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! iiiv xU-cij ui«* “What do you mean by pro-rata collections ?”“When a fine is assessed, the pris-onor often goes to jail for a short period, and afterwards pays out the balance assessed against him not rebated by his commitment. In such instances, the State is entitled to its I pro-rata share of the amount paid. I found that it had been the habit of the officers to appropriate the amount paid for their own costs, leaving the State of Indiana to ‘hold the bag.’ It was the duty of the Mayor to protect the interests of the school fund, giving it its share of such collections. He had not done so, and the amountof §156.78 was paid by him as the State's share of such pro-rata collections, upon my demand.”“ Your collections from replevin bail—§139.79—are also a handsome addition to the school fund.”uOh! that was easy enough. The names of the replevin bail being entered on the docket, I had only to hunt up the bail and demand the amount. I got §50.00 from one gentleman. He had paid the costs of the case to the officers, but no demand had been made for the fines. In one instance, I collected a fine from replevin bail which was assessed as long ago as 1884. Every dollar of this amount collected might have been added to the school fund long ago had the officers made proper effort. Their indifference to the interests of the school children was a most astounding feature of my investigation.” “Did you find many fictitious names on the docket?”“That is a hard question to answer. “John Doe” seems to have been frequently before his Honor, and the “Jones” family have not entirely escaped. How many of the names are fictitious I have no means of knowing. With the assistance of C. W. Watkins, I made a complete abstract of the convictions on the docket from the 8th day of May, 1884, to the 9th day of October, 1889. I have no further use for it, and if you desire you may have it. It will furnish you with a list of the law-breakers in the city for futuie reference and may be handy in your business.”“Looking over the abstract I do not find the name of Dr. Wau-ke-maugh, the Indian doctor who was assessed and fined last June for practicing medicine without a county license. Was he not fined in the Mayor’s court?”“My attention was called to this case, and I asked the Mayor for an explanation of its absence from the docket. He admitted that the fine and costs had been paid, but said that the papers had been lost or stolen from his desk before he had entered it up. He assured me he would write the case up and turn the fine over to the State at once.”“Frank Bartel, a traveling man,
Newspaper Details
Huntington Herald
Huntington, Indiana, US
Tue, Oct 25, 1887
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Lake C.
IN, USA 15 Jan 2020
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