Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-01-11
NOT PAYING THEIR SHARE OF
BURDEN
Continued from page l

Continued from page
Mind you, now, this was outside OF
public taxes paid by them. The mer
chants in a town in Ohio, last year
paid $4,000 to these different UNI
dertakings, and a town in Nebraska
last year, spent $1.7OO.0O in cash on
the roads leading into the town, and
the entire $1,7O0.O0 was paid by re-
tail merchants.
None OF these towns referred t6
| were large. In none was the popu
lation as high as four thousand. In
towns over the population of foul
thousand, these donations and con
tributions will run into thousands OIL
dollars annually.
We have enmerated enough of thes
citations to show the reader that FROM
an actual money standpoint, the re
tail merchant has been an important
factor in developing conditions which
lead toward a greater prosperity
in the community.
Are you wondering why all this
has been done? Do you wonder why
the roads have been improved? II
is that the farmer may deliver his
produce-grain and stock--to the mar
ket at a less cost. 1t was SO that
he could go and come without tear,
ing the life out Of his horses, wreck
ing his buggies or his automobile.
The farmers institutes, stock and
grain shows and short courses, have
been conducted that the farmer, the
basis of the life of the community
might be better citizen, and produce
more corn and more stock on his
farm than he has done before, and
thereby have more money to spend
in all ways
Lecture courses have been con.
Quoted that a better citizenship might
be developed, both in the commun-
ity and in the town. It has had for
its purpose the raising of the COM
munity Intellectually, which leads to
a better and a more prosperous COM
munity.
All of these different methods of
helping have had for their purpose the
benefiting and the lettering of the
community. And as the community
has been benefited and bettered, the
people have prospered more. Their
lives have broadened. They have
made their farms and their daily
labor produce more. Where the far
mer formerly produced sixty bushels
of corn, he is now producing sixty
five Or seventy. Where he formerly
produced forty bushels of oats, he
Is producing forty-five or fifty
Where his beef cattle formerly weigh
ed one thousand pounds, they are
now weighing twelve hundred, thir-
teen hundred or fourteen hundred
pounds, produced at little more cost
than when they only weighed one
thousand pounds. Where his hogs
formerly averaged two hundred and
fifty pounds they are now averaging
three hundred and three hundred
and fifty, or even more than this,
with very little cost over what he
used to have.
This has been the result of edu-
cation and development. Now, on top
of this the individual merchant and
the farmer, by taxation, has main
tanned agricultural colleges and 9th
er institutions of learning that the
people Of the state might develop in
tellectually and from this lead to a
greater financial development, which
success; it means that each
individual has more money to-
spend On luxuries and the necessi-
ties of life.
This work with the work on the
roads, and bridges, and schools, ETC.,
has been bourne largely through d.
rect taxation, but, nevertheless, it
has come out of the pockets of the
people Of the community. If you will
take the time to get the percent of
the taxes paid by retail merchants,
you will find that 1t Is something
enormous.
Mind you, now, we are not taking
credit for the retail merchants in
this work because they have done
these, things. The merchant has
largely. put his money into these
things from a selfish standpoint, be-