The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1910-08-18

ured by it's settlement and its val
uation, it was a small county. II
you will take the pains to figure il
you will find that the sheriffs sal
airy in Lincoln county S only about
one-sixth of the total expense OF
that office. We find that there
was S2,5S0 used for expenses. This
is travelling expense. Here is an
item of office supplies for $252.70.
We find the salaries paid to depu-
ties was S2,79S; there must have
been lot of deputies. / am not
wishing to charge this office with
extravaganza, for it has been the
history of all large counties that
the sheriff's office is expensive to
operate
Next we take up the clerk of the
district court. We find his salary
was $1,000 last year This too has
been increased to $500 for 1911.
We find the total cost of this Of
flee to the county for 1909 was
$7,82496, or about five times as
much as it used to cost to run the
office the first few years of our ex-
istence. In those years there were
no deputies in the auditors office
ALVIN Mcmahon and Col. Senter
each ran the office without help
but today they are so thick in that
particular office that hey are fall
ing over one another. If Lincoln
county is divided one auditor with
a salary of $1,000 to $1400 can do
all the work. 1t was done in LincolI
county, it will be done again when
it is divided into small counties.
In looking over the list l find
that the county attorney has had a
salary of $11OO, but that the total
expense of this office was s2118.65
plenty to pay for three county
attorneys when we are divided
The next on the list is the office
of county assessor, with a salary of
S170O, increased this year to $500,
with a total expense of $5,015.55.
For years one man did all the work
in the assessors office, including
the entire assessment of the county
Your would-be senator from Sho-
shone did it single-handed in the
early days and one man could do it
again if thecounties were of a prac-
ticable size.
Then we have the county superin-
tendent. We find that she is allow
ed a salary of $1,000 which has
been increased to $11OO for 1911;
and we find further that she has an
expense account in travelling over
the county of S989.S4. The total
expense of this office we find to
employ three competent county SUI
)erintendents and give them an OPP
)ortunity to supervise the school
work as it should be done.
The probate judges office is the
asst that l shall discuss. The salary
S $500, which has been increas-
ID to $1,000, and the total expense
If this office, including salary, is
'1,5486O
Next we come to the item of mis-
expenses. We find that
his reaches the enormous figure
# s14, 4,601.38. Most of this large
mount is for court expenses. 1t
S not strange that it should be ex
ensive to operate courts in SO big
county as this for we find that
n the last twenty cases tried in
lincoln county the average distance
raveley by our jurymen was l16
lilies going and coming from the
ourt house. We find that the av- !
rage distance Travelled by the wit !
esses was 112 miles.
Looking over these same miscel-
lneous expenses during the first
ew years of Lincoln county, they ar
OF one-fifth what they are today;
} look at this question of county
OV6TnmenI ana dUdiyIe II dS you
lease and you will come to only
ne conclusion--that it is economy
Idaho the same as it has been
,und in our eastern and middle
estern states that as soon as there
enough valuation and population, I
,onomy and good government de-
and the division of great counties 9
lch as Lincoln is today
Now for the sake of argument |
n going to show you what it will
,st to operate Lincoln county aft I
the division. a
1t is conservative to say that there e
i'll be $2,500,000 valuation next D
,ar in Lincoln county, after any D
vision is made AS far as popula- c
On is concerned, it must be admit p
d that Shoshone will be practical g
in the center of the county. Al y
eriff can drive to the furthermost g
rner of the county, do his busi- g