Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-10-31
A LETTER FROM Mr.. cALLOW.

A LETTER FROM Mr.. CALLOW.
He Answers Some Of the Malevolent Charges
Against Him.
Ed. STANDARD:
Much as | dislike personal contrO-
versies, l feel that it is my duty to
correct some of the inaccuracies which
have occurred in the references made
to me during the present political
campaign by the Daily Olympian and
its publishers. and ask of you sufficient
space to make as brief reply as pos
sible to the misstatements they have
seen fit to make concerning me.
The Olympian, in the issue of Oct.
Sth, in commenting on the resolution
of the Board authorizing the expendi-
ture of the funds necessary to comply
with the law in regard to the check
ing of the Treasurer's books, states
that pursuant to this resolution, "em-
ployed extra help (named by Ismay)
at cost to the taxpayers of $251.55."
&C. The charge that this extra
help" was named by Ismay, is simply
the silly imagining of the Olympian
writer. l selected the men myself to
do this work, without any suggestion
whatever from Mr.. Ismay, or anyone
else, and the men who did the work
were employed for the sole reason
that they were the most competent
men to be had at the time. 1t will
be readily seen that the Olympian
strikers well knew that none Of the
cost of this work was paid to me, but
| when Mr.. Sapp. on Oct. oath, sent
| them communication charging me
with receiving this $3.50 personally.
in addition to my regular salary. they
deliberately and maliciously published
the lie, knowing it to be lie and
thinking to clinch it and make 1t to
do all the service which editorial
sanction could force it to do, stated
that it hit me "a proper stroke" The
fact Of the matter is that this work
was done in compliance with the law.
as set out in Sec. 1873 of Ballinger's
Code, a law, which in many counties
| Is ignored on account of the large
expense involved and which for many
years had not been complied with In
this county for that reason. The work
which was done, I believe was as well
and economically done as it was pos
sible to have 1t done under the cir
cumstances, and while I am not aware
that the law requires any report to
be made as is demanded by the Olym
plan, yet 1t seems the natural and
proper thing to do and has only been
delayed because l desired to do that
part of the work myself In order to
avoid further expense in the matter,
and have as yet had no opportunity
to complete the same, owing to the
continued and unexpected increase Of
the other miscellaneous work of the
Office.
In the Daily Recorder of Oct. 18th.
Mr.. Byrne's letter In regard to the
| resolution by which the Board at
tempted to have Mr.. Miller appoint q
competent Deputy Assessor for the
City Of Olympia, refers to a certain
clerical error" which was apparent
in the resolution. Now. the Olympian
people well knew that the error was
not mine, and that Mr.. Byrne did
not say 1t was mine, yet in their eager
haste to take advantage OF every op.
portunity to malign and misrepresent
me. in their issue of the l4th. with
all the ingenuity of practloed deceiv.
ers. they would lead everyone who
would believe their statements, to
think that Mr.. Byrne had said the mis-
take was mine. And then, jnsignifi-
cant as the mistake was. even had 1t
been mine, they proceed to haunt it
as an evidence Of the incompetence on
my part. In the same issue. they
deliberately state that Messrs. Byrnc
and Ismay claimed that had made a
mistake in notifying the railroad com.
pany of the proposed raise of their as
sessment, when they well knew that
such was not the case and that no
member of the Board ever did, or
could. say anything Of the kind. The
law under which the notice was served
was as follows:
"They 1.-THE Board of Equalization)
shall raise the valuation of
property which In their opinion Is re-
turned below its true and fair value,
to such price or sum as they believe
to be the true and fair value thereof.
after at least five days notice shall
have been given In writing to the
| owner or agent"
Action was taken by the Board and
the notice prepared and sent by reg
istered mail to the company at Ia
coma. on Aug. 16tb. The order rails
ing the assessment was made on the
23rd-scven days later-and to an or
binary mind 1t would seem that the
raise was legally and properly made
The law ON which these sponsors for
and Representatives of the railroad
are depending to defeat the action of
the Board is court law, to which
Auditor. unless he were q lawyer,
be out of place to remind the gentle
men of the Olympian that while
forced constructions of court decis-
ions Is their long suit. they have be-
fore now found their constructions to
be as unsubstantial as ropes Of sand.
and 1t is to be hoped that they and
their pet railroads will find It to be
such is the case. II they had desired
that the railroad should be assessed
as they now pretend it should have
been, they would have had 1t done
by their assessor.
In Mr.. Henry's campaign supplement
to the Olympian, he makes q villain.
| Gus assault upon my integrity as an
0hicer, and my character as a man.
charging me with misleading" con
cealing" the truth. Juggling with
figures" "duplicity' and deception, !"
in the preparation of the Auditors
Annual Report for the year ending
June 80. 1902. Mr.. Henry charges
that in making separate report Of
the cost of TAX Extension, 1885,"
checking Treasurer's books, $25125,"
and TAX foreclosure expenses. $685.
25," instead of including them all in
the account for Auditors Office sal
aries" l have attempted to "mislead"
and cover up the truth. Now. what
are the facts? The cost of the tax
extension. 1896, was separately re-
ported for the simple reason that it
has been separately reported for
years past, and I followed the pre-
cedent without q thought at the time
as to whether it was a good one or
not. 1t appears to me now, after due