Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1900 — They Respect No Law. [ARTICLE]

They Respect No Law.

The county and township reform laws provide for publication of many matters in ’‘the’’ two leading papers of the county representing the two leading political parties casting the highest number of votes at the last preceding election,” in order that the public may be appraised of what is being done with its money. In this county the two leading parties are the democratic party and the republican party. The republicjins, 01 course, have a right to adopt the paper they choose as THE LEADING paper, but they deny this right to democrats. They propose to dictate to the democrats what a democratic paper is and what paper they must accept as such. That this is unfair ami unjust and would only be resorted to by a gang of unscrupulous and law defying rascals will be admitted by every fairminded man in the county, regardless of polities, and was so admitted by one of the previous leaders of the republican party, the late" M. L. Spitler, who said that the democrats themselves: should be the sole judges of the paper they regarded as their organ and the leading paper of the county. To show how The Democrat is regarded by the party it represents we have but to note that it was re-adopted as the only recognized organ of the democratic party in Jasper county at the reorganization of the County Central Committee last winter without a dissenting voice; the publication of all county and district convention calls have been authorized to be made only in The Demix'raT; of the calls made for the various township conventions, which were made by the township committees, every one was sent to The Democrat for publication, and to no other paper in jasper county. The Democratic County Central Committee and both the democratic and republican members of the County Council have asked, in order that more publicity might ,be given to public business, that publications required to be made in a democratic paper be given to The Democrat. Notwithstanding this a number of law-defying township ami county officers of Jasper county continue to utterly disregard the plain language and meaning of the law and publish these notices in an obscure sheet that has not 25 democratic subscribers in the whole county. They know this when they make the publication, but they have so little regard for the law, their oath of office and the rights of others that they in some cases even boast of their crime. With such a record is it surprising that the public business of the county is in such bad condition? If a man has so little regard for his oath that he will op-

■ miHM , ,) , ,J I enly and flagrantly defy the laws placed on the statute books for his guidance, is it astonihsing if he is unscrupulous in other matters?' Is it to be wondered at that public funds have been squandered right, and left and that the taxpayers of the county now have eight lawsuits on their hands, witha good prospect of more to follow? Are we to be astonished if private contracts ar« entered into by township\ and county officers contrary toJ>w, or that in many instances us from two to four times as much for the same service as it does in other coonties, or that contractors bonds are lost and special funds misappropriated ? No, no, such men are not fit to hold any office within thegift of thepeople and theyshould be relegated to the rank of private citizens at the first opportunity, and men pitt in their places who regard public office as a public trust -and the laws laid down for their guidance as sacred, and not as merely so much clap-trap to be obeyed or not, as they choose.