Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-08-26
!: LOCAL COMMENT

Ihere are two weeks In which, to
prepare for the Marshall county fair
SO let there be some effort made this
year to furnish more information re-
| garding each and every exhibit. Cards
neatly lettered should explain just
what every exhibit is, who owns it and
what kind of a prize it won, if a win
| ner. Breeders of Hampshire hogs or
Rhode Island Red chickens may think
| it ridiculous to tag their exhibits with
the names Of their kind of stock but
hundreds of people who do not breed
that kind would like to know au-
| thoritatively what they are looking at
1t is also true thruout the liberal arts
building. Every exhibit should be
plainly tagged with information. 1t
will add 100 per cent to the public in
terest in the show.
1t is greatly, to be hoped that those
in charge of the Liscomb school con-
solidation will frame up plan which
can meet with the approval Of ma
jority of those concerned. When one
sees the magnificent school buildings.
and the graded schools for children
from the farms in almost all the vii
lagos of this county excepting Lis
comb. Green Mountain and State Cen
ter he Is moved with a strong desire to
see the other communities modernize
their school systems.
There ought to be a committee at
work planning on extending the Mar
shalltown school system to the chill
dren of the farms in the near vicinity
of this city. Actual consolida ton Of
rural territory with city so large
seel-1s impracticable but whole dis
tricts could be taken in on the tuition
plan. Every mans child is entitled to
the advantage of graded school in
these days of enlightenment.
Marshall county has received S16,16
of its auto license money back from
the state. This is $1,000 or $4,000 less
than its auto owners paid but other
counties with fewer autos and more
townships got the rest of the money
However. it matters little who got the
money under the present, system for
no auto owner can yet see that he has
been getting anything out Of the
money which did come back to the
county. Few if any roads have been
put to permanent grade with it and no
surfacing has been done. Plenty OF
tractor grading has been done and will
have to be done over again next year
but those piles Of loose dirt and sod
in the center Of the road are Of doubt
ful value to auto owners.
There is one point about this auto
money. however. which few people
consider The average farmer fears
that if bonds were to be voted the city
would vote bonds on to him without
paying its far share of the road lax.
The county road tax is now divided
into a one-mill levy which is assessed
upon town and farm property alike
and a two-mili levy which falls upon
farm! properly alone. The auto tax
also falls upon both city and farm.
The one Till and the, auto license
yields s2s.09a. which is paid by city
and farm. property alike while the
two mills yield $1T,599. All Of the
money excepting about 1000 per an
nun is spent on the roads abutting or
near by the farms In town wien
streets are improved the abutting
property Is assessed for practically all
o. the cost on the theory tina. it is
benefited by the improvement. If that
is true. farm property receives a spe
ola; benef, from road improvement
and division OF the tax which raises
s2s.009 from AL property in both cily
ane town and only 1889 upon farm
prope1t.' alone is not so inequitab,e as
il may seem Tha. is a distribution OF
two-fifths 9. the cost to levy upon
the fa-ln properly especially benefited
and three -fifths to levy upon all
property The or.g' inequality OF
which anyone could complain is In the
IA CT that people in town own less
property per capita than those in the
country but we have this to contend