Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-09-14

RESTITUTION OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND PUNISH
MENT OF GUILTY OFFICIALS.

T has been the custom for over 20 years for the state
officials particularly the members of the land board
make grab bag of the public treasury, to fadulenty
and Illegally divert the funds that should have gone the
state treasury by making loans to themselves through
dummies and selling the state lands to favortes for nom
nal sums without expectation of repayment.
"We pledge candidates if elected to make thor
ough examination of the records of the state land board
and in every of fraud to institute suits at law civy
to the money for the Of the people the state
and crimnay to punish the offenders -Extracts from
the Progressive state platform
The partisan press of the state relying upon the sup
posed security of the secrecy with which the public funds
have been looted for the private benefit of favored state
officials has tried to create prejudice against the Pro
gressve candidates and thus offset and foresa the effect
of this plain and definite promise. They have tried to
make it appear that the charges made made without
knowledge sufficient to back them up They have relied
upon past punshments administered to those who have
sought to give the public information of exact conditions
IN the states official family and upon the fear of libel and
contempt proceedings to prevent any exposures except
upon exact and convincing and convcting proof of the
accusations prevent the threatened exposures before
honest officials could be elected who could have the
sary to the public records to establish the frauds
alleged They hoped by such method of forestalng the
Progressive candidates to prevent their election and
sequenty to prevent their gaining the information
sary upon which to base the actions promised
The Progressives have waited in patience while the
partisan press has been creeping into the trap The Pro-
gressves make charges they cannot sustain and they
make no promises they cannot or will not keep.
In addition to the instances already cited wherein the
most conclusive evidence has been presented that the state
land board of the present administration loaned state
funds to the state treasurer his deputy and another
official with which to purchase $40 acres of anda purely
speculative venture by the waywheren neither interest
taxes have been paid many other could be cited
of even worse favortsm.
AS illustration partial investigation made has re-
veaed the fact that the timber upon than twenty
separate 40acre pieces of land has been sold for
This does not $35 per thousand feet of lumber
does it 1915 1t that the munifcent
GU OF $375 received for each 40-acre tract!
1t is absurd to believe that the values greater
than the sum received If it worth anything at all it
worth than 1915. The conclusion is inevitable
that political debts being paid that favoritsm
being shown for other reason, if nothing
existed than favoritism
How the people rest under present and past
conditions, how they return to office the ele-
ments the forces and the officials who
too often have been responsible for these things
than understand.
Will they do it again?
We firmly convinced that outside the southeastern
counties which up to date give every indication of in
tention to make returns showing even greater ma
iorty for the old forces with which they have al
ways been in alliance there will be but very few votes
cast with Them but that the tremendous majority will be
against the return to power of of the old influences