The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-08-17
our CHOSEN WORK FOR YEARS.

aid THE LEADER In this labor, If w
will state ''wherein the expenses of thu
county or territorial governments maj
be curtailed." The editor Of the Sur
must be rather dull of perception, II
he has failed to get this information
from these columns, for THE LEADER
has been advocating a specific system
of retrenchment for the past six years.
We tender the editor Of the Sun free
access to our valuable files of 1871, '7s
and rs; he will find in them many edi.
torials which will enlighten him on the
subject. We fear, however, that he
will not avail himself of this privilege,
and therefore will furnish him with a
few extracts from THE LEADER, re-
lating to this matter, beginning with an
editorial published in THE DAILY
LEADER Of Nov. 8, 1873, as follows:
CUT DOWN OUR TAXES.
The collection and paying out of the
taxes of each county, including the re-
sponsibility for the safe keeping of the
cancelled scrip and q few dollars in
money, should not cost more than two
and one-half per cent. The very best
business men in each county, response
BILE men too, and those who pay largely
of the taxes, would gladly collect the
taxes and pay the same out for this re-
enumeration. But those who are pro-
fessional Office seekers, and who add
nothing to the taxable wealth of the
community in which they live, either
by honest industry or enterprise, will
insist upon the taxes passing through
a number of hands of needy political
barnocles and each one of them
to retain a large percentage of the tax
before it reaches the county debtors
hand, than ought in fairness and JUS
tice to the Taxpayers be paid for the
collection, safe-keeping, paying out
and accounting for the anne The
collection, safe-keeping, paying out and
accounting for the county taxes,
ought to be the duty of the county
treasurer, pure and simple. The labor
of the office would not average thirty
minutes a day from n end of the year
to the other. To a business mana
merchant for instance, the office would
be an advantage, a advertisement.
To the barnacle it is a place Of ease,
distinction, and-as now regulated by
law, a place Of support. In wealthy
communities where hundreds Of thou
sands of dollars have to be looked after
daily and cared for, the actual salary
paid is less than the er-oticio trea-
surers of counties in Wyoming now
receive for caring for a few thousand
dollars yearly.
Another from THE LEADER of Oct.
27, 1871:
"The cost of administering the af-
fairs of our county is too large. The
fees allowed by the various fee
bills are in many cases much beyond
the value of the services rendered. The
fees allowed to county attorneys, clerks,
sheriffs, justices of the peace and others
should be reduced, and we appeal to the
legislative assembly to enact a law
which will correct the mistakes made
by its predecessors"
And again, Nov. 16, 1875:
"'The most important duty now before
the legislature is to provide ways and
means for the reduction of our daily
increasing expenses under our county
and city governments. Let it not be
said of the Fourth Legislative Assem-
bly, that it also has followed the eX-
ample of former assemblies by ignoring
the wants of the people in this regard,
or by failing to pass Il law for the relief
of u taxpayers"
We might fill these columns with
similar paragraphs, but we presume the
foregoing will convince Mr.. Slack that
the "retrenchment and REFORM policy
of THE LEADER has not been recently
adopted by it; but that, on the contrary,
this journal has eenthepioneerinthisas
well as in many other enterprises cal
culated to benefit the citizens of Wyo-
ming. Had the press of this Territory
supported THE LEADER in its labors,
we should not now have to record the
unnecessary annual expenditure in Lar
annie county of thirty thousand dollars
Of the taxpayers money.
But it is not too late for the decent
portion of the Wyoming press to rally
and unite on q common platform; let
''retrenchment' be the watchword
during the canvass for members of the
legislature; let the peoples candidates
be pledged to this much needed reform.
Let us make our platform: "Reduction
of fees of county officers; fair pay for a
fair days work; consolidation of offices,
and reduction of taxation"
Now Il word in relation to the $4,000
expended by the Territory two years
ago for compiling the laws. Our CO.
temporaries, now and then, refer to this
matter spitefully, for the simple reason
that they did not get the job.
The history of this $4,000 steal, as
Hayford and his ilk used to call it, is
as follows: The laws of Wyoming
were ut the beginning of the last ses-
sion distributed through three vol
umes; many of the statutes in the first
two, had been repealed, and it was very
difficult for the average citizen to ascer-
tain what was law. A general demand
had therefore sprung up for the com
p;l,fyoo IF Tho l,x,, q, o,a x-o1,p,a. tho