Sheriff Doht's Latest Grabs

New York, 1895

Sheriff Doht is not particular how he gets possession of public money so that he gets it. Counsel to the Supervisors prevented at the last meeting of the board the audit of a bill for the services of deputy sheriffs at Maspeth and Ridgewood during the strike. The bill says that twenty men or more were kept on duty until February 27th, which was two weeks longer than the strike lasted. This apparently needless employment of men was not, however, the counsel's reason for advising the rejection of the bill. His objection was that the bill was not made out as required by law. It was not itemized. It read like this, for example: "February 5, twenty men, $60." The bill did not give the name of a single person. The Sheriff simply wanted the money claimed in the bill turned over to him, to be by him paid over to the under officers. It would be clearly illegal to do that. The County Treasurer is the only legal disbursing officer, and his duties cannot be assumed by the Sheriff. Some of the Supervisors found fault on their own account. They said they had information that the Sheriff had charged the county $4 per day for the services of some of the deputies and had paid them but $3 per day. The officers, it seems, had complained of this unfair treatment to a number of Supervisors. The Supervisors should make an investigation of these charges before auditing any more bills.

The Sheriff made still another grab after public money. He submitted for audit a bill for $60 for the services of a jail keeper. The Supervisors have no right to pay such a bill. It has never been done in the history of this county. The jail keeper is the turnkey. The law provides for the payment of fees to a turnkey. The turnkey fees under Sheriff Norton last year amounted to $1,947.35. Out of this income Mr. Norton paid his jail keeper's salary. Mr. Doht will get more than this sum by reason of having a great increase in prisoners, and he wants to keep it all and get $720 more out of the county treasury. It should not be allowed, for it would not be legal.


Thanks

Senator O'Connor, the Republican leader, certainly deserves the thanks of every citizen of the Empire State for clearly defining the chief object in life of the present "reform" regime. "Tell me which bill has the most in it for the Republican party," he said, in effect, on the senate floor, "and that bill has my vote." And most of the Assemblymen are asking, "What is there in it for me?" The state never had a more corrupt legislature.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 15, 1895, p. 4.