Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-03-10
The &ismarek Tribmne.
TBE VETO.
BY NJ. HI. JEWELL.

BY NJ. H. JEWELL.
THE FIRST VETO.
The governor sent his first veto to the
senate yesterday-the first veto Of an en-.
tire bill. The veto of the Fargo agricul-
tural college laboratory, was simply one
item in the appropriation bill. The bill
extending the boundaries Of Stark
county and organizing all the western
portion of the state, has met with the
executives disapproval. This bill has
been urged as a revenue measure, calcu-
lated to add thousands of dollars of per-
sonal property, now escaping taxation, to
the assessment rolls. It passed both
houses almost unanimously and Senator
NcGillivray and Representative Simp-
son have been the recipients Of much
praise from their colleagues for the
earnest work they have done iu behalf of
the measure, and they will endeavor to
have the bill passed over the veto. There
has been a powerful lobby of shrewd
cattle men in the city since the passage
Of the bill, and it is evident the argu-
ments made by them influenced the gov
ernor in his action. The veto in full is
as follows:
March 2, 1898. !
To the Senate:
GENTLEMEN: Senate bill No. 10, entitled
an act to change the boundaries Of the
counties of Stark and Mercer, was received
at the executive Office February q, 1898, at
pos p. M, and l have had the matter under
serious consideration since its receipt.
Much deep interest is taken in this bill.
supporters as we'll as opponents. l am
asked on the one hand to approve the bill,
to the end that 1t may be placed upon our
statute books n become a law, and, on
the other hand, that the veto power Of the
executive be used to prevent that end.
- cry fr GppGGrt uni yn has been ae given H;I by BY me
have accorded a full hearing to them all as
to the position they take with reference to
to this bill. The friends of the bill say
that the same should be approved, and the
main argument they use in support of their
position. is, that the country sought to be
included in the organized counties of Stark
041N 0CASC j VCS0PlCN Ny ColV1OlQCu duU
their stock interests, and that this property
owned by these men has not been contrib
uting its just and full proportion of the
taxes in support of the state government.
This session of the legislature passes a
bill, which has become a law, awarding to
the county auditor of Stark county, the
sum of twelve hundred and ffty-one dol
making out and extending the tax lists and
making abstracts of the anne and in the
assessment and collection of the state tax
in the u%norganized counties of Dunn, Nc
kenzie, Wallace, Alfred and Hettinger so
far as this migratory and other property is
concerned; a large portion of this territory
sought to be merged into these counties is
already attached to them, respectively, for
judicial purposes: it is made their duty and
the right is delegated tO them to collect
such taxes as is just, that the property in
terests of the ~unorganized sections should
contribute and pay towards the support Of
the state government. so it seems to me
the enforcement of the law by the very
persons who are so warmly advocating this
bill.
The opponents of the bill, aside from the
large personal delegations that have called
upon me, present petitions bearing four
hundred n sixty-four (464) signatures
protesting against this bill becoming a
counties of Billings, Oliver and Morton,
that at the last general election cast one
thousand n hundred and sixty u,16O)
votes as against the combined vote of
Stark and Mercer counties at the same
election of six hundred and fifty votes.
to Stark county, it will make its longest
dimensions, north and south, about one
hundred and sixty (16o) miles, about the
distance from Bismarck to Valley City:
and from east to west about one hundred
l!OO) miles, or about the distance from
Bismarck to jamestown. and will embrace
an area of eight thousand nine bundled
making a county about five times as large
as CaSS county.
The county of Stark, as it would be, will
compel some of its citizens from one por-
ton of the county to travel about one hun
dred (1OO) miles to reach the county seat,
and others over that distance. which would
have to be travelled without railroad facili-
ties and would take the ordinary farmer a
week to start from home and 20 to the
county seat and return.
The bill seeks to embrace all of the unOr.
gained territoryin these sections to the
exclusion of any rights that the adjoining
might have to a portion Of it.
from the taxes than it now should receive,
while Stark county would receive a very
large revenue from a scope of territory re-
ceiving little or no benefits to compensate
it for this tax.
The village of Dickinson, which has
been organized as a city, and the
country embraced within the present linn
its of Stark county, would grow fat upon
the taxes thus drawn from the large scope
of country embraced in the counties of
Alfred, Wallace, Mckenzie, Dunn, Hettin-
ger and Bowman, sought to be absorbed.
Stark county, now having an area of one
thousand two hundred and ninety-six
(1296) miles, by the provisions of the bill,
receives seven thousand SIX hundred and
thirty-two (76S2) square miles, while Mer-
Ger county, which has only one thousand
and forty-f0ur (1044) square miles, gets
only hundred and twenty (72O|
square miles, about one-tenth Of what
Stark county would receive.
Section 1853 Of our constitution provides,
"'All changes in the boundaries of organ
lied counties before taking effect shall be
submitted to the electors of the county or
counties to be affected thereby, at a gen
eral election, and be adopted by a ma
jority of all legal votes cast in each county
at such election"
No portion of this territory could be
taken from these counties thus formed,
without permission, sanctioned by the
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