Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-05-25
From Ex-Judee Chiles


say. In the first place, will say that
l regard county politics as strictly
business matter and the duty of the
citizen is to vote for the man best
fitted for the position sought.
As / understand, one Of the most
important planks in Mr.. Chausse's
platform is a reduction of taxes and
at the same time to give us improved
roads. Let us put this in the scales
and see how much it will weigh. In
the first place, anybody knows that
in financial matters the county court
has very limited jurisdiction. being
confined to building roads, bridges,
court houses, jails and the keeping of
the poor. The larger expenses being
the holding Of elections. payment of
officers salaries, court expenses both
circuit and magisterial, ooroners in
quests and state taxes. Over these
latter items it has no control what.
ever, only to see that there is no
superflity connected thereto which
has no warrant Of law.
When I was in Office l did find out
that the custom Of the prosecuting at
torney to charge up mileage fees to
the county had no warrant of law and
refused to pay his bills for same and
made the challenge to John Jeffrey to
produce the law and then we would
pay the bills for the same. That
challenge held good during my term
of office as he nor any other ever
produced it, although there has been
many hundreds of dollars paid by
Josephine county for this very item of
mileage by prosecuting attorneys in
their attendance upon justice courts.
The building of roads costs money.
| The engineering skill of America
combined cannot build one mile with.
out it. | think in the year 1896 the
county court at the request of the
grand jury entered into contract with
experts to have the books of the
county gone over to see if everything
was right. +. W. Chauss and J. A.
Jennings were the two tax payers that
put an injunction upon the contract as
unnecessary expense. Il would esti-
mate that the whole expense in pro-
portion to the magnitude of tax
payer of his caliber at that time
would not exceed two bits.
Mr.. Chausse as editor of the Obser-
yer when the bill passed the legisla-
ture about three years ago to increase
county officers salaries in the aggre.
gate of $1,000 per annum, said that
the raise was justifable as the salaries
were fixed back in the sixties Being
| fixed in the sixties is not correct.
The judge s salary was changed
twice during his uncle Volney Col
wigs two terms from $500 to 500 and
back again to 5000. V. Culvig ac-
cepted the raise but would not accept
the reduction from 800 to 5000, but
ontinued to draw the 500 salary from
the time the law making the reduc.
tion went into effect until he went out
of office.
Mr. Chausse is alleged to have sold
his interest in the Observer office.
Well, people have their own way of
thinking and there is no way to de-
prive them of it. Printers bills
against the county is an item of ex.
pense that is to be feared as | know
from personal experience. The Aus
tralian system provides that the
county clerk shall have the ballots
pepared. Mr. Chausse and Clerk
Goodell belonged to same political
family and he was putting in his bills
at 81. 80 per thousand for the old style
election ballots. | insisted with
Clerk Goodell TO submit it to bidders
and toward the end of my term he
consented to do so and Jerry Nunan
blN 10 NNhNo pVA NiOueduu anu EOt lut
job for one time and printed the bal
lots.
Putting Mr. Chausse's extreme
closeness of expense of exporting
books in conjunction with his ex-
treme liberality of sentiment as editor
in connection with the raise In salar.
les mast conclude that he is liable
to vib-ate to and fro just according to
the fact of whose bull is being gored.
In conclusion | will say TO the
voters of josephine county, be honest
with God, your neighbor aud yourself
and vote for the man, in your opin-
ion, all qualifications considered. who
will make the best public servant.
Respectfully,
J. NJ. CHILES.
Grants Pass, May %, 1906.