Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1898 — by the following editorials. [ARTICLE]

by the following editorials.

“In another column we publish a statement from the county auditor in regard to those missing pages from the commissioners’ record. While not disputing the truth of Mr. Murray’s statement, the fact remains that the people of Jasper county simply have his word as to why the mutilation was made. The record pages in question are gone from the boot, and we will add that no matter what error might have been made, the auditor nor no other officer is justified in cutting any pages whatever from any record in his possession. Public records are most sacred property aSU should be kept inviolate. We are much surprised to have an officer of Mr. Murray’s intelligence and experience come before the people and say that he cut four pages from a county record of such importance as this one simply “because he had made a mistake” in writing up the proceedings of the board.” In regard to the first part of the above, we only need say that Mr. Murray is not only one of the most careful, conscientious and faithful and at the same time accommodating auditors the county ever had; but he is also a man of too high personal character for this attempt of the Democrat to throw doubt upon his character for truthfulness and honor, to have any other effect than such as will re-act upon the Democrat itself. In regard to the talk about the sacred character of the county records, it is sufficient to say that the leaves were no part of the county records when they were removed. To become such they must be read and approved by the commissioners and signed by them, and Mr. Murray discovered the error and removed the leaves, before they were thus read and approved. They were no more a part of the record than would a big blot of ink on the same leaves have been; and it was no more harm to cut them out than it would be to cut out a leaf which a bottle of ink had been spilled over. The matter cut out and rewritten in its proper order, was a part of the record of the commissioners’ session of August 1897; and had the Democrat editors had the fairness to have compared the record as finally written with the commissioners’ bench docket, they would have found that everything done, appeared properly recorded in the record book.