The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1906-02-22

luCTedSe III Iue dpplo BrOWluA lDuuS
try calling for the purchase and i'm.
provement of now idle lands, this val.
uation must increase rapidly. 1t can't
go back-it must go forward, and 9
county seat located at Hood River
will add to the valuation of every dol.
lars worth of property in the pro.
posed county.
Mr.. Mason called the attention OF
the meeting to the large amount Of
money spent each year in mileage in
going to The Dalles and that which
must necessarily be spent there after
arriving and said that even if it was
necessary to make the estimate higher
than outlined by the committee il
would be money well invested, but
that he would like to hear from sever
al gentlemen who we're present whC
had lived in Sherman county at the
time it was created.
Mr. Castner said he would like to
ask where the line would be placed in
case the new county was created and
what the attitude of the Mosier resi-
dents we're on the matter.
Mr.. Mason moved that committee
be appointed to confer with the Mo.
sier people, but before the motion
was seconded Mr.. Henderson asked
Ii. f. Davidson to take the chair as he
would like to say a few words.
lie then said that he had had con.
freence with a gentleman from The
Dalles Saturday morning VINO was in
position to speak with some author.
ity on this matter, ind who had said
that if the line was placed between
here and Mosier that he didn't think
there would be any opposition to the
proposed new county at The Dalles
However, said Mr.. Henderson if the
the Mosier people want to stay in
Wasco county, let them do so. 1t was
for them to decide. He stated that
ho had been in Portland for several
weeks in the hospital and that dur.
ing that time he had had consider ble
conversation on division of the
county with men who had come to
see him, and thought the matter
could be arranged with Multnomah
county to take the portion of that
county on this side of the Big Sandy
River. The citizens of Multnomah
county and Portland were very friend
ly to Hood River. They realized that
it was in very close touch with them
and that the country to the west of
the mountains between here and Mo
sier was identically the same as their
own; that their interests were identi-
cal and that he had no doubt what
ever but that the matter could be ar.
ranged. AS to the matter of salaries
he said that if the county was created
he would be willing to serve as county
judge for two yearsEfor nothing, apart
from the actual expense incurred
while in the performance OF his duty,
and he thought that there we're other
men in the community who waaIds dc
the same thing. In concluding Mr..
Henderson said that he would, on the
day after the bill was signed creating
the new county guarantee an inCrea e
of 20 per cent on every acre of fruit
land in Hood River valley.
N. G.. Evans, who was on the com
mittee to secure stati sites in regard
to the cost of the new county two
years ago when the bill for this pur-
pose was introduced in the legisla-
ture, and Who was again on it this
yeal, but who has since experienced a
change Of heart in regard to the mat
ter, then read statement which he
had prepared subsequent to the first
one which tended to show that the
county could not be run for the
amount rs outlined by the committee,
of which he was one. He endeavored
to show that what had been done in
Sherman county could not be done in
this section of the county, but his ar
gument was uncOnvinCing, and was
shot to pieces by Mr.. Markham, who,
taking Mr.. Evans figures as basis,
showed that even his estimate could
he used and the affairs of the new
county administered for less than it
was paying under the rule of Wasco
county.
Mr.. Mcdonald, who was formerly a
resident of Sherman county, then
said that he would like to say word,
and stated that i'll answer to the state
ment of Mr.. Evans that the reason
that Sherman county's roads didn t
cost them as much as they had under
the administration of Wasco county
was that they didn't spend as much
money on them. He would say
that the authoritis of Sherman
county dismissed all the road super
visors and employed county super
inteDdent of roads at salary. This
official collected the taxes and attend
ed to all the business in connection
with the roads and effected saving
of more than 81, 900 year, which he
TUNED over to the general fund be-
eau 20 it wasn't needed. The doing
away with the road supervisors, Mr..
Mcdonald said, could not have been
accomplished had they remained in
Wasco county. Another statement Of
Mr.. Evans that it cost less per cap.
ita tax to run Wasco county than il
did Sherman county, Mr.. Mcdonald
said was easily explained. The land
in Sherman county, he said, Is now
about all decided and almost every
resident there il taxpayer and as q
matter of fact it is costing them
about twice as much per capita as il
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is very large proportion Of children
for the population and also a good
many homesteaders who are not at
present liable to tax, but will be.
However, the valuation Of Sherman
county being greater in proportion
to the pulatlon than it is here, and
the cost per capita really being more,
the tax levy is less. AS to the build
ing and maintenance of bridges, a
matter which had been brought into
the discussion, Mr.. Mcdonald said
that twenty bridges were built in
Sherman county, where it would be
necessary to build one here; that it
had helped build the bridge over the
Deschutes river and had spent 81, OOC
within a period of little over two
years in maintaining roads leading to
this bridge. Sherman county had
helped to pay off the immense in
debtedness of Wasco county, had built
$40, 900 court house, and yet when
he was there about two years ago at