Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-12-04
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NEW
CHARTER.

1t has been said that ga little know
ledge is dangerous thing" 1t also
occurs to me that an utter lack of
knowledge makes man appear ridicu
lous. / know the desperate means to
which the opponents Of the new char
ter are resorting in order to encompass
its defeat. They have abandoned the
field Of facts and legitimate argument
and are resorting principally to mis-
representation and Justification to ac
complish their purpose. The article of
Mr.. S. T. Richardson's S in last night IS
dec 2ud) Journal is an article in
point. ] am unable to determine in
my own mind whether it belongs in
the category of "utter lack of know
ledgcD or in that Of misreprcscnta |
ton and Justification. It's possible
that he has not read the proposed char
ter and has been imposed upon by
some one and has taken his word for
it. His article shows his utter unfa
miliarity with the present charter. lie
states that the new charter increases
the power Of the city to levy taxes
from liz or IL mills to 1917 mills. |
Now the facts are: The present char.
ter limit Of taxation is l6l2 mills, dis
tributcd as follows: 10 mills for gen.
eral purposes, mills to pay off indebt
edness and the interest thereon, anl
y mills for street purposes, The new
charter provides for 10 mills for gen.
eral purposes, and not to exceed 5
mills to pay off bonded Indebtedness
and the interest thereon, making to.
tai of Is mills. See section 81 of the
new charter. These are the facts, as
any one can ascertain by reading for
himself, or by asking any Informed
person.
Mr. Richardson further says: "Tlerc
is some proposed miner changes, but
on the whole it is questionable if they
have improved upon the present char
ter. 1t is particularly noticeable tha-
all the defects in the old charter are
retained in the new one. For an illus
tration, sections rs, 80, 40 and Al rcgu.
, late sales of property by the city for
obligations duc it, and authorize the
chief Of police to make such sales the
same rs sheriff for delinquent taxes,
If Mr. Richardson read those sections
and came to the conclusions he appears
to have reached confess / am unable
to comprehend his mental processes
The sections in question simply give
the city lien upon real property in
cuses Of improvements where the cos
is assessed upon the abutting property
and provide that the chief Of policI
shall sell the same under warrant
from the Commission, which "shall
have the force and effect Of an cxe.
cution against real property us proyid.
ed by the laws Of the State Of Ore
gon." His entire article is similar to
the above, and is based on misinforma.
ton or Misunderstanding, recon.
mend that he read the charter again
carefully.
The article of Mr.. Il. Hofer in the
Capital journal of Dec lst is another
article in point. The whole article
teens with misinformation and misrel
resentaton. Mr. Hofer is clever and
versatile writer Of much experience,
and he knows how to tell half Of the
truth and then draw Il wrong corclu-
sion. Every one knows that this is the
hardest kind Of argument TO meet and
refute. For instance, he says "from
the fourteen names on the ballot the
voters at large would select seven
Commissioners the whole city voting
on each Of the seven D" When in anct
the 5oters Of the entire city will elect
one from each ward.
AuVtn Ia. lave syv,nN ytrnus ,,vn, Al,
fuct that four of the commissioners
might combine with the Manager"
and run the city. This is perfectly M
tural and true. -Four are majority
and necessarily must rule. II happens
in all cities that the Mayor and n ma.
iority Of the Council combine and run
the city, No one would change this
condition If he could even though at
times the combine is not for the hest
interests Of the whole city. In srcok.
ing OF the Acting Mayor, he says: "It
is well.known fact that candidates
with backbone aud strong convictions
on public matters get the smallest
vote" II is to this fact, no doubt,
that he attributes the small vote he re.
ceived when he ran for Governor -four
years ago.
Further. Mr. Hofer says; {"
but the people urc to have no recall -
] think every one, with the exception
Of Mr. Hofcr and few Of the oppon
ents Of the new charter, knows that
Section is Of Article II of the Consti.
tuition Of the State Of Oregon provides
for the recall, that II only applies to
elective officers, and that the charter
Of the city Of Salem can neither add
20 nor take from t.
He also says that abolshing the OF
flee. Of City Treasurer aud making
single bank custodian Of tho riiy funds
Is Il very bad feature, ns It would give
the bank Il valuable monopoly, and the
city would have to hire more help to
do the work now done by the Treas.
urer. This latter statement Mr.. Hofcr
ought to know Is not true. He is also
alarmed lest the Commissioners select
the weakest bank. ! do not think tn,
people will elect Commission whu
would be so foolish as to place the city
funds in bank which was unsound.
But supposing it did select such Il
bank, Mr.. Hofer fails TO inform yoL
chat the bank must furnish the city