Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-10-19
AN IMPRACTICAL AND AN IMPOSSIBLE CANDI
DATE.

D. W. Davis, candidate for governor, is making his
campaign upon promise to create 'taxess state.
This he he will do through the rapid sale of all state
lands and the investment at compound interest OF the
money received therefrom, which, he figures out the
of 40 so years will produce fund the interest
from which will be sufficient to all expenses OF the
state county, municipal and other forms of government
the state without the necessity of levyng any tax of
any nature.
but dreamer and impractical would
iousy advocate any such plan 1t is sufficient to know,
however that Idaho does not single of land
and that it has, therefore, land to sell.
The lands which commonly called estate lands,
which are the lands which Candidate Davis proposes to
SELL the lands of the state at all but they belong
the government of the United States given however, to
the state to hold in trust for the and benefit of specific
ally named institutions for the education of the children
Of the state and for the of it's unfortunates
Sections Is and Sc in every township of the state were
granted to the state for the support of the common
schools 80 sections of land granted for the
of erecting public buildings at the capital Y sections were
given the state universy 100000 acres were given
for the establishment and maintenance of the scientific
school, 100000 for the state normal schools $4,000
for the support and maintenance Of the insane
asylum at Blackoo 10000 for the agricultural col
ege $4,000 for the maintenance of the pententary
$4,000 additional for the university and 10000
flor other state, charitable, educationa penal and
formatory institutions"
These lands held by the state trustee for the
express trust and benefit of the institutions named in
the grant The gift is not gift outright, but cond
tiona gift with specific conditions attached which cond
tons must necessarily be complied with The condition
attached to these lands that they be sold only for
the purpose of obtaining funds the interest from which
must to the maintenance of the institutions mentioned
benecares in the grant So fully protected these
funds that it is made the imperative duty of the legisla
ture of the state to reimburse fund that may suffer
loss that the principal may decrease and only the
interest may be used and it provided that the in
teres may only be used for the specific purpose mentioned
in the terms Of the gift.
What ID. w. Davis then is proposing to do is to vio-
late the trust imposed in the state of Idaho by the national
and take these lands without authority of law
from the institutions for whose and benefit they
given and to apply the interest from the proceeds the
general expenses of government.
He proposes to take the amount given to the univer-
sty; to the agricultural college; the normal schools
the insane asyums to the efonnatory school, and the
public schools of the state away from those institutions
and the interest derived from the sale of the lands
longing to them paying salaries at the state capitol in
Boise to maintain the police force and build streets in
cities and towns throughout the state and general for
the thousand and expenses that to make the
cost of government in a state like Idaho
This is impractical dishonest and impossible thing
to do therefore, Davis its author and advocate
come an impossible and impractical candidate
Waving aside the mpossibilities, however, every
thoughtful citizen of the state knows that overfat
fund may continue be- heretofore proven unsafe in
the hands of political officials But waving aside the in
ability of incompetent officials to handle such sum
under existing conditions and the probable dishonesty
among such officials, still it must impress itself upon the
mnd of thoughtful person that to make taxless
state by any such scheme to exempt wealth from
share in the burden of government and to impose
burden wholly upon those who compelled to borrow
hence upon the poor alone
1t is the interest from the investment of this money
that Mr. Davis proposes to for the expenses of gov