Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 86, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1918 — DEFENSE FUNDS FIXED BY BOARD [ARTICLE]

DEFENSE FUNDS FIXED BY BOARD

STATE ACCOUNTANTS ISSUE DEFENSE FUND TABLES FOR COUNTIES. The state board of accounts announced yesterday a list of what it holds to be equitable sums which may be appropriated by county councils for their respective councils of delense. / "We don’t pretend that there is any law behind this arrangement,” declared Gilbert H. Hendren, chief examiner for the board. He explained, however, that after conferences with Governor Goodrich, Attorney General Ele Stansbury and Chairman M. E. Foley of the State Council of Defense, it was agreed that the sums would’ not be attacked by the state board examiners in the hope that their authorization would finally be made legal by some future legislature.

It was held that the money was urgently needed just now. Already $3,000 has been appropriated for such use in Fulton county. It was this appropriation that was taken as a basis for the table issued yesterday. From it was worked out on the basis of valuation and population as compared with the Fulton county valuations, population and appropriation the following table: First Class, $30,000 —Marion county. Second Class, $12,000 each—Allen, Lake, St. Joseph, Vanderburg and Vigo counties. Third Class, $7,500 each—Delaware, Grant, Knox, Laporte, Madison, Tippecanoe and Wayne counties. Fourth Class, $6,000 each—Cass, Elkhart, Greene, Montgomery, Randolph and Sullivan counties. Fifth Class, $4,500 each—Boone, Clay, Clinton, Gibson, Hamilton, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Kosciusko, Lawrence, Miami, Shelby and Wabash counties. Sixth Class, $3,750 each—Adams, Bartolomew, Clark, Deviess, Decatur, DeKalb, Fountain, Hendricks, Jasper, Jay, Marshall, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Parke, Porter, Posey, Putman, Rush, Washington, Wells and White counties. Seventh Class, $3,000 each—Benton, Carroll, Dearborn, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Fulton, Hancock, Harrisoq, Jefferson, Johnson, Lagrange, Newton, Orange, Pulaski, Ripley, Spencer, Vermillion, Warren, Warrick and Whitley, counties.

Eighth Class, $2,200 each—Blackford, Fayette, Jennings, Martin, Owen, Perry, Pike, Stark, Steuben and Tipton counties. Ninth Class, $1,500 each—Brown Crawford, Scott and Switzerland counties. Tenth Class, S9OO each—Ohio and Union counties. The state council already has made arrangements for the use of SIOO,000. The attorney general believes, lowever, that a liberal construction of state laws should be applied to permit expenditures' by county councils on the basis of their work being necessary aid to prosecuting the war. An opinion to that effect was landed Chairman Foley. It holds that neither courts nor individuals should be captious in construing laws to aid the war’s prosecution. A part of it follows: “I believe this is the true and jatri otic theory, of construing laws n time of war. We find, under the Federal statute and the Indiana laws abundant authority to say that there is law authorizing the board of commissioners to ask for such an appropriation as mentioned by you, and the County Councils have authority not in conflict with our Supreme Court decisions to make such an appropriation as they may deem reasonably necessary to assist the County Councils of Defense in procuring from the people the doing of their part in this great conflict. “You also requested 1 my opinion as to whether bills should be presented to the commissioners for all of the items for which such money would be expended. “It would not be a reasonable construction to say that -for each paper of pins or box of tacks purchased in that work a bill should be filed with the board of commissioners. I think it could be much more effectually used by making an appropriation direct to the council, and it would not be improper for the board of commissioners to require as accounting at some future date by the County Council of Defense.”

was tried, and they have a feeling that before he passes sentence he will take into consideration the mass of evidence on Mell’s behalf, and, that he will deal more fairly with him than the jury has done. People in this county who have known Mell all his life refuse to believe that he was guilty of any intentional crime, and are sincere in the hope that he may get a square deal when the matter comes up again.