Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1902 — KEPT $4,000. [ARTICLE]

KEPT $4,000.

Serious Charge Against One of Abe’s Henchmen. EX-AUDITOR A GREAT “GRAFTER.” Tax-Ferret Workman Sued In Owen County for Witholding $3,600. It will perhaps be of interest to the people of Jasper county to know that the man employed by “Honest Abe” to investigate the tax-payers of this county, and, contrary to all law and precedent, make a re-valuation of personal property, is himself charged with being short about $4,000 in his accounts during the four years he was auditor of Owen county, Ind. Owen county is democratic, and Mr. Workman was elected auditor in 1894, taking the office Nov. 6, 1895, and serving until Nov. 6, 1899. An investigation of the county records was made some time ago by the democrats, the dominant party, and as a result thereof ex-Auditor Workman was found to have drawn $3,660.23 more than his regular salary of $1,900 per year, which he had failed to turn over to the county. An action was brought for the amount against Workman and his bondsmen, Alexander Bryce, William Fender, Robert A. White, Walter E. William, Benjamin E. Allison, Richard McNiell, Samuel R. McKelvy, George W. Edwards, John C. H. Baker and William L. Barnes, by Owen county, at the October term of the Owen circuit court to recover the amount of the alleged shortage with interest and damages, amounting all told to $5,500, and the case is now pending in court. The complaint, which is quite lengthy, sets out in detail the alleged moneys which Mr. Workman is charged with having collected and put down in his jeans. If the allegations of the complaint are correct, Workman was a grafter from ’way back, and was, apparantly, one of those “democrats” for revenue only. Until Mr. Workman is cleared of the above charges, we insist he is not a fit man to sit in judgment on the honesty of the taxpayers of this county. The Remington case of Lamborn vs. The Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Co., was being tried as we go to press.