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* ' / "A" ' ' " ' E ' - ^ * ' . I % Grand Jury Presentment September Term 1908 State of South Carolina, Abbeville County. Court of General Sessions. To the Honorable K. YV. Meiniiiiuger, Pre V / siding Judge. ' "We the Grand Jury for Abbeville Count; at this the September term ol' the Court o General Sessions, would beg to make th< following presentment: We have passed upon all bills handed t< us by the Solicitor, disposing of each as in our iudirment. the facts warranted. A committee of our members visited thi Jail, respecting which, we made some allu sion in our presentment at tlie J une lern of Court. This committee reported everything in ? satisfactory condition in and about tliii institution. In our June Term presentment we sug gested to the Supervisor that there shoui< be a new Stockade built out at the .Poo House, in which to keep the convicts a night while out there engaged at work 01 the farm. On interrogating him as to why thi suggestion had not been carried out, li ..o fhut hu ubi'bi' ha.il lnol'ft thai iUiUXUICU UO buwu A*V UVIV ? ? two or three convicts at a time out there and that he had a iirst rate tent which wa really better, from a sanitary standpoint than would be a wooden stockaue, as th tent could be moved from place to place a the surroundings became, lor any reasou objectionable which could not be done ij case of a wooden building. We are pleased to be able to report tha tho nuances of the County are in excellen condition?the County being free free debt?barring the balance uue on the ne\ Court House, which is provided for b; bond issue. After allowing about $2,000 per montJ for current expenses for the remainder o the present hscal year, it is estimated, b; the County Supervisor, that there will b on hands, for repairs to the reads am bridges, ubout $6,000. ' \ We recommend that our delegation t the Legislature endeavor to make the ne cessary arrangements to have the sinkinj fund commission lend to the County, sui flcient fuuds to repair and replace all o the more important bridges in the Count; that were destroyed by the recent floods The following is a list of the bridges whlc] we regard as belonging in that class, viz: Bridges on Rocky River at Lowndesvill and Swearengens Mills; Fair's Bridge Martin's Mill bridge, Calhoun Mill bridg andPettygrew's bridge, all on Little Rivei also Morton's Mill bridge and McKitrick' Mill bridge, on Long Cane Creek, als< Clinkscale's bridge, over Shanklin's Creek We suggest that the County Commission ^ ers concentrate their efforts in re-buildiuj * the above mentioned bridges, even to th x neglect of other less important bridges. In our presentment at the June Term o Court, we stated that it was our intentfoi to have a thorough investigation of th several County offices made, the result o such investigation to be reported at th< present term of Court. This a committer of our member has done, assisted by R. E Hill, whom they were authorized to em ploy for that purpose. As this investiga tion was something more than a mere per * fto fhfiVft U7AT1 lUlIULUry prui'trouilig, auu ?o uuwv J some twenty or more offices, incluciinj Magistrates, to be examined, the report o this committee, of necessity, is a prett] lengthly document, but in view of the im ' . . portance of this matter, we trust you: : < Honor wilf bear with us while it is beinj read. The report of the committee, which fol lows, fffter being considered by our entiri panel, wae unanimously adopted as a par of this presentment. ' EEPOET OF COMMITTEE. In the out-set of this our report, you: committee would beg to state that we dis cerned, in the course of our investigation a great many instances wherein Count: officials have failed to comply witn tne re quirements of the law (and this appUei more or less to all of them), but as man: of these failures were in respect to matteri of minor importance, and as it would hav< required too much time and space to hav< particularized as to all of such, we though it best not to do so, and accordingly pass ed them over; merely suggesting to thi derelict officials that it might be well fo: them in the future to have a stricter re gard for what the law requires of them. We shall therefore confine overselves ii what we shall bave to say in this report U such derelictions of duty and violations o the law as have or might have resulted u injury to the County. ff V OFFICE OF MAGISTRATE. We required the several Magistrates o the County to bring their dockets befor< us for examination; our purpose being no so much to see in what manner their booki were kept as it was to see whether or no they had complied with the law in refer ence to paying over to the County Treas urer all fines and costs collected by then in criminal cases. While by Section 1000 of the Kevised Sta tutes, It is made the duty of each Magis trate, on the 1st Wednesday in each montl or within ten days thereafter, to make, ii writing, to the Auditor and Treasurer o hisv County a full and accurate statemen of ail moneys conecteu uv mm va owwuu of fines and penalties during the pas month, together with the title of each ca? where a fine has been paid?and while th< law requires that all such fines shall In j promptly turned over to the County Treas urer, we are reluctant to state that in n< instance has a Magistrate of the Count] complied with the law in the matter o making such reports, and in many in stances the money, instead of being pai( over promptly to the Treasurer, has beei retained by the Magistrate from three t< six months. These arc important duties as evidencet by the fact that the penalty prescribed foi a failure to make these monthly reports may be a fine as much as $100, or impris onment in the County Jail for as much a: two months, or both in the discretion o Court; and the penalty for a failure t< turn over, immediately, to the Count: -1' nnnnlfiflc Treasurer, an unco CL11V& pvUUiViVV V. v?.v,wv^, by them, is put at not less than $100, am imprisonment for not less than thre? months; "dismissal from office and die qualification foj: holding any office of trus -and profit under the State. We found that Magistrate Sanders luu 1' \ : r Tin his h&iide, 011 aeeounl of fines and eo&tfl collected by him, the sum of One Hundred and Two Dollars, which he has had for some considerable time. The reason given by him for his failure to pay over this money as the law requires, was that he I hail endeavored several times to do so, but could line no one in the Treasurer's oflico to pay it to; in this we have no doubt he is correct. (This money wo understand he has paid to the present Treasurer since the above was written.) We discovered, upon an examination of the docket of Magistrate Stanton, that he is due the County iifty-six dollars. When his attention was called to this matter he seemed to be greatly surprised ^ and insisted that ho owed the County 1 nothing; but after going over his docket L" with us ami summing up all of his collections in the way of lines and cpsts, and J taking therefrom what his receipts for '' moneys paid the County Treasurer called for, there appeared this balance of lifty-six J dollars, which, of course, he will have to pay over. 1 Magistrate Hollingswortli evidently misconceives his duty respecting tax warrants 1 that are turned over to him by the County 3 Treasurer against parties who have failed to pay their poll tax. The law makes it a misdemeanor for any one, liable to a poll 1 tax, not to pay it. 1 instead of docketing such cases, just as 1 he does other cases of misdemeanor, and I entering the amount of the fines which he is authorized to impose, in case of convicb tion, collect the same and pay it ovei * promptly to the County Treasurer, as ht II is required to do, he turns the whole business over to the Sheriff who proceeds b agjunst the party, collects from him foui ' collars and seventy-live cents to six dole iars, (varying according to the distance b the party lives from the court house, ' which sum is largely made up of costs? u and the portion which is intended for the . County, is never paid to the County Treas1 urer until the Sheriff has a settlement with I that officer, on account of tax executions II which have been placed in his hands for v collection, which is usually from twelve to ^ fifteen months thereafter. The Sheriff, as sheriff, should have notha ing to do with such warrants. 1 The law makes it his duty to serve all > processes issued by the Magistrate at Abbeville C. H., and when serving tax ward rants he is not acting in the capacity ol Sheriff, but as Constable for the Magistrate u at this place, and he should proceed just !* as he would do in the case of a person ? charged with an assault and battery, for instance, arrest the party, take him before 1 the Magistrate and he should impose the y line, collect it and turn it over to the ' Treasurer, as he docs in other cases of 3 misdemeanor. e ' MAGISTRATE'S CONSTABLES. '? We have to report that not one of those e now acting as constable in this County has '? qualified as the new law directs. 8 Sec. 1047 of the Revised Statutes pro3 vides that when any person shall be elect ed or appointed to the office of constable; * he shall file with the clerk of Court the ? evidence of his appointment or election, e and shall enter into a bond in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars, with not less than * two nor more than five good sureties, to 3 be approved by said Clerk; and upon takB ing the several oaths prescribed by Sta* tute, he shall be given a certificate by the 2 Clerk that he has filed his bond and taken 9 the required oaths, and he shall thence' forth be regarded as a regular qualified " Constable. Nor shall any person not so " qualified exercise the powers of a Consta ble. 2 The Clerk informed us that not one of ? those acting as Constable in this County 1 had fiamplied with the law in the above 1 mentioned particulars, so that any arrests " made or acts done by any one of these sor called Constables, unless specially depuf tized to act in such case, has been unlawfully done. But we are disposed to regard with leni8 ency the failure on the part of those who 1 have been appointed to these positions to comply with the law, as we do not believe that such failures is atributable to any disposition to disregard the law, but r rather to their ignorance of what the law . requires. t But we do think, however, that the sevf eral Magistrates when they appoint their - constables should see to it that such aps pointee qualifies for the discharge of his i? duties as the law directs; for we presume s that these Magistrates know the law Dearb ing upon the subject, notwithstanding it 3 has been said by a distinguished Judge t that it is a violent presumption to presume - that the average Magistrate knows any a law. r OFEICE GF CLERK OF COURT. ' The records and official papers in this 5 office are not in a very satisfactory condi3 tion, owing largely to the fact no suitable j place could be had for keeping them pending the erection of the new Court House. In the matter of the collection and disposition of fines imposed by the Court, license fees, etc., it appears that he has complied with the spirit of the law, if not ' with the strict letter thereof, especially in 3 paying over to the County Treasurer all i such lines and licenses. 3 He h> required by law just as the several "* * 1 ? ronnrf Magistrates are. to ma&c a, ?i to the Auditor and Treasurer, on the first Wednesday of each month, or within ten 1 days thereafter, of ali moneys collected by him, to which the County is entitled, dur" ing the past month, and to pay over to the County Treasurer promptly, all such 1 money. j While as before stated, he has paid to the Auditor and Treasurer all such money collected by him, he has not made the written reports to the Auditor and Treasurer as the law directs. 3 This is an important matter, especially 3 so as regards the reports which he is re3 quired to make to the County auditor, as, " rf not done, that officer is entirely depend5 ent upon the Statement of the Treasurer as to the amount he lias collected from the f Clerk, when he comes to make the annual " settlement with the Treasurer. 1 ! JUDGE OF PROBATE AND MASTER. 5 As the duties of these two officials have to do more especially with individuals 1 rather than with the County, or the peor ?nri as t.h? Grand Jury are piu gCUWiMi;, MM<? ? charged with the duty, more particularly, of seeing that the interests of the County 3 are protected, we did not feel called upon f to m?ke a minute examination as to the 5 official conduct of these two officers?bef lieving that the parties and individuals i particularly interested therein, would look i after that. 8 There is a matter, however, to which we - would call attention and beg to make a t suggestion to the delegation from this County to the Legislature touching the 1 s&me. ^ - .?. . -v . U. , v- . _ * ?/ // ' V:\3X > Si-'- r \ We find that there ft in the hands of the ^ be d Judge of Probate and Master, each, a con* j Tl siderable sura of money, amounting in the und aggregate to several hundred dollars, j this made ud of small sums left over in the resi settlement and distribution of estates' in r that have gone through these offices, which and belong to various parties whose where- T abouts are unknown. req The greater part of this money has been tifl( handed down from one to another of the the predecessors of the present incumbents, in s extending back foi> quite a number of the years. fro: The great probability is that the bulk of am' this money will never be called for by the T persons entitled thereto. cat The suggestion which we would make is for thisThat an Act be passed by the Leg- of ( islature directing that this money be wai turned into the County Treasury, for the ? use of' e County, with a full statement of ord the cao>^ in which the amdunts, respect- his ively arose, the names of the persons, so me: far as known, to whom the money belongs, bee etc., with the stipuftition that the same on shall be paid to the rightful owners wnen no\ called for, upon satisfactory proof that H they are legally entitled thereto. tha The County Treasurer should receipt the in t Judge of Probate and Master for the soe amounts turned over by them respective- bea ly. This, of course, should be a lav,- gen- ha\ eral in its application, as we have no doubt wb a similar state of affairs exists in other or i Counties. coll COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION. the 1 - This officer has, so far as practicable, carried out the law in the management of aw; ' his office. There are some duties required of him wix which are: impracticable, in that the laws ' prescribing them to have been enancted wo' 1 upon the assumption that the ihoney for PUI running the public schools is collected and 1 in the County Treasury before the beginning of the scholastic year. Whereas, as j a matter of fact, the schools have all ure 1 closed before the money for paying the |on teachers has been collected?we being a rea 1 year behind in the matter of collecting ( taxes. bg | COUNTY AUDITOR. ply i - j- j iu. law ?ne papers una ujuuj ui me icwiuo m ? this office are ijiVather a confused and un- S satisfactory condition. ft 1 This, however, applies to most of the other offices as well, which, as stated in Coi the case of the office of Clerk of Court, is co1 largely due to the fact that suitable places could not be had for keeping such records pending the erection of the new Court ten House. 1??' It is to be expected, however, that once 'or the Court House is finished and occupied P?* by these.offlcers, that the papers and rec- nei ords belonging in their respective offices will be more' nfcatly and systematically arranged than has been the case heretofore. { As is true of the Superintendent of Ed- ng ucation, so is it of the County Auditor? ?r J many of the duties required of him are of an impracticable nature. 'v. For instance, he is required, in taking * i^turns for taxes, to enter upon the original retutn and thereafter in the tax duplicates the school district in which the taxpayer resides ; this he can not do, for the ^ reason that possibly not one in fifty, and 8 especially the negro taxpayers, knows in mo what school district he lives. ^ .-j v.. __ heli AI1U 11U lb 1 tJquilcu uu wc tion of the time for making tax returns to 0011 make out and forward to the Board of jTrustees of each school district a correct ^ list of poll8 returned from thei- respective n * districts?this is impracticable for the anc { ? CPV same reason. . But there are certain other duties en- pro joined upon him that are practicable, ?uc which he has overlooked or failed to dis- , charge. "ef Section 102 of the Revised Statutes ~;u< makes it the duty of the County Auditor Trt and County Treasurer to have a full and P y final settlement as. to all tax executions is- "f3 sued by said ^Trfeasurer, within twelve months after th# 'Expiration of the time "it allowed by law for \he payment of taxes orc in any year, and Section 10$ provides that tfie all such executions as 6hall have not been "al collected for any reason, shall be filed in ^?l the office of the County Auditor within one wit yaar from the expiration of the time for eva payment without penally of the taxes for ^ee the collection of which the executions are 0011 ... . - fin* issued. And it rurtner aaas mat me au- ? itor on the filing of said executions shall er * receipt to the County Treasurer for the same, giving the name of the party against whom the execution Is issued, the ^ kind and location of the property, the na- law ture of the Sheriffs return, etc., and he a ^ shall at the same time furnish a duplicate sev of said receipt to the Secretary of State as opi agent of the sinking fund commission. e(*: In fact the tax executions issued for 1906, are still in the hands of the Sheriff, not- ^ withstanding more than fifteen months have passed since the expiration of the ^ac time for paying taxes, without penalty, ^)er for that fiscal year, when the law requires 1 that the same shall be returned within 1 ninety days. While in this matter the Treasurer and Sheriff are chiefly to blame, we think a portion of it attaches to the Auditor as well, as he should have demanded of the Treasurer that he account to him nar for these executions within the time pre- Tre scribed by law, and this no doubt would unj have spurred up the Treasurer to have re- no* quir&d the Sheriff to do hie duty In the premises. 1 nar But there is no doubt that the condition ^ of the health of the late Treasurer, for a ure Ion# time before his death, had much to do cee with his failure to discharge the duties of a#a his office lie tbe law directs. T COUNTY SUPERVISOR. ^ Ip view of the many and laborous duties woi required of this officer and the watchful wei care which he has been called upon to ex- of t ercise In order to protect the Interests of iqg the County, the present incumbent de- iar serves great credit for the excellent map- am< ner in wijich he has discharged the various Fiv and oft-times delicate duties devolved up> and on him. The greatest fault which we have T to find of this office Is in his failure to re- She quire others with whom the law makes It ami his duty to have official dealings, to do waf their duty. cen Sec. 806 of the Revised Statutes provides whi that all claims against the County shall par ba made out in Items with an affidavit that is si the same is just and true and that no thoi part thereof h&s been paid, etc., and the sine Clerk of Court, Sheriff and Magistrate G shall on presenting thair claims for ser- to ; vices rendered the County, further declare the; on oath that all fines and penalties hereto- pre; fore collected by them, have been faiths hea fully and fully paid, over to the County not Treasurer. All this is required to be done dell RnnoruUuir i? authorized to ool] UC1V1V viiu ? n.i i- ? .? ?? ^ r , draw his warrant in payment of such reai i claims. ' j bad We find that the Supervisor had not, in pay a great many instances, required this to of s A ' X-- I , V ' * .* . . i-% > ' ' ' p$ : ? 99ESS9S9SSS5fiMBMtfMbB^55S9 lone before drawing his warrant. here Is another matter which tahie er our observation while examining i office which might and possibly has llted in injury to the County. This is eference to the cancellation of witness Jury tickets. he County Treasurer is authorized and uired to cash all Jury and witness cer :ates on presentation. The practice or late Treasurer was, when he had taken i number of such certificates, to take m to the County Supervisor and get m him ^a warrant for the aggregate ount of such certificates. he Supervisor receives these certifies and files them away as his voucher his warrant, just as he does in the case )ther claims for which he issues his rrant. iut while it appears that in the case of inary claims for which he has issued warrant, he has made some endorsent thereon indicating that they have n paid, there is nothing to that effect a great many Jury and witness tickets r in his office. b is much more important to the County t such claims as these be cancelled than ;he case of ordinary claims, for the reai that all such claims are payable to irer, and as it is possible for any one Ing access to the Supervisor's office, 0 might be so disposed, to abstract one 1 dozen or more of such certificates, iect the money for them from the Treasr and he in turn surrender them,among )t of other such claims, tand get from i Supervisor a warrant for the same, hout either of these officers being are of the fraud; thus the same certifies might be paid two or three times; ereas, ordinary claims being payable y on the warrant of the Supervisor, nld be worthless to any one who might loin the same. COUNTY TREASURER. 'o the fact that the late County Treasr was in very bad health for quite a g time before his death and for that son had to depend largely upon others iischarge the duties of me office, is to attributed no doubt, his failure to comfully with the requirements of the r \ ec. 402 of the Revised Statutes makes the duty of the Treasurer to report on 11st and 15th of each month to the iinty Supervisor' the umount of funds lected on account ef the County, and ""AK fnnHo OIQA An tho > UllttiatlCl V/l OUUll iuuuo, CMwrvr; VM V?JV h day of each month, to the Superlndent of Education the amount of coitions and disbursements made by him the month preceding, on account of the 1 tax and ail other school funds. In ther of these respects has the law been nplled with. if so great importance is the making of se reports regarded by the law-mak power that the penalty for a failure aeglect therein, is fixed at not less than D. 'here is a matter in connection with 9 office to whjch our attention has been led, regarding which we feel as though could not use language too severe; ; while such is the case we are truly d, inyiew of the heavy penalty attachto such an offense, that the person st to blame can not, owing to the capacIn.which he was acting at the time, be d to the strict accountability for his duct. 'his was a clear cut violence of a law ich has been re-itterated (tone and again ;he annual tax levies by the Legislature, I which is in about these words: 'The eral County Treasurers of the State are hibited from collecting any tax except h as have been first entered upon the duplicates of their respective Counj, or upon the Orders of the County iitors of said Counties; and the County sasurer, in case any tax payers shall apto pay their taxes against whom no fis nhftll have been entered on the tax plicates, shall furnish to |he County Auor the names of all such tax payers in ler that he may enter their names with i amount of the tax for which they are )le, on said tax duplicates; and any mty officer who shall fall to comply ,h, or who shall evade or attempt to de the provisions of this act, shall be ;med guilty of a felony and upon the viction thereof, shall be punished by a s not to exceed Five thousand dollars mprisonment for a period of not more nflve year8 or both at the discretion of Court. fhile there are plain provisions of the , and while the penalty prescribed for iolation thereof, as above stated, is very ere, neveruieieeo me duujd ?o *** wm*. aion wantonly and inexcusably violatin the case in question. 'he facts of the case are as follows: l Mr. , eDgaged last summer in lding the Cotton Mill at Calhoun Falls. 1 working for him quite a lurge numof negro men, and not wishing them je molested by the tax collectors, gave the sheriff a list of these negroes,telling 1 at the same time, that be would pay taxes for which any or all of them were ile. as soon as informed of the amount. s list, coraprietng something over fifty nes, the sheriff gave to the acting lasurer, (the regular Treasurer being ible to attend to his office) who without ifying tho Auditor as the law directs, I thereby enabling him to enter the nes of these parties on the tax duplies, and in that way charge the Treaar with the amount of their taxes, proded at once to issue a poll tax warrant .inst each one of them. hese warrants he turned over to the gistrate who taking with him the Sherrent to where these negroes were at rk, organized a temporary Court and it through the farce of trying each one ;hem, as for a misdemeanor in neglectto pay his poll tax. A fine of One doland seven cent6, with the costs added, DuntiPg to Fiye dollars and Seventy e cents in the aggregate was imposed collected in the case of each of themhe Magistrate, as usual, allowed the riff to collect and retain the whole j. nrhinh llO fait- thflf. hp JUlll, iCDW W??v \*J f~*r fttrrr -tv i entitled, to?wit, one dollar and forty ts In each case, and the portion to ch the County was entitled, if these ties were justly due to pay anything, till in the possession of the Sheriff, al? ugh it has been some fifteen months :e this thing occurred. ranting that these negroes were liable pay a poll tax for the year for which y were made to pay, (which we are not pared to do, in view of all that we have rd respecting the matter) they should have beep matte to pay exceeding one ar and seven pents. the amount of the ! tax and the penalty tberpop, for the , son that they, through their employer, ! I virtually come forward and offered to 'their taxes, notwithstanding the name lot one of them was on the tax-books. 11 .; :' :' ' ; ' ...... \ " _* __ 'A The proper course for the Treasurer or go the person acting for him, to have puratled wa when this list was given him by the Sher- ] iff was to have turned said list over to the ag Auditor whose duty it would have been to lat first find out whether these parties were ] liable for poll tax for the year for which it vis was proposed to make them pay; and if by satisfied that they were, then to have is- se sured a suplementol poll tax return, in ok duplicate, for each of them; give one of these to the Treasurer, as his authority iff for collecting the tfix, and retain the other th in order that he might enter the same on if the tax duplicates at the proper time, and gi thus charge the Treasurer therewith; and ar all the Treasurer would have had to have donesln order to have collected the One SI dollar and seven cents in the case of each ea of these negroes, would htvc; been to have* notified Mr. of the amounts, as he St had already informed the Sheriff that he to was ready to pay whatever tax they were es liable for. _ bj But what adds to the gravity of this th matter is the fact that a large majority of as these negroes wero from other Counties in hi this State, North Carolina, Virginia, and wi Georgia, and were not living in this Coun- o\ 'n 1906, the year for which they were made ta to pay this tax. vi " ' rtrtnnnnf r?f fha tlf 15UI ID 15 IlOt bU UiUUll uji (MjL.i/uuv vi v*<v ? fact that money was unlawfully taken al from these poor ignorant people, bad as 02 that was, that we find fault with, but It is 0< on acconnt of the wanton disregard of the <l< law in the matter. si Should no cognizance of a matter of this ec kind be taken, if it were permissible for til the County Treasurer to collect taxes in fu any such manner, there is no telling to what extent the same might be carried, if P* perchance a dishonest man should be w made Treasurer. ^ The County Auditor, not wishing to be lu made a party to a transaction of which he does not approve, has refused to have anything to do with it, and so, as we un- to derstand, no abstract of the same has ever been made out and sent to the Comptroller-General, and consequently the Treasurer is not charged by him with the amount te of the taxes collected from these negroes, ct We find that it has been the practice of the Treasurer before beginning the collec- ?? tion of taxes, to write out a receipt for to each tax payer, and then to lay aside the A tax duplicate and pay no further attention ct to it during the time for collecting taxes. In the Treasurer's duplicate given to PJ him by the County Auditor, and by which re he is expected tb be governed in collecting *a taxes, there is a column headed "Date pf ; payment," in which he is expected to write of the date when a party pays. L'( As before stated he does not use this se book at all in collecting taxes, but is governed entirely by his receipt book, and consequently the date when a Rarty pay6 m his taxes is not entered on the tax puplicate. ly If the Treasurer always had an efficient ct and a reliable person to call off the names ? to him when writing the receipts, there se might npt be any trouble grown out of m this practice; but should it happen, as has been the case, that the person calling off is the na;nes should' not be accurate, there ai will always be trouble. ce For instance: Suppose a party by the pi name of Martin should call' to pay hip w taxes, whose name had been mistaken for sa that of Mhdden, and the receipt so written, th? Treasurer not finding Martin's name ui - " ' * ? U nortv nj in His receipt dook wuuiu nuuiu biiv pai vj a vjj that his name was not on the tax books and that he must go to the Auditor and la get an assessment slip, when all the time w his name had been properly entered on di the tax duplicate, which fact if the Treasurer had used his duplicate to collect by ti he would have seen, and have saved this ig trouble. ' - d< And besides this, when the time comes cc for issuing executions, the receipt wrongfully written out in the name of Madden, it would still be found in the receipt book, which would be satisfactory proof to the Q Trersurer that the tax had not been paid. jfl and an execution would be issued against io Madden, when really there would be no such person. V . ' wl This execution would be put in the hands lej of the^She/iff who of course would fail to w] find such party, and so report to the it Treasurer, and the Auditor is blamed for bi the whole thing, whereas the fault lies d< with the Treasurer, for, if he had collected f0 the taxes by the duplicate, as he should ac and the date of payment entered in the & proper column, none of this could have oc- flj ourred, and the nulla bona tax list would th be that much less. |a COUNTY SHERIFF, ? While we are disposed to give the Sheriff credit for being, in many respects, a most effiolent and zealous officer, we are inclin- w ed to think that in certain matters he, perhaps, has been over zealous. For instance in the case of a negro by the name of Richard Bailey, who commit- I8 ted some offense, and escaped before be- Ul ing arrested, the Sheriff received word Ql from the police of Augusta, Ga? that they re had arrested Bailey. Without waiting until he found out certainly that it was the Pi right party who had been arrested, which m he might easily have done by having the police send him a picture of the negro, he hastens off to Augusta, picks up some party on the way whom he took with hioi ci< and whose expenses he charged up 3t( against the County, and on reaching Augueta found that it was not Bailoy but an- dc other negro by the name of Blocker whom ini the police had arrested. P? The result was the County had to pay, stl unneccessarily, the sum of #11.50, and it 8a would have been more than double that to amount if it had not been for the firmness fic " ~ ? ne tho chAvifT Wf 01 tile LOUllty ounciuoui, ? ... presented a bill for $12.45 additional which ^ he claimed to have paid the Augusta people for arresting and dieting the aforesaid Blocker; tnis bill the Supervisor very properly refused to pay. Then again in the case of Lee Howard who escaped from the chaingang. ^ The Sheriff got word from the Chief of Police of Danville, Ya., that he had ar- ^ej pested HPFarfl. ?n On rpppipt of tlijs information hp applied to th? Supervisor, as wo were informed by that officer, for the money to f(X defray his expenses in going after How? ard. The Supervisor, no doubt recalling the circumstances in the case of Richard ? Bailey, advised him to send to tho Chiof of Police and have him send a picture of the ' negro, In order that ho might be certain that it was the right man who had been ar- j rested. J This the Sheriff did, and when the pie turo came It WMS piuiii li# uo Sft.-n uiiu n was not Howard, and the Sui>ervisor, who' ' Jjnow Howard well, so told him. But regardless of this apd notwithstanding the a|(" Supervisor warned hirj, on seeing that he jjj was inclined to go on to Danville anyway, W1 that if he went he would have to foot tho ? bill himself, as he would not pay it; he did bo _ , and on Miehiri# Danville found that it .?) the wrong man again, 3ut nevertheless he brings in ft bill ainst the County for some forty odd dol s. Fortunately for the County, the1 Superior had the nerve and firmness to stand what he had told the Sheriff at the outh nnrt en far hils rpfnswd to allow tills Urn. We understand, however, that the Sherhas not abandoned the matter, but reatens to take the case into the Courts these two accounts amounting in the ag egate to some fifty or fifty-five dollars, e not paid. But while in the above cited cases the leriff over-did his duty, there are other .ses wherein he has failed in that respect. For instance, Section 428 of the Revised atutes makee it the duty of the Sheriff make return to the Treasurer of all tax :ecutions put in his hands for collection r that officer, within ninety days from ie date of issue thereof, designating such > may be nulla bona and such as may ive been collected by distress or otherise; and within the same time to pay ^er to baid\Treasurer all penalties and xes collected by him; and it further prodes that in case any Sheriff shall make fault in paying over witldn the time ' ??? -?* ' ? /irtl I /\r? n r%i rl urubaiu, au/ muuejo VIA CK*AVI :ecutions, it shall be the duty of the juuty Treasurer, and he Is hereby rejired, immeniately to bring suit against ich defaulting Sheriff in any Court of >inpetent jurisdiction, in which suit such leriff shall be liable, to treble the amount ir which he has defaulted. It will be seen from the severity of ' malty attaching to a failure to corn}.. ith the law in these particulars that the uglslature regarded tho same us quite ipprtant. iiut while this is so, we are sorry to have i say that no regard has been paid therei, as it is a fact that the executions issued r the fiscal year of l'JOti, were still in the inds of the Sheriff when we examined s office, notwithstanding more than 1 en months had expired since thb date 01 loir issue. The Sheriff is reqnired by law, just as :e the several Magistrates of the County, i make monthly reports in writing to the uditor and the Treasurer of all moneys illected by him on account of fines and jnaltigs during the last month and to romptly pay over to the County Treasuir all rnpneys so collected. This ho has lied to do. . In the act providing for the appointment Magistrates and their Constables in this junty, it is stated that the Sheriff shall irye all processes issued by the Magis ate at Abbeville Court House, and lie iall receive the same Ipes as aro now or ay hereafter be allowed for such service. At that time the Sheriff was paid entire' by fees, since then the law has-been langed and he is now paid a salary ol leven Hundred Dollars, in lieu of fees for irvice6 rendered the County in criminal atters. His interpretation of the law is that he entitled to the Eleven Hundred Dollars id also to all the fees for serving proisses issued by the Magistrate at this ace which he was accumtomed to collect, hen he was paid nothing in the way of a Jary. In this liberal construction of the law we lderetand he Is sustained by some of the xcuit J udges. This may he a proper construction of the w, but if so, we are at a I06S to know for hat service he is paid the Eleven Hun &d Dollars. But while conceding that he,may be entled to. Costs and fees for serving papers sued by the Magistrate at this place, we > insist that he is not entitled to collect sts and fee6 for serving processes Issued / other Magistrates of the County, which appears he has been doing. \ Section 38 of what is known as the Cary>thian ACt, makes It the duly of the Sher' and his deputy to enforce the provisns of (hat Act. This duty it seems to us, he should be llling to perform, as a partial return, at ost, for the Eleven Hundred Dollars tiich the County pays him, even though were not made his special duty to do so; it not so, as it appears that in a half )zen cases wherein he nrrested parties r violating the law as laid down in th&t :t, and took them before Magistrates mders and Stanton, respectively, who led said parties fifty dollars, and costs, to latter amounting to seven or eight dolrs in each case, the Sheriff collected and itained the costs and only the fifty dolre fine was paid to the County. Now we have no hesitanty in saying iat he was not entitled to these costs, to hlch probably he would have been, had ;ese parties been arrested and taken here the Magistrate at tbis place. If we are correct in thia opinion, then he due the County, on that account, some rty-Jive dollars which he should bo relirefi to pay over to tho County Treasur for the use of the County. There seems to bo considerable comaint, which we are disposed to regard as ?Il founded, that the most of our County flcials absent themselves too frequently jm their offices. The compensation of these officers, espc illy those who are paid by salaries inead of by fees, has been largely increased thin the past few^-ears, and while the ities required of them are pretty exactand such aa- would require a largo rtion of their time if fully discharged, ill we think tlmt in view of the liberal larics paid them, the public hus a right expect tlmt they either be in their ofes in person the greater part fit each >ek day, or have some competent person ere to attend to the duties of the same. (Signed) J. A. GILLIAM, F. HENRY, T. GORDON WHITE, - Committee. CONCLUSION. ,'n view of the important services ronred the County by Mr. Hill in this matr and in consideration of the length of :ie he was engaged in the work, we think js justly due the sum of one hundred d fwentyrfive dollars, and we tjiorefore sommond that he be paid that amount. J, A, GILLIAM,.Foreman. INE WATCH AND CLOCK REPAIRING, FINEST REFERENCES. ? ? ? ? y-v mni I U LES U. 11 K.I hi, hi,' Wuiclun?l4<'r juki Jcwfler. ABBEVILLE, S. C. Office and Repair Department on 2*1' ??r of new Realty Company liiiihling, A.geut for a tine diamond, jewelry d watch house. Let me sell you a imond, watch or wedding silver at lolesale prices. ftllys Caudy always frtali at MIltoriTs ok Store. oak , '.1 I LJL,. ...J. Master's Sale* >' . fhe State of South Carolina* County\pf Abbeville. > Coiirtof Cbmrnon Pleas. J. T. Black, as Administrator of the E9tate of Fan Die T. Jones, deceased, Fannie A. Black, Lillian (Jason, Kitty Knight, Sadie Patrick, Kbetta Jones and Bensie Jones, the two last named by J. R. Blake, their guardian adlitem, Plaintiffs, against Rosa Maxwell, Janie M. Henderson, Carrie R. Jones and Victoria T). Lee, Defendants. , By authority of a Decree of Sale by the Court of Common Pleas for Abbeville County, in said State, made in the above stated cane, I will offer f?r ' sale, at Public Outcry, at Abbeville C, H., 8. C., on Salesday in Nov., A. D. 1908 within the legal hours of nalethe following described lands, to-wit: All that lot or parcel of land situate, lying aud being iu Abbeville County, iu ' ' \ v the State aforesaid, containing Three Hundred Acres, more or lens, and bounded by laDda of Estate of Jauue* JJuB-se, B. A. Boyd and the Estate Of James Ed Calhoun, deceased, and known as the Burton traci. Also, all that tract or parcel of land in said State and County, containing Three Hutidred and Fifty and ThreeFourthp Acre*, more or lens, aud bound* ed by lands of Estate of James Ed Calhoun, lands of George Robinson and lauds formerly owned by B. L. Jones, deceased. Als^, that other piece or parcel of land in the town of Mt. Carmel In said Stale uu'd County, containing Nine and One-half Acres, more or I^hs, and being made up of I wo parcels, one of . hiue acres and the other of one-half of an acre, said lots are bounded by lot of 1 the colored Methodist, Church and others. and fronting on the Lowndeeville road. 1 TOBMfl ni? MAT.IT f'oah Pur. !j i J_yiv i?ikj vv kiiuu -vywau# A M* chaser to pay for papers. R.E.HILL, . % Master A. C., 8. C. 1 ? The Following is the Apportionment of Schools Fnnds for the _SoholastioYear 1908^09^ ' .. i ' ct 3 Name f District. ?" ? sf * <a'.r\V- v-l r ? - . i 5 o 50 \ * ' * JL Jh? j! / (Corner .'. I 97 J 2?3 15 ' . Ridge 2 74 274 80 Laovrnde-ville 3 225 1'38 15 Rooky River - 4 98 221 78 i Fork 8 61 982 81 . fjexlui- , - 6 SO 192 M . '.J Latimer 7 177 5vfl 88 < * Moli'erey. . 8 2'5 607 88 Calhoun F?ll* 9 309 l&tO 90 , Mt .C?rmel 10 274 ?53 46 Wllllnaton It 2J5 8*4 57 , Hnnleaux 12 2V5 649 XI McCrmlcfc 13 430 18/8 10 * Buff.la i<. 14 1*1 412 43 Br 1 -view ... . 15 164 007 77 Hnuvey 16 59 154 30 Flatwiod* 17 IM 328 64 \ Beihln IK 187 485 35 1 Ftrn -19 41 <39 61 , Sharon 20 193 .620 78 1 Bethel -21 161 510 84 Abh. vllie 92 968 5193 71 ' ? W..irenio. w. 28 150 360 00 ' RftlO 24 101 425 01 Bru?Dl*e 25 97 2h0 78 Line Formi 26 HI 388 47 ' AnirtVillP 27 186 446 40 Union 28 140 367 17 , '.V Sunny s<mp-_ 29 135 325 22 Cold Npitnu 30 91 239 01 i Long C?ne 31 152 549 05 , < Htnltbv l'e 82 221 660 39 Promise La.iu 83 104 318 18 , Central 81 1*6 448 67 , Hatan 35 74 173 95 Parks Creek .A JV> 81 258 88 . K*o?ee I ,. 37 154 8*6 91 I?ae We?t......I., 88 405 15** 28 Donald*. . .'. 80 151 800 78 . P.nevlll* 4(1 71 904 05 Vermilion 41 6" 144 61 Fondvllle 42 1(>7 303 08 Grove 43 87 237 55 B'OMdmouib 44 1?'8 282 89 ' Jamison 48 75 l&J 89 R.y 46 42 100 80 Wmon* 47 5? 112 59 Young 48 83 200 04 Hal* 49 73 175 20 (Uuli a wiib Dm. No. U) 50 Orn?*K? ; 51 161 966 01 f IndUn Hill ,. 52 128 830 23 D.ake - 53 22 68 95 " ?> Lebanon ? 84 88 215 4#._ R. B. Choftlbara, Co. Supt. of Elucalloa. * ; Bine Eidge Railways Co. F.ffeeMve Junnarv 5.1S07. ? ?\ No. 12 No. 10 No. 8 Eaetboand. Dal y Dally Dally Ex Snn fcJlatlODB? A.M. Y. M. A. IB. I,v WalhaMa 8 30 6 16 12 80 L?v We?l Unlou.. 8 36 6 iO 19 40 Lv ScotCHu. 8 68 6 38 1 10 LvJnrdanla ? 8 S6 5 40 2 06 Lv AdHOiH. 9 1U 6 65 I 28 LvCaerryV.. ... 9 13 5 58 2 33 Lv Prndlelou - ? 9 25 fl 10 2 68 y Lv AatUD - 9 38 (J 18 i 08 Lv Handy apringt- 9 88 6 21 3 18 Lv D^OVCr ...... 9 41 6 28 o 4o Lv West AademiiQ 9 55 6 40 8 43 Lv Ander?oo (Paw. d?i). 10 00 o 4o 8 58 Lv Anderson (Fg'. dep)... 10 0* 6 48 4 48 Ar Helton 10 30 7 Jo 5 16 WeaTboond. No. 11 No 9 No 7 SUtlous- V. M. A.M. A.M. Lv B -lion ~ 7 80 11 15 , Lv Andersou (Ki?i. uepoi) 7 56 12 21 ?? Lv Anden-on (Pans. dep)' 7 59 12 24 8 10 Lv West AnUersoo 8 06 12 80 9 20 Lv Denver 8 18 19 42 8 40 Lv Sandy ?priu^ 8-O 12 47 8 50 Lv AatUD - o /o lHil ? oo Lv Peudieiow 8W 12 57 ? 10 LvCnerrj'a J} }< J ? *? LiV Adam* o t< a iv - LvJurdttDln 9 05 J 2H 10 -0 Lv Henfcn 9 07 4 30 10 Ift Lv Went Uuion 9 25 1 30 11 50 Ar Ww'hniia 9 30 1 55 11 HO . i W il. hIk> hi op at lit* following stations nod take od and let oir pa>sengers?Fbinnty's, James, Tosaway, Wploh. J. R. Anderson, Puperlntendenv ubaiJestOD ana Western Carolina Hy Schedule In tffect May 31,1908. Pally Pally EMly Lv Ansnata 10.10 >m 4 40pm 6.3uara Ar Mi Cormick- 11.56am 6.60pm 8.13am Lv McCormlcn 8.16am Lv Calhoun Falih... 9 2lMm Ar Anderson- ll.Qoam Lv McCorolcK 11.56am 6 50piu ArGrMDWOod ...... i2 57pm 7 55pm Ar Waurloo 1.28pm Ar Lauren* 2 00pm Ex. Sod. Lv Laurens 2.85pm 8.10?m Ar Fountain luu... 8.17pm 928am Ar Greenville 4.00pm 10.20-tm I Lv L?urbus 2.32pm I Ar Woodrutl 8 18pm Ar Spwrmiibiirtf 4 Uipm Lv cpwrinutiarg S.tXJpm (So. Ky.) Ar Hendersonvllie t.4Spm j Ar AHbevUle _8 flUpm I L.v Asheville 7 10am (So. Ry.) Lv Henderbouvtile 8.20am LvHpartanbaig 1220pm (C. 4 W C. Ej) Lv Woodrutl 113pm Ar Lauren* 2.03pm Lv Greenville 12.20pin iJBOpni Ex.auu. Lv Fountain lun... 1.03nm 5.25pm Ar Lauren* 1.43pm fl.25pm Lv Luureu* 8.12pm (C. N.AL.) Ar Clinton 2.32pm Ar Newberry 3 20i>m Ar Columbia 4 50pm Ar rhorleatoii 9.52pm Lv Laurt-UH 2 82pm (' & W.C) Lv Greenwood 3 32pm 6.05am Lv Anderson ii Oopra i Lv Calhoun Fails... M6pai Ar McCcrtnlcb 4 83pm 7.52-m 5.45pm Ar McCormlck 4.:'8pm 7 5'2am Vxipm J,v Anvn^tn 6 I5nm 9.a.Vm 7SSpm Tr-weekly 1'iince Car Hue hpiwvpn Augiutu hih) A'licvlile. Trains Is"or. 1 and '? leave Augusta Tuesdays, Tburi-dajs and Pat- 1 urdHys. Leave Ashevllle Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday*. Note?The above arrivals and departures,as well as connections with other companies, are given an Information, and are not guaranteed. Ernest Williams, O. P. Agt. Augusta, Ua. H. A. Brand, Traffic Manager. I I