Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1914-06-19
"vINDICATED." BY GOSH.


II the Orofino Tribune is correct
when it says there is nothing wrong in
Clearwater county with the officials;
that the report Of the state examiner
exhonorates and vindicates the gang,
and proves that the Clearwater Repub-
lican is mistaken, then what in the
name of the Old Harry is the matter
with the democrats? If the Tribune is
right then Blair Hoar and Pat Blake are
entitled to denomination al the hands
Of their party, and the Kaufman
crowd have no right to kick these Of
ficials out. And yet the democrats, at
their meeting last week, would have
nothing to do with Blair Hoar and
told Pat Blake where to head in. Now
there is something rotten somewhere,
for if Pat Blake and Blair Hoar have
been indicated, and there is nothing
wrong around the court house, as the
Tribune would have the people be-
lieve, it is contemplate for the demo-
cratic party to turn Mr.. Hoar and Mr..
Blake down with such sickening
thud. The Tribune will have to do
some explaining to satisfy the people.
The meat of the thing lies in the fact
that the Tribune is trying to square its
own dirty record, and to pose as the
friend Of the people; a reform news
paper opposed to graft, the while the
worst offender in the gang, guilty OF
the rawest skinning Of the taxpayers
that it is possible to conceive. The
Tribune, still edited and run by |. R.
Grow, is the same paper today that it
was when it collected $86.43 for 86
lines Of commissioners proceedings.
The Orofino Tribune was Blake
gang paper when Blake gang board
Of county commissioners, Elmer Tor
rerson and Frank Zelenka, voted the
Tribune ten cents a line for work that
the Republican offered to do for three
cents a line, and "reform" has not hit
Mr.. Crow and the Orofino Tribune
hard enough to make that sheet repent
to the amount Of one penny. Not on
your life. l. R. Crow isn't that kind Of
! reformer. He sucked around Jim
Blake and did his dirty work till the
gang were about to kick him out, and
then he reformed"
But the people are paying the bill.
The taxpayers of Clearwater county
are feeding the Tribune, just as they
have from the day the gang began us
ing the sheet to fool and deceive the
voters Of Clearwater county. And re-
member that $40 out of every 500 the
taxpayers are forced to pay for official
publications is political pap out OF
which the people are robbed :or the
benefit Of the Orofino Tribune. II
this isn't graft, what is it? And IT il
was graft, just plain, raw, rank graft,
when l. R. Grow was Blake gang
tool, isn't it atill graft, and isn't this
graft, this extortion, taken from the
people, used as campaign funds to sup
port another bunch Of office seekers?
Street rumor has it that the Tribune
is now controlled by County Auditor
Kaufman and Sheriff Harper. II Sc
these men have simply stepped in ane
taken for their own political use anc
benefit, a paper that was living or
Clearwater county taxpayers, and have
transferred to their use rotten mes.
that was saddled onto the taxpayers b,
the Blake machine with the under
standing that the Tribune would con
tinue to remain loyal to the Blakes.
But it matters not who the Tribune
supports, nor who owns it. That pa
per is enjoying a privilege that look.
like graft, it we understand the mean
ing of that word, and graft REGARDLESS.
Of whether the Orofino Tribune be-
longs to County Auditor Kaufman and
Sheriff Harper or Slippery jim Blake
and his gang. And it is just as rotter
and just as much OF graft to pay tht
Orofino Tribune, controlled by Kauff
man and Harper, 500 for $50 worth o
printing, as it would be to pa,
jim Blake sloO fer a $50 typewriter, o.
Frank Zelenka slo0 for $50 worth o
lumber.
But the Tribune article is all tissu,
Of falsehood The report of the stat,
examiner vindcates nothing. II doe
not go into the merits of any count,
business. The Clearwater Repub
ican has never questioned the clerica
ability Of any county official. So far a
this paper knows the books are wei
kept, the accounts straight, and ever.
penny accounted for, and that is as fa
as the state official went. The stat,
does not go into the merits of count,
business. 1t does not inquire abou
the price the county pays. Nor doe
the state audit of the books justify th'
Tribune in twisting it into vindication
For example, does the state audit win
dictate" the gang in the road culver
deal?