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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2016)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 29, 2016 4A EDITORIALS Our nation’s Declaration of Independence Editor’s Note: the entire text of the Declaration of In- dependence to mark the oc- casion of our nation’s 240th birthday follows .... Our nation’s Declaration of Independence The unanimous Declara- tion of the thirteen United States of America Editor’s Note: the entire text of the Declaration of In- dependence to mark the oc- casion of our nation’s 240th birthday (July 2016) follows .... IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of na- ture’s God entitle them, a de- cent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- erned. That whenever any form of government be- comes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new gov- ernment, laying its founda- tion on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dic- tate that governments long established should not be changed for light and tran- sient causes; and according- ly all experience hath shown that mankind are more dis- posed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing in- variably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des- potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of gov- ernment. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated in- juries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an ab- solute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws, the most whole- some and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his gov- ernors to pass laws of imme- diate and pressing impor- tance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accom- modation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legisla- ture, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the deposi- tory of their public records, for the sole purpose of fa- tiguing them into compli- ance with his measures. He has dissolved repre- sentative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elect- ed; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihi- lation, have returned to the people at large for their exer- cise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that pur- pose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreign- ers; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the con- ditions of new appropria- tions of lands. He has obstructed the ad- ministration of justice, by re- fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary pow- ers. He has made judges de- pendent on his will alone, for the tenure of their of- fices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multi- tude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature. He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a ju- risdiction foreign to our constitution, and unac- knowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: For quartering large bod- ies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by mock trial, from punish- ment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states: For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: For imposing taxes on us without our consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: For transporting us be- yond seas to be tried for pre- tended offenses: For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, es- tablishing therein an arbi- trary government, and en- larging its boundaries so as to render it at once an exam- ple and fit instrument for in- troducing the same absolute rule in these colonies: For taking away our char- ters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments: For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated govern- ment here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and de- stroyed the lives of our peo- ple. He is at this time trans- porting large armies of for- eign mercenaries to com- plete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, al- ready begun with circum- stances of cruelty and per- fidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall them- selves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indi- an savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistin- guished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these op- pressions we have peti- tioned for redress in the most humble terms: our re- peated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose char- acter is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been want- ing in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an un- warrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settle- ment here. We have ap- pealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpa- tions, which, would in- evitably interrupt our con- nections and correspon- dence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which de- nounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. We, therefore, the repre- sentatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, ap- pealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all al- legiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, con- tract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protec- tion of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We must preserve our resources It is ever more important to preserve our resources in a way that maintains the health of our communities and the wildlife and habitat around us. One of the threats to our health is the indiscriminate spraying of pesticides and herbicides. Recently we had a corpo- ration buy property near us in rural Polk County. The contractors are based in Salem, purported- ly providing services in- cluding reforestation serv- ice and equipment. They brought equipment out to the property and began spraying a large area of land indiscriminately. Wind carried the spray onto our property. They sprayed near a creek that drains into the Luckiamute River as well as provides groundwater that feeds into local wells. Our prop- erty is adjacent to theirs and many deer and other wildlife graze on the vege- tation they were spraying. This was done without no- tifying any of the adjacent property owners. We con- tacted the Department of Environmental Quality as well as the Department of Agriculture, who have done nothing regarding our concerns. This is un- conscionable and it is criminal that Oregon, a supposedly progressive state, does not protect landowners, the environ- ment, and wildlife better than this. Clearly we need stronger legislation to pre- vent such disdain for our natural environment. Lisa Jordan Dallas Why did councilors vote no? I attended the June 20 Dallas City Council meeting to monitor the vote on the budget resolution. As a citi- zen-member of the city’s budget committee, I attend- ed each of the committee meetings, and the vote on the resolution is the final step of the process. I was dismayed to hear two coun- cilors vote “no” on the reso- lution to adopt the budget as written. Keep in mind that a “no” vote would mean that, in theory, the city would grind to a halt, employees would not be paid, services would stop, debt obligations would not be met and the city would lose its great credit rating. The two “no” votes came from Councilor Jackie Law- son and Councilor Micky Garus. Their action ap- peared to be “grandstand- ing” and not well thought- out. These councilors had all year to voice their concerns with the budget and make suggestions for changes. I attended almost all of the city council meetings this fiscal year and reviewed the minutes of the few meetings I missed and saw or heard no mention of concerns until very late in the budget process. One has to wonder about the motives of these two councilors. Did they re- ally do their homework? What were they doing the rest of the year? One has to wonder. PUBLIC AGENDA Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for governmental and non- governmental agencies in Polk County. To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the actu- al meeting date to the Item- izer-Observer via email (ionews@polkio.com). — WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623- 8173. TUESDAY, JULY 5 • Monmouth City Coun- cil — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Dallas Urban Renewal Advisory Committee — 5:30 p.m., Dallas City Hall, 187 Se Court St., Dallas. 503-831- 3565. • Polk County Board of Commission work ses- sion — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623- 8173. WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 • Monmouth Historic Commission — 6 p.m., Vol- unteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Vol- unteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623- 8173. WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are limited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edit- ed. election-related letters of all types are limited to 100 words. Writers are lim- ited to one election-related letter per election season. election letters from writ- ers outside of Polk County are not accepted. each writer is restricted to one letter per 30-day pe- riod. Letters that are libelous, obscene or in bad taste will not be printed. Attacks by name on businesses or individuals will not be printed. Letters to the editor that are obvious promotions for a business, products or services will not be printed. The Itemizer-Observer does not guarantee the accuracy of facts presented by letter writ- ers; dissenters are welcome to respond. Letter writers who disagree with other pub- lished letter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the subject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial material submitted to the newspaper, are edited for length, grammar and con- tent. For more information: io-news@polkio.com, or 503-623-2373. Joe Koubek Dallas HOW TO REACH US NEWSROOM emily Mentzer ..............editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 141, No. 26 (USPS) - 437-380) The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875 Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General excellence Awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR. 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