Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1911-02-02

Gregory county representatives are i'm
: Pierre with desire to get a bill for
practical county seat removals. When
that county first came into existence it
was covered in few townships down
in the extreme corner of what is now
the whole county, the rest of the terri
tory being Indian reservation, Al that
time Fairfax was selected as tempo
rary county seat, and all efforts to
secure permanent location at some of
the new towns near the center of the
county have all failed on account of the
different candidates fighting each other.
What is now wanted is an enactment
which will prevent any other candidate
GA the second trial than the two in the
IA.ad on the first trial for such perma-
nent organization. This would on the
second election eliminate all contest
save the two leaders and the question
would be brought to settlement.
Senator Loekhart is one of the vic
Tins of introducing bill sent 70 him.
The bill which was drawn by creamery
men attempts to amend the anti-dis-
elimination law OF the state by apply
ing it to buyers as well as sellers, the
home creamery claiming that they are
suffering from the unfair prices put on
cream by the big city houses, where
they have to buy in competition with
the local creamery. While that appears
to be what was wanted in the bill by
its amendment, the man who drew it
just put in that amendment to section
one of the present law and left off the
manner of procedure against discrimin-
ating companies and the penalty pro-
vided for conviction, which, if enacted
as presented, would make the law an
admonition to corporations that they
were violating a law and were very
naughty in so doing, which would, of
course, make every corporation in the
state very careful not to do any such
thing. But the next time Lockhart has
bill sent to him he will look at it
pretty closely before it gets out into
theopen
The county treasurer proposition is
one which is receiving attention at this
time. Attorney General johnson has
been asked for an opinion on the salary
law of these officials, and his holding is
that under strict construction Of the
law, some county treasurers of the
state would receive only about one hun
dred dollars per year as their salary.
The session of two years ago attempted
to fix salaries of county treasurers
ranging up to $1,000 a year in large
counties, but at the same time in
another section of the statute fixes their
compensation at percent of the taxes
collected. Under this percent con-
struction, in the smaller counties, or in
those where there is a large amount of
untaXed Indian lands, the salary would
be so small that no man would be will
ing to give the office his time and atten-
ton for the amount received In some
counties the county commissioners fix
the salary of the treasurer at any point
they see fit within the limitation of the
law of 1909, but this is held to be del
egation of power not allowed under the
constitution. The situation is such that
the matter will be given early consid-
Grafton and steps taken to frame bill
which will really meet the needs of the
situation, and allow treasurers proper
compensation for their work, regardless
of the amount of tax collections in their
counties,