The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1910-08-18
Ex-Gov. Gooding on Division
Address the People of Rcheld Showing Reasons for
Economy by County Dvision---Large Counties
Expensive and Do Not Give Fair Return
for the Money Expended; they
Require Higher Taxes.

r other evening he told you abou
: Kings and Queens counties beini
2 consolidated 1t is not strange tha
? all of what is one great city should
/. be brought under one county gov
ernment. We can all understand
: that when two great cities like New
York and Brooklyn grow together
they can be best served by one coun
: ty government, for their business
J and thir people are so interwoveI
that anything else would create &
great deal of avoidable confusion
) But the Judge failed to tell you
that while the state of New York
is only about one-half the size OF
Idaho they have 81 county govern
ments.
The Judge forgot to tell you when
he spoke of Pittsburg and Allegheny
counties being consolidated, that
Pennsylvania, although still smaller
than the state of New York, has 81
counties.
If the judges argument is correct
then instead of having twenty-three
counties in Idaho we had better do
business from the capital of the
state; and it would be well to
send the Judge east in the interest
of the good citizens in the states
that | have mentioned and advise
them that their form of county
government is all wrong, and that
their years of experience in govern
ment counts for nothing, and that
ne has come to reorganize their
m thods of doing business and to
teach them something in civil gov
ernment that he has learned while
living in Jerome lin the great state
of Idaho.
l am forced to take exception to
~ Ily things Judge Martin said to-
the dpeopleofRichfield Among
other things, he said the Oregon
Short Line was going to stop its
construction and all it's work in
Lincoln county until this question
of county division is settled; that he
had this from good authority. l do
not believe that he really meant to
say this, which is so ridiculous, and
which proves itself false. l have
~, the representatives of the Ore
o0p Cbor+ I inc ,nycalf havo put tha
question squarely at them, and they
have given me authority to deny it.
The Judge dwelt much on the
selfishness of men, anb especially
tlieselfishness of F. R. Gooding. He
would have you believe that l care
nothing for tine people OF Lincoln
county. The Judge knows very well
town went to Rupert to try to make
a combination for a division of the
should like to ask the Judge if
county two years from now.
should like to ask the Judge IL
that was selfishness on the part of
Jerome. l am quite willing to agree.
ness on my part in the division of
Lincoln county. | hope of course,
if Lincoln county is divided to Sc
cure a county seat at Gooding. OF
course, l shall be benefited; but |
am only one out of several thousand
people who live in the new county
who will he benefited
In getting down to this question
of selfishness, we all do very little
that there is not a selfish motive
behind. We are all struggling to bet
ter our conditions. When any man
does anything that improves his own
condition and helps thousands OF [
other people at the same ime, he
oecomets a public benfactor, and I
should not be looked at in the light {
n which Judge Martin described the [
,elfishness of men to you.
And l am here tonight to appeal ,
o your selfishness, too, for it means t
lighter taxes for you and better con. |
litions When Lincoln county is {
livided l am going to see that you t
lave a commissioner to look after '
our interests in this end of the
ounty. l am going to see that you |
lave fair representation in the h
lew government of Lincoln. The S
nti-divisionists have overlooked you v
ntirelyMin in their scramble for Of C
ice We have given you member S
a the legislature who will protect C
our interests and who will help /
ee that you have place in the af- p
airs of the new county. Again
ppeal to your selfishness. because c