Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1898 — Points in Judge Palmer’s Decision. [ARTICLE]

Points in Judge Palmer’s Decision.

The following summary of the principal points elucidated iq Judge Palmer’s decision in the tax ferrets case, is from a Rensselaer corres- * pondent in the Indianapolis Journal: First—That Section 7853, R. S., 1894, under provisions of which contracts by boards of commissioners of various counties of this State have been sustained, was repealed by implication by Section 147 of the general tax law of 1881, so far as it has reference to the board employing persons to discharge the duties of officers, and that the repeal of the provision in the law of 1881, which took place in 1880, did not revive that part of Section 7853 repealed by tho law of 1881. Second—That the matter of the discovery of omitted properly beyond that provided was a question for the Legislature und x that the Board of Commissioners had no control over it and that any attempt on the part of the board to interfere with the duties of the county officers was unwarranted and ultra vires. Third —That the contracts giving the ferrets a certain percentage of all they recover are wholly contrary to public policy, are charnportous, have a tendency to fraud and are void. Fourth—That the contract with tho board allowing tho ferrets 50 per cent, of all they recovered out of the general funds of tho county, when, in fact, the county only receives nbout 14 per cent, of the amounts discovered,, was unconscionable and would not be upheld.