Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1905 — PETITIONS BEING CIRCULATED. [ARTICLE]

PETITIONS BEING CIRCULATED.

People of the County Aroused Against Measure To Relieve County Treasurer.

In compliance with The Democrat’s urgent suggestion of last week petitions are being circulated in different parts of the county asking the legislature not to pass the special bill of Representative Wilson releasing County Treasurer Nichols from liability for loss of the $23,000 op deposit in the McCoy bank when it closed its doors last April, and placing the loss on the taxpayers of the county. These petitions are being signed by nearly every taxpayer to whom they are presented, some of those who had signed the Nichols petition for his relief, through misrepresentation, now signing these petitions against the release. It seems that those circulating Nichols petitions have in several instances, at least, induced people to sign their petitions by telling them that the money to re-im-burse the county for the loss would be paid by the State, out of the state funds collected in the entire state, and that'it would be but a very small sum indeed that Jasper county taxpayers would have to pay. It seems strange that anyone would be so easy as to believe such nonsense as this, and yet quite a number have been found who actually did believe it. The loss would fall entirely on Jasper county taxpayers and on no one else. As we stated last week, the

amount is nearly one-half the sum collected here in a single year of county taxes; that is, taxes levied and collected for county purposes, and to raise this sum again by taxation would mean a largely increased county levy. This fact must be apparent to every thinking man. Nichols is said to nave secured about five hundred natfiesTts his petition, many of those who signned being very insignificant/tax- { layers, and a great many probaby not even paying their poll tax. The petitions against legislative relief are being signed by such taxpayers as John Makeever, L. H. Myers, John Eger, W. H. Eger, Granville Moody, C. D. Nowqls, Richard Grow and scores of smaller taxpayers. Representative Wilson and Senator MoCain have each been written to have no further action taken in the proposed measure of relief until these petitions can be filed with them. In the meantime, if you are not in favor of paying this sum in taxes again, and do not get an opportunity to sign one of these petitions, write a personal letter to “Senator McCain, Member of Assembly. Indianapolis, Ind.,” and it would do no harm to write any other member of the senate whom you know personally or by name, and state to them your wishes in the matter.