The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-14
NEW LICENSE CHAPTER
Commissioners Come to the De-
Tense of the Treasurer,
TRYING TO SHIFT BLAME
Asserts the County Attorney Did Not
Push the Cases-But an Import
ant Point Was Over
looked

: There was another chapter written
yesterday in the county license matter.
which was stirred up by State Exam
lner Morony and Governor Smith. who
discovered that former county treas
urers had been very lax in the collec-
ton of licenses. The new chapter was
written by w. D. Clark, chairman of
the board of county commissioners. in
letter to Governor Smith, in which
he goes to the defense of the county
treasurer and attempts to put all the
blame and responsibility on the county
attorney because of the latter's nabil-
ity to force the court to take up and
try several cases involving the legality
of license required of grocers who
sell liquor, and double license from
wholesale liquor dealers. One of the
cases complained of was set for trial
in Judge Clancy's court on Friday, but
was continued Indefinitely at the re-
quest of the defendants attorney
Mr. Clark says nothing in his letter
in reference to the charge that no eff
fort has been made to collect licenses
from large number of persons and
firms who are liable for it. The letter
reads as follows:
"The board of county commissioners
of this. Silver Bow county, begs leave
to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication of the 10th inst, in
which you call attention to the lax
methods employed in the collection of
licenses IN this county. advising the
board to adopt heroic measures for the
complies collection of the same and
f.nrr
raised as against wealthy corporations,
to all of which the board begs leave to
reply as follows:
1T has always been the earnest de-
sire and endeavor of this board to
make each class of business pay its
just proportion of the revenue to be
raised, as prescribed by our codes; but,
as many of our business concerns have
lately grown to enormous proportions,
while still paying the same amount of
license as they formerly did, which we
admit is not sufficiently large, we deem
1t necessary that the managers of said
business concerns be required to make
renewed atfidavits as to the amount of
business done by their concerns re-
spectively during each quarter, and to
this end the present county treasurer
Is working with all due diligence.
I'VE are well aware of the fact and
do admit that it is an outrage upon law
and justice that large grocery houses
and wholesale liquor dealers should be
permitted to sell intoxicants without
the semblance of a county license, but
in justice to ourselves and the county
treasurer we desire to say that we are
blameless in this regard. The retiring
treasurer made every effort to. secure
a conviction in a case similar to those
just referred to, more than one year
ago, but the matter still stands within
the courts undecided and, to all in
tents and purposes, unattended. If the
counsel for the state and county are
content to allow such fragrant viola
tions of the law to go unheeded. after
being duly advised of the facts as they
exist this board feels itself powerless
to act further in the matter.
LAS to the assessment of wealthy
corporations, We desire to say that in
the past We have caused representa-
tives of all, or nearly all, of said con-
Germs to appear before us when sitting
as a board of equalization, and when
ever it appeared to us that a valuation
was too low, it was promptly raised to
what we considered a just figure,
In conclusion we desire to say that
in future, as in the past, this hoard will
be as it always has been, pleased to
follow your suggestions as closely as is
possible