Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-10-09

has been unable to Go this proves beyond
question that the cry of "rctrcnchmcnt
and reform" had no reference to
the County SUPPLEMENTARY. Have
we not here another compliment TO
Republican management? The cost to
the county of it's school superintcndency
for several years past has been as follows:
1870 $. c. Pierce, oRep) superintendent, $s45 90
1871 T.. H. Ely. s66 41
lSi3t9i .mus}' i0l IS
1874 (10's mus} Amos Row, (An,i- Monop>
superintendent ............--.... s6l u
Mr. Rows salary is reckoned from the
time he entered upon his Office, Oct. %,
1913, until Sept. I, 1874, the date of his
last bill against the county. The cost of
assistants very slight in either casc) is i'll
cluded in the statement. Thus it appears
that ten and onc-half no ,ths of Anti
Monopoly administration of the Supcrin-
tendency have cost the county nearly one
hundred dollars more than any FIJI year
of Republican occupancy. We do not
present this statement for the purpose of
complaining of the amount paid Mr.. Row,
tor if he has discharged the duties of his
Office with ability, promptncss, and energy,
he has undoubtedly earned it; but to illus
tate the utter hollowness and deception
of the Autobiography cry of "Rep"bliaan
<rtrac"gance' and "Antl-Monopoly re-.
I trcnchment and reform"
But lest some hypcrcri,ical person may
claim this to be an unfair comparison,
let us take Mr.. Rows services for the
first eight months of this year and com
pare with Mr.. Ely's for like periods in
1872 and 1873. 1t may be clrimcd that
Mr.. Row held four weeks institute
|! within this period. So did Mr.. Ely last
year, which renders the comparison per-.
fcctly just. Mr. Ely only held one
weeks institute in 1872.
1877. E. II. Ely Rcp) Superintendent, $3.50 as
1874. Amos Row Anti Monop).' G9s -
We repeat, we do not present these
comparisons as an attack upon, or TO find
fault with Mr.. Row, but simply to show
by the best kind of Anti Monopoly testi
mony that his did not happen to be the
Office that needed retrcnchi' g and reform
ing.
Again has the Anti Monopoly Board of
Supervisors furnished conspicuous cX-
the cost of its own services to the county,
During the current year this Board has
already occupied foarteen* days in the
transaction of its business, at cost, besides
mileage, of s56 per each member. Dur
ing the previous four years of Republican
administration, the average for the cores
aonding period of each year was 1si
days, at a cost of $5l for each member;
the precise data being: for 1870, II days
1871, Is days; 1872, II days; 1873, II
days. We do not refer to this matter for
the purpose of finding fault with the pres
ent Board, for it has probably tried 10
perform its duties diligently and faith
fully; but rather to direct attention to the
emphatic compliment it pays to the dill
gencc of its predecessors. In this respect,
then, the Autobiography cry of retrench-
mcnt finds no cxemplitcation
But we now come to the theme which
has inspired, on the part of the opposition,
the most serious charges against Rcpubli-
Can management, and given birth to the
loudcst promises of Autobiography re-
form-that of taxation. Here was the
shibboleth which was to be the grand dis
tinguishing feature of Anti Monopollsm.
The oncrous burden of taxation, which
they claimed had been mcrcilessly heapcd
upon our heads through Republican cx-
travagancc and maladministration. was to
melt into thin air az soon as the rcins of
power should pass into their hands.
What has been the result: Have their
charges been verified and their promises
kept: VIII your taxes be lighter during
the coming year under Anti Monopoly
rule than in previous years under Rcpub-
lean rule: If not, why not:
The annual tax levy for the coming
fiscal year was made at the recent Septcm-
Der session of the nti-Monopoly Board
This levy may he divided into three
classes, to wit
T. The State Tax, over which the Board
has no control
2. The School and Road Taxes, voted
in the several districts and townships,
over which the Board has no control, cX-
cept to see that they conform to law.
B. The taxes raised especially for cour-
ty purposes, over which the Board has
control
The first and third classes form what is
called the consolidated or uniform tax for
the whole county. TO present a fair
showing we omit from the following state
mcnt the first and second classes, for
which the Board is in no sense responsible
and give the third class, which includes
all the taxes over which it has control.
The following table shows the levy, valu-
alton and amount of taA in this class for
Il period Of five Years, the last being I'M