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DAILY OAPKAIi JOUKNAL, SALBM, 0RS60N, MONDAY, FEBmJAJtY 18, 1007.
3
t SCOTT
REPLIES TO
CRITICISM
LcThat the Cotinty Court Has Pccn
P5 j f MnH-Pfs Fntirlv Out of
F' ZSinn '
U JUHOU.VUU..
f
' a is the county court has
" ..,.1..,! rolntlvo to
"fffor the Present year I
W'" ',,,- ,ourt and
4ja".: n..,o county, a
,iupw.'" . mnd0
rnt r. :.,; for .
CLrxrb'J
It th me ,uu"" .
IP1' . . t n.mtv iiuleo.
iz:zm
p'"-. it wni mlB-lend-
KwoneiriMTawaroof
idlag features ....
, story ha toW i in
B . . . HI...., fnilnilfltlllll.
..! in mako with
'lire B" 4-"
Victor hare I any hard fool-
- .. t J. tmrt rt Bud
jtnrfJ him, dui i uu iiiw lu .. ,
' .i . .i.t nmnttnl nf tnXfiS
..i. .j Ia nil ntimnses for
, prior to 1901 and lnforrod ,
. ..i..nr tvno roannnfllblo
rj&j all of said sum for Bald
... to what extent the ccfun-1
fl-j i. ilitti rcslionllblc '
h total amount raised for snld
xpn Including tno levy lor uhb
ri In round numbers, s,jsa,--
, '
I. l.uln.l MHll All I
mi ariMnnc wsh luvieu uuu wr
I ai follows.
Hi, .JU.I'JU
4 Ui, proTldcd for by
Wlaw .,i3",
instate school tax
ullmUrmt tnldler tax.
Eriitd by atato law. 903,920
xi tax, provided uy i
Italaw 3,072,
ltit, lefled by city I
igSCJU iuo.iuu
! school tax. loTled I
Mrsebool dlitrlcts .... 303.82G
!il road tax. levied by
Mipwple In road dis
till 13,287
I
Alton ntA hv nlhom
in county court . ...$1,G71,993
til nn levied by the
Bctr court 817.7GR
lol ion levied during
& lut ten yean, In-
Sstoa this year's levy , 1 2 .3 8 9 ,7 r, 1
fctnlr tax during said ton years
Wtt county had anything to do
fl bike last Item for county and
abarpotei. amounting to $817.-
Mich of this tax lovled by the
tJcosrt la provided by tho state
iaJ It for the payment of coun-
-s, eonorer. Jtiatlco and dr
ift court eipcntes, over which tho
Bij court has no control excopt
' w that exhorbltant charges nro
iitli by people attending upon
courts as witnesses and Jurors.
J till b remembered wo havo
elowd several very expensive
jjfckl cases In our circuit court"
ti vtre. not able to account for
Baaing our tax levy last year
weaat of said expenso wo woro
"wltlootand dollars short boforo
pJ cams In upon this year's tax
V All ot the month of January,
2e day, vas taken up by the
court In the trial of criminal
.fl alio be remembered that all
Wuouaty officers' salaries were
3 hen I was first elected to
Tsd they have all been raised
z tt time.
,C,ni b that the amount
raited upon levies made by
?yeoort during the last ten
TSZ? t0 by Mr' Durbln
r3aty-tonr and ono-flfth nPr
V11 Appetite
itts digeaUve organs tho
S7i,theprprPcr-
Vl It makes the
lSl nch lengthens
e, Zr. na had
lltiikJ., , fcv"lu e
"titatefw
ttti?2 today.
"a, 100DomL
no
ot
any
i Fen-
cont of tho total sum raised, that ho
Inferred tho county court waB whol
ly responslblo for. It mlgh ho added
thnt If Mr. Durbln would pay tho
county tho amount that tho exports
found him short and that ho 1ms sov
oral tlmc3 acknowledged and prom
ised tho county court ho would pay,
tho tax levy would not bo qulto bo
high as It Is. Wo havo boon very
lenient with him rolntlvo to tho mat
tor, relying upon his word that ho
would sottlo tho sum that ho ac
knowledged to tho county court was
duo.
I know nothing as to whether or
not Mr. Durbln's property was assess
ed too high this year, but It rather
looks llko from tho casual observa
tion that ho hns not been nssossod
high enough In formor yenrs. How
ovor, thnt Is n matter between ho ami
tho nssosBor. Thero Is no necessity,
whatever, for tho county court and
assessor to havo any understanding
ns to what valuo should bo plnced
upon proporty In mnklng an ussess
mont. Tho stato law provides that
all proporty shall bo assessed nt Its
true cash valuo. Tho county court,
tho county nssossor nor nny ono else
hns nny right to say that property
shall bo assessed nt othor than its
cash valuo.
Tho county court makes nn esti
mate of tho total sum required to
pay for tho things that tho majority
of tho taxpayers domand nnd makes
a levy sufficiently largo to covor it.
If tho, proporty values bo assessed
high tho rato will bo low; If tho
property values bo assessed low the
rato will bo correspondingly high.
During tho first four yenrs of tho
ton years referred to, tho tlmo cov
ered by my prcdocessor, Judge- Ter
rell, including tho first six months of
my first torm, thero wcro expended
annually, upon an average, 10,333
for tho road and brldgo Improvement.
During tho next flvo years of snld
porlod, tho tlmo covered by my ad
ministration which brings us up to
tho present levy, thero woro oxpended
anuually, upon nn averogo for road
and brldgo Improvement tho sum of
$43,550.
During my first torm of ofTlco thoro
was a great domand from tho people
for bottor road lmprovomont. Tho
main Issuo between Mr. Corby and
myself In tho campaign of 1004 was
upon tho question as to whether or
not tho tnxpayors throughout this
county would sustain Mr. Noedham
and myself upon tho policy that wo
had Inaugurated rolntlvo to road Im
provement. It was ratified by giving
us a greater majority voto than any
county Judgo or commissioner has
over received in this county boforo.
Owing to this fact, wo havo since
mado lovlos sufficiently largo to cn
ablo ua to continue our policy of
highway Improvement In tho mannor
that seemed to us to bo demanded
by tho majority of tho taxpayers.
Last year and tho year boforo wo ox
ponded for road and brldgo lmprovo
mont, Including special lovleB'mndo
by road districts, an average of $01,
628. When wo went Into offlco wo found
the county very poorly equipped with
necessary tools nnd wachtnory to do
road work. Wo now havo three rock
crushers and two steam road rollers,
twenty-four, whocled scrapers and a
number ot largo slip scrapers and a
number of road graders for each road
district. All ot which aro In good
condition and nro absolutely ncccs
sny to bo had in attending to tho
road work as It should bo attended
to. This machinery reproaenta an
asset that is worth; to tho county bo
tween fifteen and twenty thousand
dollars that practically cost tho tax
payers nothing, owing to tho agita
tion for better roads, tho people havo
volunteered enough labor and money
to pay for all ot said machinery
Most ot thlB machinery will servo ho
county for years to como with but
little repair.
Wo have dono away with moro
than five miles of culverts and
bridges by cutting down hills and
using the earth In making fills. We
aro now, and have been during tho
year lest past, manufacturing con
crete culverts that have met the gen
eral approval ot all who have careful
ly examined them, and we intend to
replace all wooden cslverts with them
aB fast ns tho work( can practically
bo done.
Wo have nlmost completed twenty
two miles of macadam road nnd have
about fifteen thousand yards of stone
crushed to bo plnced upon tho roads
this year.
If wo woro to hold tho road ex
pense down to what It was boforo I
wont Into ofTlco tho taxes would be
materially reduced, but wo feel thnt
tho Increase In populntion nnd busi
ness of tho country demand a larger
expenditure for road improvement
than It did In former years.
Wo are aware that taxea nro high,
but think that it is not fair to cen
suro tho county court for all of the
burden of taxation, Inasmuch as nl
most two-thirds of It Is caused to bo
levied by lnws pnBBed by tho legis
lature nnd by city councils nnd the
peoplo In school nnd rond districts,
over which tho county court havo no
control. Out rf tho totnl taxes to bo
raised this year tho county court had
nothing to do, whatever with $218,
547.95 of it. All that wo arc respon
slblo for it $120,289.14, Of which
sum $0000 Is for street lmprovo
mont ndjacont to tho court house lot,
and $30,000 for court house improve
ment. Wo estimated that thoro would
bo $0000 robato on tnxes this year
and $4000 for delinquent tnxes that
would not bo collected. Lnst year
thoro wero expended for salaries of
county olTlcors, and for coroners, Jutf
tlco and circuit court expenses the
sum of $31,737. A Inrgo proportion
of tho remainder of lnst year's lovy
was for road nnd brldgo lmprovo
mont and is nn Investment and not
nn expenditure as some would nt
first consldor. Tho total lovy made
by tho county court this yonr for nil
purposes Is nlno mills, ot which four
and fifty-five hundredths mills nro all
thnt' tho county court Is responslblo
frir. In addition to tho abovo levy
tho city of Salem lovled seven nnd
ono-hnlt mills.
As -to tho court houso lmprovo
mont, will sny that thoro has been,
wo thought, n general demand for
sovornl years last past to havo our
court houso Improved. Tho vaults
nro very much crowded and by some,
considered not to bo burglar nor fire
proof. Mnny important documents
nnd county records nro now stored
In tho nttlo whero they would bo de
stroyed If tho court houso would
happen to hum, and In such ovont
would bo a grcnt loss to tho county.
Bovernl grand juries havo criticized
tho county court for not making tlm
county jail more sanitary nnd sccuro
nnd not providing for a lavatory for
ladles. Wo havo boon waiting to
mako such Improvement to such tlmo
as wo thought tho tlmos nnd buisncBs
of tho county would justify without
creating any great burdon upon tho
taxpayers, nnd to such times as all of
tho needed Improvements could bo
mado.
Wo feol that tho peoplo wcro never
in a bottor financial condition to
mako such improvement than they
now nro. If wo havo mado a mis
tako relative to tho good times, wo
nro sorry for it. Tho lovy Has boon
mado and I know ot no way that tho
taxes can bo robatcd. Such is not
my opinion alono, but It is that of
tho district n"Uornoy and other com
potont lawyers to whom I havo sub
mitted tho question.
Personally, wo nro not at all de
sirous of making any changes in tho
court houso becaiiBo wo tool that It Is
a great responsibility to do so. How
over, wo woro prompted to do so,
feeling that It was tho gonoral desire
ot tho peoplo and that It is neces
sary for a proper safo guard of our
county records nnd, not desiring to
Bhirlc responsibility, wo gavo notlco
through tho papors that wo Intended
to lmprovo tho court houso and gave
a general idea of what that Improve
ment would bo. Several weeks aftor
the notice was given, wo, having
heard no objections whatever, ar
ranged with a competent architect to
draw plans and specifications for said
lmprovomont and mado a levy to cov
or tho oxpenscs of the samo. Aftor
tho levy was mado for that month,
an actlvo effort was mado, by a tow
peoplo residing in Salem to havo said
improvement deterred ono year and
to havo the lovy that was made for
that purpose robatod. Such a re
quest was mado beforo any effort was
mado to ascertain what improvement
was noeded or what' our plans were
and not until otter it was too lato for
the levy to bo changed.
Everything that hns been done by
the county court relative to Improve
lng tho court houso and making the
tax lovy has been dono by tho unani
mous consent of tho wholo court.
Tho extra tax for street and court
houso Improvement will cost not to
exceed $1.26 upon each thousand
dollars ot assessed values. If a per
son bo assessed at $3000, his tax for
said Improvement would not exceed
$3.75, or thereabouts.
If we were to use all of the floor
space In the basement wo could, I
think, get a very creditable Improve
ment without changing tho outside
ot the building, llowovcr, before
UiWiWMfcWfclijWgiJWfclhi
VYml-L. rl Llm
Fxsco9-in)8aaf t8fltt8f ftt88tctBtee8a8
'ft
Why not renovate your walls byl
putting on a new coat of our
NEW DESIGNS
in our spring line that is just coming!
Special Prices on 1906 Stock.
ftAAAAMUJiAAslAAAAfltAAAl
) fi
Now is a good chance to have
your old furniture worked over and
MADE LIKE NEW. We can make
over your Couches, Settees, Chairs
or Mattresses cheaper now than
during the rush season. So let us
figure on your work. We may save
you from buying a new piece of furniture. We have the!
best workmen in those lines and we will guarantee ourl
i work. Remembertthe big furniture and carpet house, f
UphoUterinrf
I - -
t MHIMMiHMMMMMHMOWi
THE HOUSE FURNISHING CO.
177 LIBERTY STREET
using tho spneo that Is now occupied
by tho Bherlff ho should havo a roas
onablo componso for vacating Bald
quarters for tho reason that thoro
was n tacit understanding, nt least,
botweon ho nnd tho peoplo wnen no
vm n rnndldnto for sheriff, that ho
would havo tho samo privileges, quar
ters and compensation that woro had
by sheriff who recontly precoded him.
If tho said quarters do vucamu u
Mm hn Hiinuld bo duly compensated
in wimtnver sum thoy shall bo worth
to him during tho remainder of his
term of office. Upon the othor hand
thoro nro peoplo who coutond that
tho sheriff or his deputy, snouiu ru
maln In tho building or nenr tho jail
tor a matter of convonlenco and safe
ty. If tho sheriff's quarters can't bo
used by us, I think a very credltablo
Ipmrovemont can be mado without
changing tho outsldo of tho building.
If wo find that we cannot do bo. I
think wo will not mako any improve
ments at all. Wo do not caro to
it. ..i'.'mnnnv In mnkltil!
spenu mo jujuimo o ...w, -
an improvement that when com-
. . 1 .l anfl..
niotwi uiii im rrnrrmeu unu uui ou.ia
factory to tho majority, 'and such as
will soon have to bo dono ovor again
Respectfully,
JOHN II. SCOTT,
IU'diico It (o Junk.
Appointments ns railroad com
missioners for party sorvlces will bo
a dlsgraco to Oregon and will knock
tho railroad commission Into n use
less heap of pot-metal. Albany
Democrat.
O'
Our Investment In AthUthn.
It Is ostlmated by Itoprosontntlvo
Farroll, ot Multnomah, that Dnn
Kolly is worth 4125,000 to tho stato.
This Is tho vlow of Multnnmnh boun
ty, which wishes to mnko tho fast
sprinter Its protogo nnd linker coun
ty will hnvo to get busy or It will
lose Its honors In that connection
Kelly holds tho world's record.
linker City Herald.
A tlssuo builder, reconstructor,
builds up waflto force, makes strong
norvos nnd muscles. Some peoplo do
not renllro what n great remedy Hoi
lister's Ilocky Mountain Tea Is; 35
cunts, Tea or Tablets. Tor salo nt
Dr. Stono's storo.
The Texas "Wonder.
Cure all kidney, bladder and
rheumatlo trouble; sold by all drug
gists, or two months' treatment by
mail for II. Dr. B. W. Hall, 3920
Olive street, Bt Louis, Mo. Bead
for testimonials. Bold by Btono'i
druij storo. dw-iyr
o
All Honor to Milt.
All honor to' Milt Miller for tho
action ho took on tho question of tho
nrimnry election law nnd statement
No. 1 recontly In tho stato senate.
Forest Grove Times.
o
Your Opinion Don't Count.
If tho houso railroad commission
bill passes the senate and becomes a
law Governor Chamberlain will ap
point one commissioner, a Democrat.
Secretary Denson will appoint a sec
ond, a Republican, nnd Treasurer
Steele a third. Each officer will bo
resDonslblo for bis favorite. That
is just what the business Interests
of the stato wanted to avoid. Cot
tage Grove Western Oregon.
Old Ttisty
Inctibatofs
This Incubator has certainly made
good wherever tried, It nover falls
to hatch tho highest per cont of
hatchable eggs of any Incubator on
tho raarkot. Our prices nro fur low
er than other incubators that will
not glvo you tho guarnnteo that you
get bore. Call for catalogue.
Phoenix
Liquid Sptxy
The strongest, best and cheapest
spray on tho market. Highly rec
ommended by all who have tried It.
You cannot mako It is good or as
cheap as we can sell It to you. Bo
Burn nnd get tho I'HORNIX.
I II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 III 1 1 III 1 1 1 1 1 H I It I
Bulk Seeds
A cnmploto stock ot OAIIDKN
SEEDS IN HULK. Ilomombor
that our seeds nro fresh stock,
truo to namo, no old packages
to work off.
Sweet Peas
Now is tho tlmo to plant Swoot
Peas. Wo havo a largo stock
In nil tho different colors and
the fancy mixed varieties that
havo pleased bo mnny in past
seasons.
Onion Sets
Wo aro tho largest dealers la
tho city, and can fill your or
ders, both wholesale and retail
Trices right.
Blue Stem
Seed Wneat
Our car at last arrived. Most
ot it Is sold, so that It you want
Bomo send In your order nt
onco.
Field Peas
Our stock Is first-class and we
aro making low prices.
D. A. WHITE 8c SONS
255 COMMERCIAL ST. SALEM, OREGON
f
n