Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-02-08

Editor Republican: 1t appears to
me that the time has arrived for the
very much over burdened taxpayers
of this school district to take de-
cided stand against the further UNI
lawful manipulation OF the reports OF
the expenditures OF the peoples taxes
of this district. Two years ago, ]
showed by records OF orders for war
rants filed in the Auditors Offlce
what some of the $1933.90 reported
as incidentals was spent for. The
showing was not at all compliment
airy to the Powers that be and | was
shut off by the chairman OF the
school board and we were promised
by the Clerk of the board a Well-ad-
vertised public meeting in the opera
house where everything would be eX-
planned, ETC., which oil course we neY-
Or got. Instead we got ON July l4th,
1911, a report of over two columns
.ong, published by the New Time,
which seems by their last jumDled
report to have cost the dis ct
about $500. A report that for a
studied evasion of the law and viii
full jumblng of the items OF eXpehd-
ture for the purpose of thWartng the
clear intent of the law, shows ii
was prepared by past master III
the art To prevent any criticism
of that report at the next years
school meeting, we were huddled i'll
| TO a basement room where there was
not standing room, and told by the
same chairman that 1t was not
| school meeting, but a school direct
Jrs meeting, and that the attorney
generals office had 50 instructed him
Then on July 26, 1912, We got anoth
II report taking us up to July LIST
1912, with the same studied purpose
cropping out all through it OF no
| giving the taxpayers an intelligent o.
legal account of what their none!
was spent for.
These reports | shall publish late
and show them up In their true light
But it is not with them that | Wisl
to deal in this article, but with thei
effect on the people of this district
). They ask themselves and they asl
each other Why is this great el
fort made to tumble these reports
Is 1t to perpetuate system OF extra
yagance that the people would no
, tolerate IL they understood 1t, or ]
, 1t to cover up something worse? Thes
| are the questions that the tax pay
} ers have been asking each other TO
J the past two years at least. Whe
, | criticised the report, containing tn
1888 90 ineidentals, | made the dis
tinct statement, that | did not clal1
! that the $193390 was not spent bu
did claim that We had the RICH
to know what 1t was spent for, for tn
: purpose of ascertaining whether o
not we wanted to continue taxln
J ourselves for those expenditures, @
: wanted to cut them out in the intel
} est of economy. 1t Is true neithe
OF the two reports since then, gay
any amount as "incidentals, but tn
same result Is accomplished with IL
: finitely more pains and trouble b
jumbling the items, and the questio
uppermost in the minds OF the ta1
payers today is, Why? And to as
certain why, is what has led to tn
circulating of petition to Judg
Walters asking him to call a gran
jury for Elmore county. When tina
petition was presented to me 1t cor
, tanned SO names and was told tina
only three people had declined I
sign up to that time, and that the
had given personal reasons for dC
T Ginning | declined to sign 1t for
believe 1t is not the best course TO
us to pursue. Grand iuries are e'
pensive Injuries. The taxpayers {
this district are already unnecessaril
overburdened with taxes. | will at
: NIT that it makes the American bloc
, boil to have to consider expense /
| obtaining what Is manifestly you
right to have without expense, but
il 1t were not a matter OF expense
: the expenditure of $4,000 to run thi
school year, that petition Woul
never have been circulated. Const
quently | take 1t that an expensiy
grand jury is proper only as a las
; resort, and we are not driven to tn
last resort yet. | am reliably inform
ed that the chairman of the schoo
board has just conceived the brigh
; idea of spending more of the pee
pies money in exporting the board
books. He puts it this wise; Ii
wants to have the anti-schOOl peopl