The daily sentinel., 1912-07-05
FruitaNeWs Notes
CONTINUED from Page u


that time to have the risht-of-way.
Wm. Milne was next led into the ring
and Immediately knocked over the
ropes with a left uppercut to the jaw,
while the "Matchless" Cd Thompson
was substituted for county commiss-
ioner.
Now this was a good days work
in itself, but IL was not all. Mr.. Ad-
ans now came forward and proposed
that Sargent pay the penalty for re-
peated insubordination and the sug-
gestion was warmly seconded by Fry.
Now | will confess that the only
authority | have for making these
statements is the word of two men
who were present.
The next evening in the county
commissioner room at the court
house, when all the city was hushed
in sleep, my successor was picked,
and although there were $50 teach
ers in the county, these Statesmen
picked a candidate who had no certi-
ficate, who had never taught and
had no professional training. Thus
did they show their interest in the
education of the children.
The next day Ga of the delegates
voted for the ''party's choice" and
was nominated only because ~ dele
gates were willing to stand up and
be counted for me without being ask
ed for their support.
| have never resorted to any polit-
ical tricks to secure either a nominal
tion or election. have tried to per-
form the work and discharge the du-
ties of the office to the best of my
ability and all that have ever asked
was to be allowed to attend to the
duties of the office without political
interference and to receive for my
services Just the remuneration that
the law clearly allows. And IL Is on
ly after this opposition has been car
ried so far that the success of my
work has been seriously interfered
with and the prosecution has been
so relentless and bitter that my fam
lily has been made to suffer at times
that | now seek to redress. | do not
want to be personal. but am frank to
say that all of my political opposi-
tion has come from the Adams, Par
ker, Munson. etc, rule-or-ruin poll
ticians. and thus having indicated
the source of my troubles, | now come
to the county commissioners.
Two of them are good men as COM
mon honesty goes, and the other one,
well, God made him, therefore let
pass for a man." But under one
pretext or another they have always
refused to allow me anything that
would facilitate the handling of my
work. Under the excuse of economy
my bills have been cut down until
| have received less money than any
nj har int q
years, while at the same time they
do not hesitate to fill their own
pockets from the county treasury
with both hands. Not content with
the salary which the statute allows
them, they have created offices, fixed
the salaries and employed themselves,
for which they Were severely repri-
manded by the recent grand Jury. In
this manner they have paid themsel-
yes twice what the law allows them.
Two of the members have at times
had members of their own families
on the county payroll as "road over
seers. Nor have they been at all
sparing of the taxpayers money in
paying for the spare time of the coun-
ty physician, the county health officer
also chairman of the republican coun-
ty central committee and alternate
delegate to the republican national
convention.
In addition to paying DR.. Thad
from $1,400 to S1,S00 a year, he is
allowed g deputies throughout the
county, who also draw salaries from
the county. 1t Is reported that all
that prevented the grand jury from
returning an Indictment against the
county physician was the fact that
some of his bills, which had already
been allowed were hastily changed
while the investigation was in pro-
gress.
AT different times | have gone to
much expense to myself to bring state
educational conventions to MS eoun-
ty for the benefit of my work. At
one time | brought the state conven-
tion OF county superintendents to
Grand junction, and asked the coun-
ty commissioners to allow me $50. 90
to help defray the usual expenses of
the convention, and they could not
spare cent,-yet just a few weeks
before that they freely appropriated
$500 of the taxpayers money for an
other convention that met in this
city.
We organized the Western Colorado
Teachers Association and had spec
ial train bringing over LOO teachers
from other counties and yet the CON-.
missioners would not assist me to
make that meeting a success to the
extent of paying a bill of $500 for
the programs.
The careful reader. who does lit
tie thinking, will see that there is
something back of all of this. 1t has