Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1890-10-24
Ne'c County Rerenue La,rs.

before than that of enacting
laws to conform to the requir-
ments of Sections 10 and 16,
Article VII, ofthe constitution,
which read as follows:
Sec. l5-The legislature
shall provide by law sucha sys-
tenn of county finance as shall
cause the business of the sew
eral counties to be conducted
on a cash basis. I 1t shall also
provide that whenever any
county shall ,have any war
rants outstanding and unpaid,
for the payment Of which there
are no funds ir the county
treasury, the County Commits
sioners, in addition to other
taxes provided by law, shall
levy special tax, not to ex-
coed ten (l0) mills on the dol
lar Of taxable property, as
shown by the last preceding
assessment, for the creation of
special fund for the redemp-
tion of said warrants; and after
the levy of such special tax,
all warrants issued before such
levy shall be paid exclusively
out of said fund. All moneys
in the county treasury at the
end of each fiscal year not
needed for current expenses,
shall be transferred to said re-
demption fund.
Sec. l6.-The legislature
shall pass all laws necessary to
carry out the provisions Of this
Article.
If Section Is is interpreted
literally, it means that the
legislature shall pass laws to
tax the people and take their
money away from them and
lock it up in the county trea-
sury before it is needed to pay
the current expenses of the
county government. The
principle is utterly wrong and
un-democratic of taking the
peoples money before it is
needed for governmental pur-
poses. A dishonest treasurer
might abscond with the rev.
enue for whole year, or in
hard times he might get rich
loaning the peoples tax-money
back to the people at high
rates of interest, This is what
the U. S. treasurer is doing to-
day with the public funds.
The whole system is wrong,
indefensible and un-American.
This section of the constitu-
ton was stubbornly contested
and its adoption resisted. A
substitute, submitted by this
editor, was generally approved |
and would have been adopted
but for the opposition of the |
wealthy element which domi-
mated the convention and prac-
ticaly dictated the entire con-
stitution. This element seemed |
to be afraid of the people, it
seemed to think that they
were not fit to govern them
selves, that they were dishon-
est and not to be trusted, and
therefore the majority of the
convention insisted on depriv-
ing the people as far as they
dared, of the power of protest,
by incorporating their heresies
in the constitution itself-in
the supreme law of the state.
The avowed object Of this
cash payment system, was to
keep the counties out of debt.
At first sight it is laudable
motive. But it can very easily
be made to work hardship upon
the great mass of the people.
Suppose, for instance, that in
Idaho county next year, the
crop. was short; suppose a dry
summer was followed by a hard
winter and loss of stock; sup
pose, moreover, that we were
afflicted with a large number
of criminal cases to add to the
expenses of the county gov
ernment, and suppose, finally,
that a Moscow jury found
verdict against the county for
the full amount of damages
ten thousand dollars-claimed
bv tba ,,l,;nt;H in tho IVo,doo