Image provided by: Crook County Historical Society/Bowman Museum; Prineville, OR
About Crook County journal. (Prineville, Or.) 189?-1921 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1914)
JoU gene Or Crook County JouraaLl COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER FOR CROOK COUNTY VOL.XVIII$1.50 YEAR PRINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCT. 15, 1914. Kalmrni at th pottoffltM at Prlnrlll Oregon, woond-clMn matter NO. 47 County Division Forces Working Overtime l'rineville business men hitve been attending tho 3-in-l, or conversily, the Wn-3 meetings held by tho nro- county divlsioulst of Madras at Lamontu, Round Butte and other places. Quite lively sessions marked tho proceedings at every point. Tho county divlMion!nt aro hav ing hard sledding to make the farmer believe that three county governments can be supported an cheaply as one. Where both Hlriet are given an equal hearing the "pros" get the worst of it. "Graft and extravagance" have to bear the brunt of tho argument for cutting up the county. Tho "graft" talk has been exploded so thoroughly by aearching iiivcstiga tiomi that it no longer appeals to a man of ordinary intelligence. Tho "extravagance" dope can be made to apear plausible if the underlying causes are not brought out. The, comparisons male In county expenses between the years 1908 and 1913 are misleading and will deceive no one. Ik-fore the advent of the railroads development was slow and county expenses light. At one time the county clerk had do his own work, or pay for for having It done, out of his own pocket. In time a deputy was allowed and when recording piled up more help was needed and paid for by the county. The fees from the olllce, of course, more than pay oflice expenses, Tho same is true of the assessor's olliee. There Is ten times as much work to do now as formerly. If deputy assessors are to visit every home and every piece of ground it is going to take time and money. Assessor Foster claims that every resident of the county is entitled to a personal visit from the man who loes his assessing and all this adds to the exiene8 of his oflice. The same is true of the county suiKjrintendent's oflice. New schools are forming all tho timo until now there aro 100 in tho county. This calls for two school supervisors by law but one only is employed. The superintendent is busy all the time trying to improve school standurds. He must keep in close touch with every school district if he is to do any good. This takes time and money. And so on down the list. State taxes have more than trebled since l'J08. The county has nothing to do with levying this tax. The expenses of the county last year were (omitting the cento column), according to Expert Ball: bounty court f 2,525 Sheriff Clerk , 5(2og Treasurer , U5 Ncliool Huperliitemlent 3.678 Hurveyor 2,W2 Assessor,,, , , 6,271 Total, 133,025 It will be noted that the ex penses of the sheriff were unusually heavy, much more than common. by reason of the long trips made for horse and cattle thieves and other contingent expenses. Include everything, and McE Hall didn't overlook anything, out of tlll,- 143.20 collected only 33.G25 was used for county running expenses. If you want county efficiency you must pay for it It costa as much for the county as in any other line of business. It is a whole lot cheaper in the long run. When you cast your ballot November 3 for county division make it read "X NO " Are Opposed to County Division Dry Lake, Ore., Oct 9, 1914. Editor Journal: Reading the ar ticle "Circular Has no Signature," in the Bend Bulletin of September 30, as the article seems to have been written by L. II. Irving,! secretary of JefTerson county, pro-' posed. First let us look at the map as ' published in the Bend Bulletin of the same date. Look for Prineville, the present county seat, then note the boundary lines of the proposed Deschutes and Jefferson counties. Any one with a mite of education can figure out the proposition of a benefit of such boundary lines. Take I a look at the map, following the boundary lines 0f the proposed Des chutes; county. It covers 80 miles east and west on the Crook county line, commencing at the southwest corner, thence wct HO miles, thence north 12 miles, tlx nee west 6 miles, thence north 6 miles, thence west 12 miles, thence north 6 miles thence west 5 miles, thence north 12 miles, thence west 6 miles, thence north 3 miles, thence west 6 miles, thence north 15 miles, thence west 37 miles, thence south on the Crook county boundary to the commence ment at the southwest corner. Again look at the map of the proposed county. It is a similar picture, and oh! bless the Crook portion left! Now we ask as to the wonderful savings of such proposed division. Is there a county in the state of Oregon that can show us that they reduce the expense of running the county by paying less salary because they are small? Take for example Multnomah county, Hood River and we undoubtedly will find that they have deputies in the field assisting on all lines and drawing salaries the same as in other larger counties. The territory of a county does not necessarily have to enlarge the num ber of deputies. But rather the real cause for the great expense of counties is the extravagance found in such offices as that of the sheriff, where you will note by examining the records that there are many special trips with no excuse for same and no reason for same, and other Another Slap at Chopping Up the County Editor Journal: The enthusias tic organs of the County Division schemes where enthusiasm is evi dently kindled by the! hope of pecuniary returns from the' benefits accruing from the establishment of county seats, where all the enthu siasm is emanating, take occasion to comment on the small amount of newspaper space used against the dividing of the county, but if they were not so blinded ,by their mad rush to split up the county and reap the reward of their efforts out of the pockets of the'already burdened taxpayers, they might see the utter uselessness of asserting and repeat ing that two and two make four, or that county division will increase taxes and entail other hardships up on the citizens! of the countv at large, and they might also see that no amount of newspaper space or circularizing of the county will "pull the wool over the eyes" of the voters to such a self-evident and apparent fact, and those opposed to county division are perfectly willing to leave the matter to the good judgment of the voters as to whether or not county division will increase taxes, which is admittedly the paramount issue involved in the controversy. That the cost of maintaining three county governments will be a great deal more than one is a self evident fact and that additional burden of taxation will be imposed on the same number of people and the same property, and it is not to be assumed that county division will bring more people into the country and develop it In fact, the added load of taxes will have the opposite effect of keeping out investors and settlers and discourag ing those we already have. It is admitted by the county divisionista themselves, not in print of course. but privately, that taxes are bound to increase, but they say this will only be so until conditions are ad justed in the new counties, which is, so to speak, "getting the cart before the horse," for why not wait until the development of the country justifies the change so that the adjustment they speak of may be an assured fact and thus dis pense with the long and indefinite interim of high taxes and dis couragement. The taxpayers are not to be mis led by promises of fiee rent for courthouses for certain periods of time, because they realize that this means only the deferring of the building of expensive courthouse! and causing a decided increase in. Continued on Dave eluht. Trad e alt H ome Many people throughout this section have the impression that in order to get right prices on merchandise that they must send to outside points. This impression is wrong. We have one of the largest stocks of groceries in this section as well as large stocks of shelf hardware, ammunition, stoves and ranges, shoes, furnishings, staple dry goods, etc., and if actual freight cost is added to prices quoted from catalogues it will be found in many in stances that our prices are lowest. We absolutely guarantee every item we sell, and if not found exactly as represented we will gladly refund the purchase price. We are right here where you can see what you are buying. We sell merchandise of known quality. Let us figure with 'you on your orders. An opportunity is all we ask. 1 E STEWART CO.