Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-05-27

ELMER K. DAUGHERTY,
candidate for Nomination for County
Attorney.
TO my friends:
I have been very busy, having near
H " three weeks criminal trial work at
I this term of court, and have just. got
\ free from It, Now, with the primary
Il almost at hand, find that some very
strenuous efforts have been made to
B encompass my defeat.
Aa First, I learned it has been pretty
generally circulated that I was not a
4 candidate.
81 Secondly, that the expenses Of liquor
\ tprosecut1ons were about to bankrupt
1.-THE county. ....
si These corrected by my letters to
syou last week, and as my statements
have passed unchallenged, l presume
my answer to them is satisfactory.
Now this week, my opponent, who
since announcing his candidacy, has
n assured me by letter that he Is my
~ personal friend, takes me to task for
4 l1ndicting fifty men for using candy
tpunch boards. and three times in one
fcoMmn asks you to look at your tax
sI1ecefpts for the added tax caused by
n these fifty indictments.
"a In the first place, there were not
"a nifty of them, nor anything like that
inumber. In the second place, every
u dollar Of costs taxed in those cases
sIwas paid by the defendants, in every
Il instance. " ..a
In addition to these were number
4 Of Indictments for keeping money slot
4 machines and playing "peapool" and
~ similar games OF chance for money in
II pool halls. There were seven fines
a imposed OF fifty dollars each.
Now, have no objection to your
Il looking at your tax receipts. -..-
& You will look In vain for one cent
II OF tax collected to pay costs in these
Il candy punch board cases because ev-
cry dollar of costs taxed in those
leases was paid by the defendants in
u each instance. ,...a
You need not, however, look at your
Il tn receipts to find that your taxes
have been increased. &a
U You have been doing that and your
4 taxes have increased every year and
sa1e now about double what they we're
I ton years ago.
Not only that, but the county has
gone In debt more and more. On
s,JAnnary /, 1911, the indebtedness of
the county was 3192,771.81 and on
January l, 1915, it was $445, 003.59,
8 GOnsiderably more than doubled in
I Ave years Notwithstanding your high
taxes. For the year 1915 this lebt in
creased more than. $4,000. s.
This cannot be accounted for on
\ the basis Of increased cost Of criminal
Y pr0secuttons. The criminal docket
has consumed from twelve to eighteen
days at each of the four terms of
u court per year and fair estimate of
the cost thereof would be 500 day!
But let US assume that twenty days
Il have been required at each term or
/ eighty days at 500 per days, 900
1 for. the. yeax-and the expense of the
Il grand jury Is shown to be $1,53215,
making in all $9,53215. So the in
crease in indebtedness is more than
1 seven times the entire criminal ex-
y pense Of the county for the period.
Iwould like your assistance in get
4 ting the county ON basis whore its
j as 4 am a tax payer; but submit that
looking at your tax receipt is not the
place to begin.
AdI Is Inc u ylu6 W CdLCL Iue lHlcl
] who has stolen your horse by looking
/ at your empty barn. ......
l stand for economy and efficiency
I'm Office and invite your careful in
i6pechon OF the conduct of my Office
In these respects. ....,
My opponent criticizes the presence
I Of state agents In Ottumwa as a re-
Election on it's good name. Now l sub
4Naf$ To S,~,v hot %he{o L.
asocalled reflection. Ottumwa has a
better name now than at any time in
the last twenty-five years.
It is also stated that nothing has
resulted from the activities Of the
state agents except SILLY indict-
ments." -,
Now it Is not my purpose to make
4 any defense Of the state agents but
I what they have accomplished in this
county.
In the first place they have secured
without assistance of local officers the
4 conviction and sentencing Of two no.
ltorious bootleggers to the peniten-
tiary They, with the aid of local Of
which fines to the aggregate amount
OF $3.50 have been imposed.
Also thirteen injunctions have been !
granted In cases where they have pro-
cured large part of the evidence. |
two contempt cases and a number Of
Injunction suits, wherein they are
witnesses and which are still pend
Ing.
Frankly I admit 1 would be glad if
we could dispense with the services
Z OF state agents but their service and
employment are a part of the legal
lied protection afforded by the state
70 its different communities.
Elmer K. Daugherty
- County Attorney. !