The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1911-12-07
ADA COUNTY TAX PAYERS
ARRAIGN GOVERNOR HAWL Ely
Greatly Incensed at his Published Utterances Of the
Governor well the Hardships
from His Tax Muddles.

~ taxpayers league nelQ last
week III the city of Boise, q spec.
ial subcommittee submitted an
address to Governor Hawley in
reply to his recent address to the
people of the state ON the reven-
ne question. This address was
unanimously adopted by the exc
cutive committee in session. 1t is
given herewith in full, as express
ing the feeling of the farmers of
the county, especially with refer
ence to Governor Hawley's criti-
cisms. The address follows:
To the Governor Of Idaho: Re-
plying to your TRADE of abuse
and vituperation as expressed in
your open letter to the people of
Idaho, in The Statesman on Sun
day, the 10th inst, we beg leave
to take issue with some Of your
statements. We have never stat
ed that the law requiring all
property to be assessed at is full
cash value was wrong in princi-
pie, nor that the amount of mon
ey that might be collected there
under would be more than under
any other system of valuation,
and you arrogate to yourself in
your statements to the contrary
q presumption that i'll becomes
the governor of our state.
We heartily approve the law of
assessing property at its full
cash value, but you have proven
to us that under present condi-
tions it is impossible to do so /;
for by your futile attempt you
have shown the muddle we have
gotten into, and that every asses
sor in the several counties of the
state each had different idea of
what constituted leash value, !"
and we are quite sure that even
you have changed your mind as
to what constitutes cash value"
What Hawley Said Last Winter.
When during the meeting of
the assessors of the state during
last January you told them to go
home and assess as heretofore,
that the next legislature would
enact a good revenue law, did
You then think you were enforc-
ing the law of having property
assessed at full cash value?
By your action in unfolding
our local assessor in assessing pro
perty, not at its full cash value,
but at a different ratio of value,
as against several classes Of pro-
perry, some of which is away
above cash value, and others as
low as 10 per cent of its cash val
ne, You have created an injustice
to your people which has been
caused by your "By the eternal,
I'll prosecute any assessor who
fails to assess at full cash value,
meaning we presume, whether the
assessment was too low or too
high.
Did You prosecute the Canyon
county assessor because he as
sessed lands in Canyon county, |
Ada county, at from
$50 to $40 per acre, when similar
lands in Ada county were assess
ed at $3.50 per acre9 Which is
the cash value, governor?
Again, governor, when the Ada
county assessor stated before your
board that he had assessed the
merchandise of his county at
about rs per cent of its invoice
price, was this your understand
ing of what constitutes leash
values
That Horizontal Cut.
When you tried to justify the
action of the Ada county board O.
equalization in making a horizon
tai cut of 20 per cent, by passing
q resolution that lands in Ada
county had been assessed 20 per
cent too high, was this your idea
Of cash value?
When by your action you left
the average value of patented
lands in Ada county at $97 so per
acre, and the next highest coun-
ty in the state at half that figure,
was that your idea of leash val
ue"?
Now we believe that by reason
Of your senseless twaddle as well
as by what we believe to be a
conspiracy on the part of some
Of our local people, the farms and
suburban homes of Ada county
have been assessed at fully so
per cent more than leash value ri
and we assert that merchandise /
in our county has not been assess
ed at even rs per cent of its cash