The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1938-03-10
THAT SENATOR AGAIN
AND THE CHAPTER ENDS

EDITORS NOTE-Here is proof
! positive that words can be meaning
less. What is printed below is the big
gest space waster that The Republi-
can has received in weeks. 1t is being
printed merely to let our readers know
what agony we endure whenever we
are presented with such a mass Cor
mess) of ridiculous twaddle from Sen
ator Friend and have to read it. Had
we refused to print it, Mr. Friend in
all probability would have burst forth
again about a biased press and about
| him not getting a square deal in his
arguments, regardless of how mean
ingless his articles are. 1t is a never
ending circle. Mr.. Friend makes state
ments. His statements are proved
wrong. He makes more statements. 1t
! is proved he was miSinformed. He
makes more statements about his for
mer statements, in the face of proof
! that he is wrong again. After just so
much of that it isn't any wonder that
| The Republican on several occasions
has refused to publish the brain chill
| dren of Mr.. Friend and his bullet
molders. This time, however, we let
Jul IGduSIS OIlCC IlOIG view IIlG
mighty" pen blots of Mr.. Friend. If
they struggle through to the conclu-
sion, here's hoping they have an as
pirin handy. Then just relax and
breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that
in the future The Republican will en-
dure the agony alone and save its
readers from any pain. The next time
Mr.. Friend must have something
worthwhile or it goes into the waste
basket for sure.
To the Editor of The Republican.
For the public information l want
to re-state that portion of my previous
letter which the County Commission
ers charged is wrong, and in order to
render further denial useless, l quote
part of the law which deals with the
payment of moneys to our counties by
the State Comptroller, to defray the
cost Of direct relief.
That portion of my letter which
they have denied is as follows:
"By act of the Legislature direct re-
lief is handled by the County Commits
sioners, leaving relief in other cate
gories, such as Old Age Pensions and
Aid to Dependent Children, in the
hands of the Welfare Boards. Our
Commissioners will receive from the
State to defray the cost of direct re-
lief approximately S25,00O.00 for the
year. This is considerably more than
direct relief is costing. have been in
formed that our Commissioners are
expended for direct relief only about
100000 per month. At this rate di-
rect relief will cost only about $1,000
for the year. The law allows our Com
missioners to use any uneXpended bal
ance from this fund for general coun-
ty purposes"
| now refer to Page 81 in the back
of the 1887 law book, Laws passed at
the Extraordinary Session in April,
1897, Section 4OA subsection e,
which reads as follows:
disbursements under this sub-sec-
ton shall be made directly to the
proper fiscal officers of each county,
or Baltimore City, the county commits
sioners of the various counties and the
mayor and city council of Baltimore,
as the case may be, shall have the
right to apply any such allotments, in
whole or in part, to the relief of the
unemployed, or to the ordinary pur-
pose of government supported by ordi-
nary direct property tax levies, or to
the repayment of any obligations pre-
viously incurred for any or said pur-
poses as they may deem advisable"
1t is utterly ridiculous for officials
to attempt to make public denial of a
fact that is so plainly written into the
law. 1t is plain from the wording OF
the law that the Legislature intended
to put the money for direct relief into
the hands of our County Commission
ers to be expended by them for relief,
or for ordinary purposes of govern
ment. Our Commissioners are fully
cogniZant of this fact as evidenced by
their own admission that they are
handling direct relief. They know
that the reason they are handling dl-
rect relief is because the law author
! ICES them to do so. | want to state
here that the law permits our County
Commissioners to disburse these funds
for the State because there were those
of us in the legislature who felt that
our Boards of County Commissioners
could and would spend the money
more prudently and more economical
| ~ IMAM IHS Ntl1dIS SIeeho "ON'AN AiAAO-J
do, and in order to provide some incen-
tive to the various Boards of Commits
sioners to conserve these funds, we Of
the legislature purposely designed
this method of allowing the Boards OF
Commissioners to apply any uneX-
pended balance, over and above actual
requirements for direct relief, to the
ordinary expense of county govern
ment, hoping thereby to aid in bring
ing about a reduction of real estate
taxes in our respective counties.
The last Relief Law was enacted IN
May, 1887, and our county cannot hope
to receive its full allotment from the
State to defray the cost Of direct re-
lief until the taxes have been collec-
ted. There is a manufacturers tax on
distilled spirits, tax on admissions,
tax on cosmetics, tax on beer, tax on
instruments of writing, tax on IN
comes and various others, all of which
added to the surplus from the inheri-
lance tax and the franchise taxes were
estimated by the Senate Finance Com
mittee of the Legislature to yield over
500 100000 for the first year. After
paving the cost of collecting the
various relief taxes the Comptroller
is to pay over to the board of State
Aid and Charities a sum not to eX-