock of the Independent. l
wired back Immediately that was
neither interested in the stock or con-
troll of the Independent Now that is
the financial responsibility and lndi-
Gates the character of the editors and
ownership of the Montgomery indie
pendent, which is the witness that is
brought in here in the House of Dele
gates of Maryland by these two repre-
sentatives of Baltimore City against the
county commissioners of Montgomery
County and the duly elected and con-
stitutional government of Montgomery
County and Tin SO far as the delegates
or any of the rest of us are involved)
against us. I contend in all fairness to
the House that this is about as weak
and rotten a source of testimony as
could be produced at any time in any
place.
Nov we deny in Montgomery Coun-
ty--the Maryland News denies-the
paper that has 20 local directors in
GLIDING the presidents of four banks,
a number of county officials and rec
ognized business men, a group of men
that would be included In any public
or civic project in Montgomery County
at any time-that paper contends that
there never was any diversion. We will
get technical-We will go right down
with the lawyers and still say that
at no time did the County Commits
sioners divert any of the courthouse
bond issue funds. The courthouse bond
issue was for $250,000. It was sold for
$4,000 additional premium and ac-
cumulated $265000 for the treasury of
Montgomery County, directed entirely
to be spent for courthouse.
"A $50 1000 bond issue was authoriz-
ed for the construction of a Jail and
the money to be spent where the Coun-
ty Commissioners saw fit, because the
legislature did not know whether the
County Commissioners would want to
put the jail on top of the courthouse
or in separate building on a different
site. or even if they wanted to build
1t at ALL
County Treasury Data.
"On the 18th day Of November. 1928,
the Montgomery Independent charges,
not AS Mr.. Joseph says, that there
was a little over 100000 in the treasury
OF Montgomery County, but that there
was $l84.000 In the treasury of Mont
gomery County. That is obviously less
than $265,000, the proceeds of the bond
issue for the courthouse, but an addi-
ton to the situation Is this: $184,0 900
stood upon the books of the county
treasury at its central office, in the
courthouse at Rockville, and IL banks
IN Montgomery County are authorized
to collect taxes for the county treasury.
to stamp tax bills paid and to give
receipts to the taxpayers. The pro-
ceeds of the collections are placed to
the credit of the county treasury and
are reported to the county treasury
monthly, On the 18th of January
the county treasurer had approximately
$l60.0OO in duplicate bank deposit slips
books OF the treasurer of Montgomery
County, so on the 5th of Novem-
Der had $184 900 in bank in the general
treasury accounts, with bank deposits
slips in his safe for October collections
which had not yet been taken up on the
general ledgers, but we're available to
the check OF the county treasurer. This
amounted to more than the total pro-
ceedS OF the courthouse bond issue to
build the Montgomery County Court
house.
Now this zig gag road which Mr..
Joseph attacks joins Bethesda (the
western suburban center of Mont
gomery County)-a number of you gen.
tiemen took lunch at the Columbia
Country Club near Bethesda. and this
road runs from the Columbia Country
Club to the center of the business dis
trlct OF Silver Spring where I live. The
distance by airline is 371 miles. The
distance around between these two
suburban centers of Montgomery County
is 8 miles through the District of CO.
lumbia. by way of Rock Creek Park by
the Military road, or miles through
kensington to the north. The county
commissioners on May 81. 1927. passed
resolution to build this road which
we call the East and West Suburban
Highway, and include 1t in the county's
road construction program. This road
was started this year and the eastern
end of 1t at the head Of Sixteenth street
to Ellicott City has been graded, but
not paved. A bridge over the B. e. Q.
Railroad near Bethesda has also been
built. Both the grading of the road
and the bridge have been done by the
Maryland State Roads Commission
under the plans and specifications and
supervision Of the engineers of the State
Roads Commission and when finished
Will become a part of the State road
system built by Montgomery County
bond issue proceeds. AS of the date of
this charge In the Montgomery indie
pendent, the records of the Board of
County Commissioners of Montgomery
County show that none of this grading
had ever been paid for. That nothing
had been paid on account Of this work
at all. That the contractors for the
State had not placed their acquisitions
on Montgomery County through the
State Roads Commission as Of that date
and consequently it is simply physical
impossibility that anybody at that time
could have spent any of the courthouse
money or any bond issues or emergency
money or that any money at all could
have gotten into what we call the East
and West Suburban Highway, or as the
Independent calls 1t, the zig gag high
way, at the time OF this charge.
L have described this thing as It is
and in rather complete detail because
with us locally 1t is an important SUBJ
ject did not realize it was an i'm
portant subject in the House of Dele
gates. but do not deny that 1t is a
proper subject for the House to con-.
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