Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1904-04-22

ing declared in order, J. G. VanOrsde
gained the recognition Of the Chair
and, in neat speech, placed before
the convention the name of Oscar
Hayter, Of Dallas. No other names
being offered, the nominations were
closed and Mr.. Hayter was declared
the unanimous choice of the con.
vention. Being called upon for q
speech, Mr.. Hayter responded
with five-minute talk, thanking the
convention for the honor and pledging
his best efforts to help carry the ticket
to victory in June.
For Representative Frank H. Fawk,
of Rickreall, was named by N. F.
Gregg, and, on motion of d. w.
Sears, the nomination was made by
acclamation.
In placing before the convention
the name of J. D. Smith, of Dallas,
for County Judge, J. e. Sibley, the
present County Judge, took occasion
to CONNER at some length upon what
has been accomplished by the present
County Court, and, as his remarks
were in the nature of report of what
has been done in the last four years,
we give below the substance of what
he said
"Mr Chairman and gentlemen of
10 1.
various county offices has increased
ten fold in the last few years, and the
County Judge must devote his
whole time to his work he must re-
side at Dallas, and put in six days in
every week looking after county
affairs he must be a careful, pains
taking, prudent and economical man
or the county business will suffer; l
have in mind such a man, but before
[ mention his name I crave the atten-
ton of this convention for a short
time while l briefly review what has
been accomplished during the four
years just passed.
| -Four years ago [ stood before the
democratic convention of this county
and said among other things, that, il
elected, / would use my best efforts to
pay off the county Indebtedness and
to place county affairs on a business
basis. The time has now come for me
to show whether or not that pledge
has been kept, whether l have been
faithful to my trust; but, before pro-
ceeding further, L wish to again
digress for a moment only while |
make few remarks not particularly
pertinent to the issue.
"On last Saturday, as you all know,
the Republican convention Of Polk
County met in this room. Among
other things, they adopted a set of
Resolutions and Platform if such it
could be called that was fearfully and
wonderfully made. They endorsed
President Roosevelt; they endorsed
Senator Charles W. Fulton; they en-
dorsed the Lewis and Clark Fair, and
they condemned our present extrava-
giant County Court; that was all.
Nothing was said about the principles
of the party, and I defy anyone to
gain from that declaration any
knowledge Of what the Republican
party does believe in; but a fair in
ference is, they want to get up to the
pie counter.
'"The chairman of the committee
who framed this wonderful document |
is man named Knox Perhaps some
of you may know him. He is a states
man, and lives at Independence where |
he runs a small grocery and peanut |
shop. l do not know whether he was
able to draft such massive document |
from his own wonderful brain with
out straining it, nor do / know whether |
hn ic on A r
have been told by some that he has |
been naturalized while others claim
not For myself I confess [ do not |
know, but think that if the shades
Of Jefferson, Jackson, Calhoun, Web |
ster, Mckinley, Blaine, and other
statesmen Of the past could |
have been present when that document
was read, they would have turned
green with envy. Gentlemen Of the
convention, | say unto you, without
fear Of successful contradiction, that
if the massive brains of an hundred
such statesmen as the one who framed
those resolutions could be boiled down
into a compound cathartic pill, it
physic a june-bug.
''When the present county court
took charge of affairs four years ago,
we found everything in a topsy turvy
it was shortly after the
fire; the new building was
Just completed and portion, not all
Of the records had been moved in the
was in debt about $4,000, or
more, and no money was available to
pay anything. Before a new tax roll
came in, the necessary expenses of the
county had increased this amount to
about S13O,OOO.. A portion of the
warrants outstanding drew per cent,
and portion drew 6 per cent-a fair
average being 81 per cent, or making
/ fixed interest charge Of S25.OO per
lay in a county that casts a triiie over
,yer 2500 votes. We also found hearty
Ill Of the larger bridges in the county
u a dangerous condition, no bridge
work to speak Of having been done (
since the spring Of 1890 after the
memorable floods of that year. We
llso found that the delinquent tax
oils were not collected, frequently
oils being turned over to and accept
d by the court with as high as 5000 4
unpaid and uncollectable, and this
nOrmOus amount was wiped out and
he county was loser every year, very
ew pieces of land ever being sold for
axes. Everything was allowed to