The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-03-10
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Prom ~ Dubuque Ii1
Mn. CRAIRxAN Il was ml1Drivilegs "a
present the fret and ono Of theareest petit
tions asking for the passage Of ilav smbfs.
cling the principal features az be bill now
under consideration. Duty to py eonstitu-
snts rendsrsit necessary that oould briefly
express their views and wishea ON this i'm
portsnt question. Il does AZ matter %
much to them what partieule change il
made in our county koysrrmdt provided
that change 10 suited 70 our ueNand improv-
ing condition and ScmbinA prudent
economy with efficiency, and ssns adequate
protection against the abuse eipowsr, now
80 ruinously prevalent.
From oil parts of the State, irrespective
OF party interests and feeling, multiplied
complaints have come up to thp Legislature
against the enormities practicsi under Our
present system. 1t 10 within th knowledge
of nearly every member upon tbs floor thse
these complaints are eli grounded that
wrongs do exist-that individua and public
rights and interest have been cpssly sacri-
feed by an uncontrolled and uncomfortable
autocracy created BY the existiR law. Tho
people have right to make these COM
plants, and it 10 our duty and privilege -
their representatives, to duly consider
their petitions and if possible grant their
prayer.
What, Sir, are the facts In tiis matter I?
Excessive revenue have been aHi arc now
being raised and squandered ebpugh favor
itism, negligence and schemes Of private
speculation. Base frauds have been per-
pstrated upon the rights Of the o. unties BY
heaping upon them heavy i,debtedness,
without returning therefor apypfo ortionate
benefit; their resources b.vs bsen exhausted
and pledged tn an exsep. which years Of
economy snd prosperity will not repair
Combinations with tn, County Judge as =
party, and in which he public veal had no
representative and no friend, have been
formed, and schemes for personal aggran-
dizement thereby natured and carried out,
until in Iowa, Coirt House, Jail, County
Seat, roads and bridges have become syno-
nyms for fraud, ext.ayagance and corrup-
ton. Local public improvements have been
projected OF such dharacter as are neither
desired or needed, o. justified by the wants
and financial abilit, Of the counties. The
credit Of many OF our counties is prostrate-
their orders deprecated 10 numerous in
stances fifty per cen. and no purchasers In
the market, and 40 unnecessary consequence
the ordinary expense, vastly increased. Or
ders drawn upon treasury that promises
to be empty for year, are not such funds Us
xv.l "a nopAttupaa Whom
o county's promise il worth but Fifty cents
on tho dollar, any services rendered will cost
the county double itsreal value. Divisions,
animosity, and bitter contentious have
sprung up among those who should be ami
mated by common interest and feeling.
When county's resources are thus ex-
haustcd-its faith impaired, the prosperity Of
its citizens absorbed by taxation, and their
harmonious relations broken up, its growth
must be retarded ard its prosperity checked.
All this and more is effected in the very
eyes and despite the protests of an outraged
people. 1t is not necessary to instance
these things. They are facts familiar to you
ali. I--
Nor should sucL result b. surprising.
1t is the natural consequence of system
which makes one nan the repository Of all
power and con6des 90 much of county's
welfare in his discretion. Your County
Judge is the general agent Of the county
is the legal custodian Of its property, audits
oil claims for money, opens and closes
highways, erects public buildings at his
pleasure, manages the school fund, and
exercises unrestricted control over the f.
nances. Where there are such great and
unqualified powers, abuse will follow. The
present laws leave the people without pro-
lection or remedy. They have tried public
sentiment, and it has been set at defiance.
They have appealed to the courts, but found
no relief from imposition, fraud and the
most vexatious tyranny. True these OPP
pressive results are most common in new
counties where the revenue is very large in
proportion to tho population, and where
the permanent improvements are for the
first time being made. Yet they are not
peculiar to them alone. Complaints are
made even 10 older counties, where your
public buildings have been erected, your
bridges built, your roads located, your
credit established, and where public senti-
ment is more powerful and restraining.
The present system may work with compar-
alive satisfaction in the more populous
portions of the State, but this results not
from any intrinsic merit of the system itself,
but rather from the absence Of any great
opportunity and inducements for your
judges to do wrong. From the moment a
County Judge enters upon the discharge Of
his duties the people have no voice in what
concerns them. II their wishes prevail, it is
by bis indulgence, not because Of any power
in them to enforce their claims and assert
their rights. They have no such power
under the present system. Sir, the simple
fact that County Judge may If he please,
and when he pleases fasten upon the county
liabilities which will embarrassits operations
and cripple its energies for years, is Of
itself enough to utterly condemn the system
and authorize radical change. The dis
favor with which it is received is marked
and universal. So far as know there is
no friendly voice upon the floor to urge
its retention-no friendly arm to stay its
overthrow.
The present system is unjust and Cypress.
i've in its operations and wrong in principle.
Monopoly Of power is always dangerous
alike to the integrity Of the individual, and
the dearest interests Of the people. We
have tried the present system as an expert
ment and it has failed. 1t is acknowledged
that some change is necessary, but to deter
mine what that change shall be is the diff.
cult step.
There are two propositions presented for
our consideration, the Supervisor and the
Commissioner systems. The former embed.
les he true idea Of representative govern
>, ,ent. The latter is modification Of the
nrese,. system, infested with the same nox.
IONS. err,.,eous principle of concentrated
power. The :, ac.r;ne OF concentrated pow
Or is hostile to tho genius and spirit Of our
government. Why is Or State divided INTO
so many counties, each q p.. 'ect corpo u
ton itself, with power to contrSl It's own
local interests !? AIanifes,ly because iowa.
divided into one hundred counties, can SUBJ
serve the public good better than if COM
prised is one county. Each county has its
own advantages and disadvantages its own
local matters which the people of that
locality can manage better than the State.
So each county is divided into townships,
and each township has interest peculiar to
itself, and should have the same part to act
in the management Of county affairs TINT
the county has in the government Of the
State. Hence it 10 that this bill provides