The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-27
METR0P0LITANS
HAVE WON.
Continued from Page L.

derSland these amendments Here II
SAT- Lake, and | speak of this becaust
Know more about it than about any
other county, we have a clerk of tht
district court, three or four deputies
typewrbters, clerks and bailiffs; W.
Keep an office, furnish him supplies
and carry ON his Office He collects
from whom? From the people of Sal
Lake from $4,000 to $4,000 per annum
Along comes the Alfalfa club and see
ing this amount of money forthwith
proceeds to appropriate it to the stata
The more business we do, the greater
| the loss. There was a proposition al
one time, as l understand, that the
county was to receive back one-halt
of this compensation of the clerk, but
this, 1T seems, is denied by the caucus
The Sheriff of Salt Lake county will
be compelled to employ many deputie:
at the expense of the county. He ant
! they will perform services for the ben
eft of the citizens of this county, the
revenue from which will amount Il
many thousands of dollars All this
money must under these circumstances
be paid into the state treasury. All the
expense of salary, of mileage, of print
ing and other Office expenses must be
borne by us for the benefit of the
state, with the result that the more
! business we do, the greater the hard
ship. Here again the proposition al
one time was that one-half of his sal
airy would be paid by the state, but
now it seems that even this poor re-
turn is denied and we must pay all.
How do you like it, you, my col
leagues, who have put yourselves I'M
der the training of the Democracy?
MANY of the northern counties of
this state have been for years groan-
ing under a system of under valuation
of property in the southern counties
by means of which wrongful discrim-
1nation is made in state taxation. 1t is
notorious fact, not seriously denied,
that in many of the southern counties
property is not taxed at anywhere near
its actual value. Assessors cannot be
elected who will do their duty under
the law and assess to the true value;
but I can point to many instances in
this county where people would be
glad to sell at the assessed valuation.
How is it in the county of Wayne, for
instance? Here are the figures. The
total assessed valuation Of this county
from which the leader of the Alfalfa
club halls is $217, 500. The total value
of all the property, real, personal and
mixed, of this great eXpanse of coun-
try is about equivalent to that of one
side of a block in Salt Lake or Ogden!
Their horses, mules, cattle and sheep
are worth, according to the state statis-
tician, about 100000. This leaves as
the total assessed value of the 235
farms of this great county, with all
their improvements, houses, barns, ma
chinery, personal effects, money, stores
and merchandise, the magnificent sum
of $157. 800 Does anyone pretend to say
that this is the fair assessed valuation
of this county, or that they pretend to
pay their just share of state taxes?
So it is with other counties. 1t is a
scandal and a disgrace, and this it is
that makes northern counties feel that
they are treated unfairly.
But we are now given to understand
that the programme is settled upon;
that it is to be carried out, and that
we have nothing to say. For the first
time in the session the members of the
house have had the benefit of the as
of the speaker, and it is for the
purpose of helping to carry out this
delightful scheme of county govern
ment. I say, Mr.. Speaker, for myself
that I shall make no further protest
Proceed under the guidance of your
Democratic allies, and enact the law
if you can; but 1 predict that there is
not sufficient time at this session.
GIBSON'S OPINION
Mr.. Gibson was of the opinion the
country members needed to do some
thing Utah, he said, was a union of
counties from which the gentlemen
from Salt Lake would have his county
secede. We've organized an alfalfa
band,'' said he, ito lombard the gen
tleman into line and l hope they will
keep it UP till they win
REPLIES TO .CRITCH- |
LOW.
Mr. Mansfield rose in dignified mein |
and proceeded to reply to Mr. Critch- |
lows statements. He said:
Mr.. Speaker, the gentleman from |
Salt Lake has referred to me as the |
leader of the Alfalfa club l have I
not that honor, am humble member /
only The county of Wayne has been |
referred to sreeringly and the state /
ment made that in outside counties, !
county officials were pledged to keep |
down the valuation of taxable pro-
perty, far below its value to enable /
the small counties to draw largely |
from the large counties for their
revenue. I denounce this statement as
being false. In regard to Wayne T
of the territorial board of
equalization that Wayne county is the
most thoroughly assessed county in
The state. The statement of the gen
.leman from Salt Lake is an insult to
every representative on the floor of the
house from those counties from the
outside, it is false and mendacious.
He said the district courts were
state courts and the fees should be
urned into the state treasury in all
Eases except in probate procedure.
rhe constitutional convention recog-
lized this by the provisions of the
Judges from the judiciary system of
he state. We have recognized that
act in house bill 80, passed at this
ession of the legislature, turning the
ees into the state and county treasur-
es as proposed in this bill
Mr.. Mansfield did not propose to
tand on his head on this proposition
nd. reverse the action taken on this
uestion. His opinions were not SO
ravering, but settled on principle and
n that he would rest.
MI Taylor joined Mr.. Critchlow in
the position of the metro
olitans, arguing pointedly that the
amendments would work a {
reat wrong to the more populous and !
Icher counties.
MP. NYE WARNS UP. {
Mr. Nye followed, speaking at length :
nd getting warmed up as he proceed
L. He began by saying:
II, too, desire to raise my voice
gainst the amendments proposed here
hereby the more populous counties
re TO be deprived of their just reve-
ues
II do not object to the state bearing |
portion of the expense of criminal