The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-09-22

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cents a mile for each vagabond.
chicken thief or criminal Of greater
degree. And the mileage Of the man
held under arrest. No. The county
seats are established. Unless there
is some act of the legislature by
which you could give Keokuk its OWL
division. land you cant under the
constitution matters will have to
stay as they are. for convenience.
But there are ways much money
can be saved in the management and
conduct OF the affairs OF Lee county.
And here are only few OF them.
Why not get out and advocate them?
God hates a coward and the world
loves fighter fighting for his rights.
Abolish the grand jury. Let the
district judges direct the county at
torney to file all complaints, thereby
saving witness fees before the grand
jury. and mileage and hundreds OF
dollars for grand juries. It's done In
many states, and ] believe in Iowa
we have this right.
A more thorough investigation OF
claims made by paupers and creditors.
and reshipping or driving out those
Sent III IIom OlueI states dAO SouAA
ties.
A consolidation OF deputyships.
That is to say, instead of q dozen
deputies, appoint one or two to act
for half dozen principals. In case
any office is Overworked at certain
seasons of the year, call on the other
employees to help out.
Instead of making petty offenses
felonies, permit them TO pass as mis-
demeanors. Too much stress is laid
on trying to send men TO peniten-
tiaries for offenses which should be
classified as misdemeanors. Here
also you conform to modern prison
methods: before the expense IL made,
and the character blackened. And
also saving of thousands OF dollars.
All court costs in civil cases to be
paid in advance for every case COM
menced. and the filing fee for every
paper at the time of filing the same.
No expenses incurred for criminal
cases in justice courts without the
written sanction Of the county attor-
ney. These cases can be brought In
the police courts of Fort Madison and
Keokuk. and thousands saved this
way.
Nobody to work out road tax. Col
lect this money and hszve man
skilled and with ability do this work
with the taxes collected.
Advertise and buy all supplies as
the state of Iowa and Iowa counties
do. And this applies to all supplies
for jails, poor, road work, etc. And
give no orders for supplies. Let the
county have store room with the
necessaries to be delivered to the
poor. This is one of the biggest ex-
penses Lee county has and one OF the
most abused.
There are many other things which
could be suggested, and the people
in Keokuk should make 1t clear to
the people out in. the county that try
ing to remove the county seat Will
mean added expenses to the tax
payers. instead Of less expense. II
the above suggestions were carried
out there would be big saving
Another thing, all county prisoners
should be worked out on the roads.
building them up and putting them in
good shape. The affairs of Lee
county have never been economically
handled, and one county seat win not
remedy the evil. The farmers and
AntiHorse Thief association with
apologies to civilizat3on) should go at
the matter from the right angie anu
IL they will lay aside personal feel
ing. and say for once we are going to
demand and get what is here outlined
you will discover the difference. II
you have better remedy, well and
good. We shall be glad to approve
Of it, OF course you might save a
few dollars in salaries by one county
seat. But the added expense and the
great Inconvenience and loss of time
to 10000 people and their neighbors
for fifteen miles north and west, are
not sufficiently compensated for by
the saving OF few dollars in taxes
With charity for all and malice to-
wards none, and believing in the old
saying that In union there is
strength" ! close. tai
SAC AND FOX
Keokuk, Sept %, 1916.