Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-03-03

~ ~ eesVhAsRt ~ 0A0NhS0AS Sn0 SARitdt'
News.
The state land board has been plain
ly Informed that 1t cannot interrogate
the Capital News, nor can II dictate to
this paper how 1t shall secure digest
OF the boards proceedings. II. as the
of the majority of the
board would have It's readers believe,
the Capital News secures its informa-
ton second hand. which is an untrue
statement. even were 1t true the Sc
cond hand report seems to be more ac-
curate than the first hand reports, of
its own paper.
No MuxxIe On Proceedings.
Tic secretary of state reporter OF
the morning organ. grudgingly reports
himself as saying. Morning sessions Of
the board are reported in tho afternoon
paper OF that day." . most remarkable
admission from one who in the next
breath tries to infer. but does not state
so openly. that the proceedings OF the
board have been incorrectly reported.
1t develops that the governor. who is
chairman of the board. fi1tly told 9TH
er members OF that body ne did not
propose to refuse TO answer questions
regarding any Of the proceedings Of the
board or what transpired there. In
seeking to muzzle the press the secre-
tary Of state. who appears to set him
self up as tho boards spokesman even
crowding out the attorney general,
seeks to have only such proceedings Of
the board reported as shall come from
the boards clerk or are secured by
representative Of the press attending
the boards. meetings.
What Real Issue 10.
Hence the desire to throw dust and
cloud the real controversy which is not
over report OF the proceedings of the
land board, but instead is over a re-
port OF certain political loans on which
interest is unpaid for a number Of
years and which the state will have to
protect to save the principal This
particular story was published last
Sunday. IN view OF the fact II seems
to have aroused the four members OF
the board it Is herewith reproduced to
show its contents and the issue which
the board attempts to apparently be-
fog. The story is as follows:
The state land boards appropriation
will be subjected to a heavy strain in
order to protect some of the old po-
litical loans made by former boards,
as a result OF the insistent demands
made by Governor Alexander that there
should be foreclosure upon loans which
are in arrears in interest payments.
Several instances Of the bad condi-
ton several OF these loans have been
permitted to fall into are disclosed by
Investigations made to ascertain the
exact status of those upon which in
terest has become delinquent In many
cases it has been found that not only
has no interest ever been paid, some
times for periods covering the entire
five year life of the loan, but not even
taxes and water charges have been
met.
Loan No. 29s is one OF the bad ones
This loan was for $4,000 made to an Of
flee holder at the time. The defaulted
interest due on Jan. l, 1916 amounted
to $1,000; taxes and penalties to s11199s
and water assessments TO s99643, max
ing total charge of $4216.41 overdue
on a loan of $4,000.
No Action Ever Taken.
| No interest has been paid on this loan
since Jan. /, 1911. while the property
has been sold for delinquent taxes each
year since 1912 inclusive. since which
time no water charges have been met
Notwithstanding these conditions, and
notwithstanding the principal of the
note became due July |. 1914. no action
had ever been taken to secure the state
against loss until such action was de-
manded by Governor Alexander and the
present land board upon his motion.
Loans Nos. BAT and $40 were made
fs1 vita IN he ell, md
and the other to the wife, both being
prominent politically. The amount of
the two leans Is $4,000. There are no
delinquent taxes upon these lands but
there are delinquent water charges
amounting to s295S.o7 running back to
1912
Loan No. 672 has paid no interest
since the loan was made, July /, 1872
nor have any taxes or water charges
on the property ever been made. There
is due on this loan. In addition to the
principal OF $4,000. more than $500 in
defaulted interest, delinqr emit taxes and
penalties and delinquent waite. charges
The amount of taxes and penalties due
is $4,000 and the delinquent water
charges amount to ss63.3S. The pro-
perty given as security for this loan has
been regularly sold for delinquent
taxes each year beginning with 1912.
and In order to redeem the land, the
state will have to advance the $4,000
for taxes and the sS63.3S for water
charges
These are only samples OF a large
number of loans. a number said to be
so large and involving such a heavy
demand for funds with which to re-