The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1911-06-23
COM MUNtCATED.

Omak, Wash, May ., l9ll
TO the Members of Wannicut Grange No.
Gentemen-The resolution passed by
YOUR grange to the board of county COM
their pre- election pledges has been
brought to my attention. and /, as chair
man of the board will say this, the other
members of the board are at liberty to
say as they please.
| never made any pledge to any man
or community of men. as to economy or
anything else, and am doing what | think
best for the county as whole and intend
TO do that to the end of my term. regard
less of the grange or any other organiza-
ton l will admit the taxes are high and
in order to do what we ought to do they
should be doubled and trebled and then
some: When the board made the levy
last fall we considered the question from
all points and made Ii Just as low as
there was any possible show of making
1t. and give us money for running ex-
penses and make what improvements we
felt was absolutely necessary and | con
slider we We're well qualified to judge of
the needs of the county as any member
of The grange.
AS for your demand for cutting down
expenses in the several offices of the
county by reducing the number of depu-
ties, will say that there IS not deputy
employed at the court house who is not
needed and not one that does not put in
fi u tie eef6anf2 6esaA@ssT temI1aseI7es S6a
could find upon Investigation that they
do not have anything to do but superin-
tend the work if they see fit. but you
could find IL you investigate that every
county officer that we have puts in fun
time and works hard
Now, as to the commissioners not act
ing as ex-officio road supervisors: If any
person will show us how 10 act inteili
gently on questions arising about our
roads and bridges without going on the
ground and Investigating, l am sure that
the board will consider that person pub
lie benefactor for there Is no way that
a commissioner can get over one half
what they are entitled to for the time
they spend In such work. We have petit
tons and letters all the time from tax
payers all over the county asking us to
come and view some cnange or open
some old road tina. has been closed. Sow.
our time, furnish our own conveyance,
pay our own expenses for nothing" I do
not believe any tax payer Goes.
AS to the road law which compels the
commissioner to advertise fcl bids for all
road work costing more than $50. I will
say that the last legislature repealed that
Tune /, 1911 let contracts for road work
to the amount of So 500. and bridge work
TO the amount of $500 without advertis
ing. and I consider it one of the best
laws passed at the last session.
Now. as to the present board of county
commissioners stepping down and oul
not take the oftice with the intention of
resigning and if have my health | eX-
pect to stay with 1t to the end of my term
(Sisned X L. WRIGHT.
The foregoing letter is in reply to reso-
lutions forwarded by this and other
ply Is directed to Wanncut grange No
AL. and we will answer as best we can
We are considerably handicapped by be
ing so far from the county records ana
the trip to the county seat being so hard
as well as expensive. we have been I'M
able to obtain Information desired;
First. regarding prediction pledges.
there is at least one man In this grange
willing to take his oath that the above
chairman of the hoard of county com
missioners did make such pledges.
Also the law says CP. 1906, of the Codel
1t shall be the duty OF every board of
county commissioners to reduce the ex
penditures of their respective counties to
W Wit Jay lay y we Pres9m, NJ Wright took
comply with the law.
We would not feel quite so hard over
this matter of high taxes We're any at
but when Mr. Wright was asked to do
work on certain road between Oroville
and LOOMS. on Palmer mountain, a road
twenty years. ne returned the answer
that this was not public road because
not surveyed by the county engineer and
that he would not work it. We have since
consulted a prominent attorney of CON
cOnuly. who tells us that the commits
sioners were in error, that road tray
eled by the public. If for only one day. is
thereby dedicated as public road under
an act of congress passed in 1860. There
has never been any road work done on
Palmer mountain nor in the vicinity of
Wehesville by the county. but we hear
that the commissioner has kindly offered
the loan of the county tools to the farm
ers to build their own roads when they
are not busy We would like to state
that we are so busy getting money Ia pay
our taxes that we have no time nor in
clination to build county roads. We do
think it was n piece of unnecessary eX-
travagance to buy a rock crusher for a
county that has thousands of millions Of
Of oil Il in - ..f
notice that last year the. town of Oro-
vile topped the streets with layer of
crushed rock. and they did not have a
rock crusher to use either. The steam
roller could also have been easily dis !
pensed with until we had some roads to
smooth down. at least
AS far as the county officers not hay
ing to do any work except to superintend /
the work of deputies, we desire 70 call
Mr.. Wright'S attention to = 1907 Cf the
Code which is as follows:
mo deputies or assistance of any kind
shall be allowed to any officer or person |
receiving compensation from a county I'M !