The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-03-25
State of Idaho Humiliated;
Attorney General i'm With Fraud

hc opinion, now that the district Is af
fairs are in the hands of men who are
performing their functions In n regular
and legal manner.
But what of the attitude of the pres
ent state land board in this contention
wherein the officers of the district and
endeavorlng TO recover their losses by
| the peculations of its former officers
Parkinson and Hartl
To the supreme humiliation of the
state of Idaho we find the weight Of
tho office of the attorney general in
the balances against the district and
with Parkinson and Hart. This is in
| absolute contrast TO the attitude of the
attorney general s office during the
regime of General Guheen. The former
| legal officer of the state did all within
his, power to protect the state lands
and to ferret out and recover the losses
sustained by these plunderers of a
public trust. At the Malad trial the
present legal officer of the state was
present doing all within his power TO
prevent The lands of the state from re-
celving their proportion of the funds
plundered by Parkinson and Hart.
In the auditing of the accounts of the
district, Hart was forced 10 admit his
defalcation 90 the district in a sum
equivalent to Approximately $4,000
The 16i0 acres of state school lands
suffer IFS proportion Of this loss and
the legal force of the Idaho state land
board is standing for the defense Of
those who occasioned the defalcation.
The schools of Idaho are the losers
The children who profit by the educa
tlonal standards Of our institutions,
supported by this magnificent heritage
granted by the sacred terms of our
ennobllng act, must suffer the depriva
tion incident to the shortage.
The governor of the state, as chair.
man Of the board of state land commits
sioners, is as much responsible for this
condition of affairs as WAS his prede-
cessor for his attitude in standing with
the attorney general in appropriating
money to defend this, the state S right
full asset. donated for educational pur-
poses Either the Goodiug administra.
tlOn was wrong IN coming to the de-
Tense of these lands in this crisis. or
the present administration is subject
ing itself TO lust criticism for its acts
Of omission in respect TO the deserts
Of these lands.
"1 do solemnly swear that ! VIII sup
port the constitution of the United
States and the constitution of the state
of Idaho, and that | will perform, to
the best of my ability, the duties of the
office of attorney general for the state
Of Idaho, so help me Cod was the
General s Guheen and McDougall in
qualifying for these duties. One of
them has taken a positive stand on one
side Of this issue TO the people of Onel-
da county and the state of Idaho; the
other the exact opposite stand,
This nj once becomes a question of
grave importance over and above the
grovelings Of politics. In its scope 1T
represents a principle high IN standard
and sacred in the hearts of the citizen
ship of Idaho.
These men were each public servants,
charged with the performance of sacred
duties as servants Of q we'll deserving
public, under the same code of law and
Of morals The acts of each arc sub
iect TO discussion and to consideration
by the great Jury Of the people, who,
after all, are most vitally interested in
the final adjudication Of the whole
matter.
Mr. Guhcen, is not. to my knowledge
an aspirant for public Office, If Mr.
McDoucall is. he has thus far failed TO
proclaim his candidacy 10 the people
of the state. hence | disavow any in
lcntion TO color the parallels drawn
here for the purpose of political equa
sons, The moral side OF The question
is of all-suflicient Importance, and as
for nv part I believe Justice TO the
settlers under the Oneida irrigation dis
trict. TO the state lands of Idaho and
IA the children of the present and fu.
turc generations demands the weight of
fbe attorney general : office of Idaho
he placed in the balances for these
interests and against Parkinson. Hart
and others who, with ghouIish glee. nave
ruthlessly revelcd in the sacred assets
of this commonwealth for personal gain.