History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

CHAPTER XVI.
MISCELLANEOUS.
COUNTY FINANCES AND STATISTICS.
There is no more certain index to the financial condition of a
free State than its public accounts. So it is with any portion of the
State where the.citizens manage their own affairs; for as a general
rule the governing board of a county exercise sound judgment, and
are slow to authorize any outlay which does not give promise of
future profit. The annual exhibit of the county treasurer is a safe
basis on which to rest the financial condition of a county; but to
realize its gradual development the table of assessment has to be
referred to. The tabulation,of the amount, resulting annually from
taxation, is of little consequence, beyond the chance it offers the
curious of summing up the moneys contributed directly by the
people for the support of good government. The indirect taxation
accruing to the general Government is much more extensive than
the direct, but the possibility of obtaining reliable figures in this
regard is so far removed that the subject could be treated only in a
speculative manner; therefore, the reader must be content with a
knowledge of what is certain, viz: that the citizens contribute
directly or indirectly, or both, as much as should render the
general Government, the State government, and the local government as great as the principles of pure and simple Republicanism
require it to be, and which it is not; as mindful in guarding and
honoring the legacy, which the Revolutionary Fathers left us, as it
should be, and which it is not; as paternal in character, and as
solicitous for the public good as a Republican government ought
to be, and which it is not. It is conceded that the Government
under which we live is the most liberal, the one alone under which
man has attained his position in the universe, and the nearest
approach to true government known to the civilization of our day.
To make it what it is capable of being made, and surround it with
that halo of truth and honesty which can alone pertain to a republic, is all that is required. Official perfidy should be stigmatized,
and the guilty punished,-not nominally, but severely; for he
who would prove faithless in an office bestowed by a free people
deserves chains, not liberty,-a refuge among slaves rather than
a home among freemen.
PROGRESS AS MARKED BY VALUATION.
In the record of the Board of Supervisors, the condition of the
county for the ten years succeeding its organization has been
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