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About Heppner gazette. (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1908)
Oregon Hiritcriwtl Mnity City Hull VOL. 24. HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY.. MAY 7. 1908 NO. 1ISC PRO i , coin Taxes Have Increased Un der its Workings in Two Years.' Sheriff Shutt's Friend Gates Shoots Wide of the Mark. In its issue of April 30 the Times! understand why business men who published an article from the pen I are not fanatics can favor licensed of Hon. E. M. Shutt, present sheriff of Morrow county and candidate for re-election, anent the liquor traffic, in which Mr. Shutt gives in full a letter from Mr. L. J. Gates, "representative of the Kent Mer cantile Co., with Balfour, Guthrie & Co.," etc. Mr. Gates, representative of a "great" mercantile establishment in a city of less than half a hun dred inhabitants, located in the ex treme southern part of Sherman county, in his letter, undertakes to give some "facts" about the cpndi- tiona that exist now in Sherman and what existed in that county prior to the election of two years ago, when the liquor traffic was voted out of thp county, and in do ing eo he twists facts so uniherci fully that one cannot but wonder what kind of conscience the gen- tlemau possesses. In order to ascertain whether the statements made by Mr. Gates were true, the writer took occasion to visit Sherman county recently, search the records of the county and of its three prinoipal towns. One of Mr. Gates' erroneous statements is that "two years ago they told us if we put the saloons out of business, our taxes would be something dreadful; well our taxes have been lowered each year since the saloons went out of commis sion." WHAT THE RECORDS SHOW. The records in the court house at Moro show Mr. Gates to be wide of the truth in this statement Here is the record: County and state tax Sherman county 1905 (the year before the saloons were "put out of commission''), 8 mills on the dollar; 1906, 10 mills; 1907, 12 mills. City tax 1905 (the year before the saloons were put out of commission), Moro, 10 mills; Grass. Valley, 3 mills; Wasco, nothing. 190G, Moro, 10 mills; Grass Valley, 12 mills; Wasco, 15 milk 1907, Moro, 10 mills; Grass Valley, 12 mills; Wasco, 15 mills. Thus it will be seen that in two years with out saloons the county taxes have increased 4 mill?; the city taxes of Moro have remained the same, those of Grass Valley have in creased from 3 mills to twelve and those of Wasco from nothing to 15 mills. And still Mr. Gates says he "cannot understand how it is possible that any good, live, sensi ble business man can for a moment stand for the saloon." IT BITS nis roCKET. Terhaya if Mr. Gates would brighten up hia imagination a little he would be able to see when a sensible business man's pocket is hurt he inquires the cause. iVhen a business man finds his taxes in creased from nothing to 15 mills on the dollar, as those of the town of Wasco, or from three mills to 12, as have those of Grass Valley, to Bay nothing of the 4 mills in crease in county taxes, he could saloons. BUILDINGS ARE VACANT. And the loss from increased tax ation is not the oply loss that the business men of Sherman county towns have sustained in the past two years. In 1905 every business house in Grass Valley was occu pied and there was not a dwelling to rent. Today there are some splendid business houses with signs "for rent" in the windows, while 30 per cent of the dwellings are vacant. In Moro are also many desirable business houses nnoccu. pied, and not less than 10 per cent of the dwellings are vacant It is not the purpose of this ar ticle to say that the suppression of the saloons in Sherman connty is responsible for this, but the thonghtfal business man can draw his own conclusion. However, something has caused this falling off in the population of these two previously thriving places, notwith standing that last year Sherman county harvested a bumper crop that was sold at top prices, which under normal conditions should have made general good times and universal prosperity. BUSINESS DRIVEN AWAY. In conversation with Sherman county business men it wae stated that in the past two years many ot tue farmers nad gone either to Portland or The Dalles to do their trading; they had ceased to come to their local towns for some reason, .(presumably because they could not find diversity there) but on the other hand had gone to The Dalles or Portland, and while there had bought the bulk of their supplies. Another striking inci dent they mentioned was that the laborers who work on the farms, who in the past came to the local towns when paid off, and there bought their clothing, etc., whereas now as soon as they are paid for their labor they board the train for outside places, never even giving the local towns a pleasant look. Thus thousands of dollars are tak- witbout the levy of any direct tax and Moro with a tax of only three mills but now with increased tax ation tbey are running behind, and the city warrants of Grpsa Valley and Moro are offered at a discount. With these facts staring them in the face, is it any wonder that bus iness men rb a rule are not rank prohibitionists? Were Mr. Gates ti view matters from a purely bus iness standpoint, possibly he could understand why others do not see things as he does. A DROWxixG MAX GKASTIXG AT STRAWS. Certainly if Mr. Shutt were as confident of success us he pretends he would confine himself to the troth. In the article above refer red to be says: "The above letter speaks for itself. We have in our possession several others of the same kind." Possibly he has, but of what val ue are they if they are not true? Anybody can make assertions, but simple statements not backed up by facts are valueless. Anybody can say, as does Mr. Gates and re iterated by Mr. Shutt, that the en forcement of prohibition results in lower taxation, but an examination of the tax rolls of counties that have eliminated the liquor traffic usually reveals the fact that county taxes have increased slightly and city taxes have doubled or trebled, as they have in Sherman county. These figures can be easily obtained. Since Mr. Sbutt has held up 8her man county as an example of the "splendid'' results of prohibition from a financial standpoint, let him prove his assertions by getting a statement from Clerk McDaniels as to the rate of taxation in that county since prohibition has been in vogue there and not rely upon the simple statement of a merchant in the obscure town of Kent. DOUBLE TRAGEDY TWO KILLED AND ONE WOUNDED. Henry .Tlorriion Kills Girl, Wound Iter Escort and Tqrna linn on Himself. I-OoK BEFORE YOU LEAP. Let Properly Owners Learn Where the Money Is to Come From He fore They Cut off Public Itevcnues. en out of the county each year, never to return to the channels from which it was drawn. TOWN'S LOSE REVENUE. Prior to the electiou of 190G there were two saloons ia Grass Valley, two in Moro and three in Wasco. Each cf these paid an an nual license of $S00.0O, but now these towns are deprived of this revenue. Grass Valley and Moro of $1000 a year each and Wasco of $2400.00, notwithstanding people by some means get all the intoxi cating beverages they want by some surreptitious means of which tne puoiic Knows not the source, though it is common repute that liquors are sold and consumed in the several towns in large quanti ties. Before 1906 these towns were re ceiving revenue sufficient to meet their current expenses Wasco A proposition ia to be submitted to the voters of Morrow county at the com ing general election to Buopresa tbe liquor traffic throughout the county, which is one that especially concerns the property owners of incorporated towns, since it is a direct thrust at the revenue raisi g powers of every munici pality, and before property owners de ckle upon this step let them inquire from what source the money for carry ing on their several city governments is to come from if the revenue from the b loon licenses ia cut off, and let fhein also consider what their taxes will be in that event. For the year 19 7 the city of Heppner collected on a special city tax $2133. Ihe revenue the city receives annually from the nine saloon licenses, at $300 a year, is $4300. Take away this and the city would have to raise from direct tax three times what is now collected, and the levy would necessarily have to beat least 21 mills. Taxpayers of lleppner, are you ready to vote tbis burden upon yoursflves? In 1907 the town of Lexington levied a 15 mill special tax and collected there from 146. Its one ealoon paid a license of $000. Allowing that the annual ex penses of maintaining the city govern ment are $1040 (which is the apparent income the city had that year from taxes and saloon license) and that a direct tax of 15 mills created a fund of only $446. in the event of the city being deprived of the revenue arising from ealoon li cense, a levy of approximately 35 mills would be required. Can the property of that place stand such a burden in ad dition to tbe regular state and county tax? It may be argued that If tbe saloons (Concluded on rage eight J Henry Morrison, a brakeman on the Heppner branch of the O. R. & N , last Sunday afternoon, crazed with jealousy, shot and instantly killed his former sweetheart Miss Norah White, wounded his rival Barney Ahalt, and a few minutes later placed the muzzle of the revolver against his own forehead and shot himseif, dying from the effect of the wound without regaining conscious ness abont five hours later. Morrison had been payin r attention to Miss into for some time and it is said that they were engaged to be mar ried. Not long ago a rival appeared in the person of Barney Ahalt. Morrison took the fact of bis lo ing favor to heart seriously and constantly brooded over his trouble. On several different occasions lately be was found crying bitterly by his associates and be said that he was in deep trouble. . Everything goes to show that the murder was carefully planned. Coming from Heppner Junction Sat urday evening on his regular run. he did not take time to get Nhis supper in this city. He went to Express Messen ger Smith and borrowed a Colt revolver of 41 calibre, stating to Mr. Smith that a dog dowi. the track bad been annoy ing him and he wanted to be prepared. Taking a railroad speeder be went to lone aud got his 6upper and had a lunch put up wnioh be took with him to Cecil, the home of Miss Wright. Arriving at the little Btation nnob served, he put the speeder out of sight in a field and went to a warehouse where he cut sageorush and grass and Irnada a bed under the building, secret ing himself, but being in a position to get a good view of the Wright resi dence. He spent Saturday Bight and until Sunday afternoon in his place of biding until the appearance at a little before 2 o'clock ot Miss Wright and Mr. Ahalt who had left the Wright residence for a buggy ride. The young people left Ce cil and started south toward Morgon, when Morrison secured his speeder and started up the tracts to head them off. Being recognized by the people in the busgy Morrison waved his hand in a friendly manner and kept on up the track. Up the track about two mile from Morgan, Morrison was seen etand- ng on an embankment at the side of the wBgon road. When Mies Wright and Ahalt catre up to w here Morrison was standing, he aked them to stop, aud with the words "you had better say your prayers," commenced shooting. Miss Wright was shot in the top of the head and was instantly killed. Two bul'ets went through Ahalt's clothing, grazing his body and a third caused a slight flesh wound in the shoulder. Ahalt whipped the team into a run and Mi.s Wright's lifeless body fell over the front of the bugy, lodging on the tongue and axle of the vehicle. After getting out of range of the bullets, Ahalt pulled the girl back into the buggy and whipped into Morgan. Morrison followed the flying team to Morgan end when in speaking distance of A. A. Morgan's residence asked if ne could come in. When toIJ tnat be could not, he asned if the girl was dead. He was told that she waa and he pulled a revolver from his pocket and shot himself in the forehead. He was carried to a warehouse where be lived about five and one half hours. LOCAL Oi'TION AND BUSINESS Ringing Testimonial from the Leading Merchant and Busin ess Man of Sherman County. "Wasco, Oregon, April 27th, lyfJS. Mr. E. M. Shutt, Heppner, Oregon. Dear Sir and Friend: vVe understand that your town and county are going to vote on Local Option next Jane, and we hope that from a moral and busi ness standpoint your good people will do everything that is possible to carry the day for better things. Before and after Local Option in our town and county we we-e en gaged in the general merchandise, banking and flour mill business. We are glad to eay that there is a marked improvement in cash re ceipts and monthly collections in all kinds of business, especially the general merchandise business, 6iuce Local Option carried. About one year ago we sold our general store, nd the present owner, with a stock from $15,000 to $20,000, sold dur ing last December goods to the amount of $10,000, over $7000 be ing cash. This was the largest sale ever made during the month December in the history of cur town, not excepting aoy store with three times the f-tock. There is a marked increase in attendance in our public school, and many more families have moved in town for school purposes. Tbe law is not strictly enforced here, but there is not tbe dissipa tion by the vour-g men ard boys that there was before the Ihw effective.' While occasionally meet npon the street an intoxicated man, before Local Option ii ivss impossible for a lady to wt)fis5Tjr the street without meeting eeki-j-men under the influence of liquor and hearing very bad language. ' For twelve months prior t He new law there was paid in fines t this city $211, and for tbe eam length of time following the aew law there was not a dollar paid ia fines to tbe city. Sincerely your Friend, W. M. Barastt. OCAL OPTION MEETING ulon service of Churches anal Big: mass Meeting on may 17. On Sunday, May 17, three mon strous mass meetings of the citi zens or lleppner and Morrow CDunty will be held in the Com mercial building, at which prom inent speakers from abroad, as well as local talent, will discuss the is sues of local option. Basin ess men and atl others are invited to coins out to these meetings and learn all about the financial phszes oi this important question. AH advoeate of local option in Morrow comity are urged to,advertise these meet ings and see that monstrous crowds are in attendance. Kemember tie date, Sunda3 May 17th. Hood River feels sure of gettii the new county. for chlldrem safe, turm. Jfo eplatm Entirely Under Local Control and Management Bank of Heppner Capital $50,000 r;ully Paid (Concluded on page .) Officers W. O. MINOR, President J. II. McilALEY, Vice-President W. S. WHARTON, Cashier VAWTEK CHAW FORD, Asst. Cashier Directors W. O. MINOR C. E. WOODSON W. G. SCOTT J H. McHALEY W. S. WHARTON Loans Made at Eight Per Cerr Fflaa PEH GEHT IHTEBEiT FaiD OH TIPIE EEPOBIT WE ARE GROWING Gain in Deposits, month of January SHlT'-VvS " ' " February ,".!:.'. I " ' " March io.;v Total gain for first three months, NOT BAD FOR THE DULL SEASON. ?;?s.i; Ideal Gentleman's Resort BILLIARD AND POOL ROOMS We take special pride in keeping our Tobacco and Cigars in excellent condition. Forty different brands ot high grade cig'rs constantly in Hock. Try one o our Havanas. Cigars wholesale add Retail. n nnr n tt- f sgi mn vtjvs kh