The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1911-11-10
PAY OF COUNTY
OFFICERS IS CUT
FINAL DECISION ON CLASSIFICA.
TION Will BE MADE EARLY
IN FEBRUARY.

| From now until February officials
/ of Whitman county will receive sal
aries under the lower classification
! in accordance with the decision of
/ the supreme court in the Adams
/ county case two weeks ago. The
salary warrants, however, will be ac-
! cepted under protest and the officers
will be given until the first Tuesday
4 in February in which to show cause
why the classification of the counry
should not be changed from the sew
enth to the eighth class. If no com
petent evidence is produced al that
! time to show that the county had a
population of $4,000 on November
I s, 1910, the commissioners will lower
| the county to the eighth class. If
| evidence is produced showing the
county had population of $4,000 on
that date the officers will be REIN
| buTsed in the full amount Of their
! salaries for a county of the seventh
class
The situation was explained by
| Prosecuting Attorney Paul PattisOn
/ before the county commissioners and
all the county officers assembled in
| the commissioners room at the court
house Tuesday afternoon. Attorney
| Pattison said there were no two ways
about it; evidence would have 10 be
produced showing that at the time
| of the last general election the coun-
| ty had a population emitting il to
the seventh class or the commission
ers would have TO consider the last
! federal census as sufficient evidence
| and lower the classification.
Auditor McCrOSkey announced that
| he had decided to draw warrants in
| payment of salaries hereafter under
! the eighth class. The commissioners
| then adopted the following resolu-
| ton:
| Whereas, The Farmers Union
and Grange Of Whitman county, state
of Washington, have demanded of
| the board of county commissioners
of Whitman county that they change
the classification of the county from
| the seventh TO the eighth class there
by reducing the salaries of the coun-
/ ty officers to correspond with the
| change in classification;
Therefore, the clerk of the board
of county commissioners is hereby
ordered and directed TO at once
/ Selh Z upon lIt AdIlOuS county OIIIt-
| ials Of Whitman county, notice in
writing to appear before the board of
| county commissioners Of Whitman
county On the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in February, 1912, 20
show cause, if any they have, VIII
the classification of Whitman county
should not be changed from the sew
enth to the eighth class as demand
! ed by said Farmers Union an3
| Grange"
On the suggestion of Attorney Pat
tison the county officers unanimous
! ly decided to go about the work Of
securing evidence to show that the
county had a larger population on
| November s than was given in the
| federal census taken in May and
June, 1910. Mr.. Pattison stated that
he knows of at least 225 or 220
heads Of families who were omitted
| from the federal census. 1t was also
stated that several families, notably
at Maiden, moved into the county be
tv cen the time the last federal GER
suS was taken and the date If the
last general election. The QdtSfi III
il contention is not the pOpu :atiOu Of
the county at the time the census Was
taken but rather on November s,
1910
When the classification of the coun-
ty was raised in 1906 it had been six
years since a federal census had been
taken. The population of the county
had increased materially. To .,rcive
at an accurate estimate of the in
crease the school census was mutt
piled by 3.5, which is conceded to be
fair ratio of the entire population
to the school population. The average
ratio for the whole state is Al but
to be on the safe side ratio OF 3.5
was taken in Whitman county. On
this evidence the classification Of the
county was raised by the commission
erS.
Commissioner Samuel Ellis is
laughing because a democratic paper
last week accused him of being
member of the board of county com
missioners which raised the classifi-
cation of the county in 1905. Mr..
Ellis was not a member of the board
at that time.