The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1914-11-13

was concerned / was the whole thin
the chief cook and bottlewasher
Show me any ody else that was doinl
anything to help; none of this coun
Gil were helping; so far as anything
was done it was against me ana con
demning what l was saying and do
ing"
Mr. West There Is another thing
l want to direct your attention tC
while we are about 1t. In your paper
a few weeks ago you named each Of
the city officials and arraigned them
for not giving attention to the prison
bill you had been talking about, and
you reminded us of our official oaths
as If we had disregarded them, and
want to tell you frankly that think
l am just as good a judge of the
responsibility of my oath of office
as you are"
Ignoring Responsibility
Mr. Trego: Let me answer by stat
ing some circumstances. In March,
1913, each member of the council &C
cepted nomination and was elected
upon a platform that said, We pledge
our candidates If elected, to administ-
er the city government in rigid econ
omy, making only such expenditures
as may be necessary to meet the de-
mands Of the growing city On the
morning Of the 31st of March, 1914,
a number of tramps, or working men
seeking employment, ate breakfast at
Pocatello. During the day they reach
ed Blackfoot, bought some provisions
of dealers along the street, paid for
them and ate their supper in the
open. At nine o'clock in the evening
they were seated around a camp fire
at the stock yards and were arrested
by police officers and taken to the
county jail for the night. In July
following, Sheriff Jones presented a
bill to the city for boarding those
seven men on March 31st, fourteen
meals at 37h cents each. Not one
of them tasted food in the Jail that
day or anywhere else at Jones ex-
pense; there we're many other items
in the bill that were wrone, you were
told what some of them were, you
were warned not to pay it, you made
a superficial investigation, paid the
bill and by publication of an interview
about it, exonerated the sheriff and
by inference condemned those who
gave the warning. Now by what
right did you take $5.25, the price
of those fourteen meals. from my
pocket or the pockets of any tax pay
err and deliver 1t to the sheriff Of
this county? In addition to the
warning at the time the bill was pres
ented, you had been warned for
weeks and months through The Ida
no Republican that this system of
graft was being operated against us,
and not a member of tho city ad-
ministration did anything about it
until it was pressed upon you so
hard that it was an offense."
MI West: well, Mr.. Trego. |
don't see yet where it has been
proven that Mr.. Jones is at fault re-
garding the rest of the items in this
BILL"
Overlooked Some Points
Mr.. Trego: "The co N 1 does not
seem to have been impressed with
the fact that this list which the COM
mittee took from the day book of
the restaurant, shows decrease in
the sheriff's order for meals cores
ponding to the identical times when
the men ate at the restaurant at city
expense"
Councilman O'Neil: ut does with
me. l was impressed with it when
saw it,"
Mr.. Trego: and the council seems
to have overlooked finding out upon
what authority the restaurant SER
we'd the meals in the restaurant and
charged them to the CITY, That
came from somewhere, and
it was not disputed when the restau-
rant presented it's bill"
Several voices: That's right.
There's something we ought to GET"
Mr.. Trego: "You will find some
thing interesting when you get that.
If | knew nothing to the contrary l
should be willing to concede that the
sheriff had made mistake and for
gotten something He probably did
not know either, that two of these
men worked for Mr.. Younie hauling
brick and received wages from him,
and that out of their wages they paid
4 = 4 4.