The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1916-03-16
HEAVY EXPENSES
IuIhE TAXPAYERS
ELECTIONS BECOMING MORE
FREQUENT IN STATE OF
MINNESOTA
MANY SLATED FOR this YEAR
IN ADDITION TO THREE STATE
WIDE CONTESTS COME LO-
CAL SPECIAL PRIMARIES

St. Paul, March 14.-SOme of these
days the nigh cost Of elecrIOns is 60
ing to De an interesting topic OF con-
verSaJiOn in Minnesota. how much
the taxpayers parted with IN order to
1.let the people rule" is gong to be
the basis OF a sweeping investigation
and wnen 1t is made the findings Will
be startling. At the present time II
is said that of every dollar raised by
taxaClOn nearly 81 cents goes Tor edu-
catlonal purposes. The cost OF cleo
lions is not anywhere near that tig-
ure, but when the exact expenditure
per year is known it will appear al
most as big to the unthlnking. This
lions OF statewide character, one OF
them, the presidential preference prl-
mary, beng new addition to the
much abused slogan, Let the people
rule" Added to these are town, VII
lage ana city primaries and elections,
not to mention bona elections and
contests over the question OF dry or
wet. An these are special elections
ana Only IN d few Instances are they
so arranged as to be held in cOnnec-
ton with statewide contests. In the
absence Of any uniform plan for keep
ing the expense OF such elections
separate from the general cost of gov
eminent any one interested is stump
ed when he attempts to figure out the
years investment, but slight idea
can be gained by taking the number
of election precincts in the state and
striking an average for each. Author
tiles dlrter, but the best posted say
that about S75 per precinct per cleo
ton comes near being the cost. With
5000 precincts in the state this means
an expenditure of 1925, 900 for every
state wide contest held, which for 1916
with it's three statewide elections, will
mean an investment Of $675 700. Add
the thousands of local contests to
this, which IN the case of st. Paul
alone will be four in all, and the
S1,OO0,OOO mark is easily distanced.
Many say they would not be surprised
if elections in Minnesota this year
will cost the taxpayers not cent
less than $1,500,000. Some money,
Ell? Just think how many rural
school buildings could be built with
that amount.
While legislative investigation, if
such is ever offered, will bring out
the exact cost Of elections in Mime
sofa for one eyar, it never will be
able to unearth the real investment.
] refer to what the candidates for Of
fee part with, the vast sums expended
by individuals and others interested
in the outcome and the loss to bust
ness generally. Expense lists on file
with the secretary of state and county
auditors throughout the state are sup
posed to provide this information, but
the majority of them-11l be charita-
ble-are fibs. Accepting general opin-
ion the presidential primary just held
was the biggest joke ever perpetrated,
but is was most expensive joke.
1t stung tax payers for nearly $685.
900 and in their struggle for the decid-
edly unprofitless delegateships not a
few of the candidates parted with a
goodly chunk of their own coin. And
the best any of the winners will get
out of it is a trip to some national
convention at their own expense-at
least it is presumed they will pay
their own bills. There is no provision
for taking such out of the state treas
ury. All the way through it was a
battle of the politicians, and the peo-
pie paid the bill. When the measure
providing for this particular election
was introduced in the legislature it
was heralded as another step toward
the publication of the ballot and the
death knell of the bosses. From what
/ saw there was as much dirty work
as ever, and as for the bosses they
still rule.
Because of the absence of county
contests the opinion is general that
the several statewide elections this
year will see light vote. Those fig-
uring on such, however, may have an
other guess coming, as there is now a
move on to test the law giving county
officers four-year term. 1t is claimed
that the law providing for such is un-
constitutional. If contest is en-
tered it will have to be soon, as any
filings on which to base contest
must be made forty days previous to
the June primaries. 1t is the county
offices that bring out the rural vote
and those interested in some of the
state candidates are particularly anx-
ious for such.
According to a poll made by the
Daily Volkszeitung, St. Paul news
paper published in German, Colonel
Roosevelt has not the following in
Minnesota that some credit him with.
Writing to the candidates who partic-
ipated in the recent presidential pref
erence primary the st. Paul paper
elected the information that the "Big