The Hartford republican., 1917-02-23
ounce of credit, IL you would measure
Il that way, that is due them.
YOUR COUNTY.
(By TinlSW.)

trIOBes, scnoOi hpusSs o"' VI 'Nf"''
neighborhood meanness and high
taxes? q"
May be your county is partly to
blame but are you not partly at
fsult yourself? Did you ever stop
TO consider what attitude you gem
orally take toward your county? You
criticise very freely, don't you? You
criticise your local magistrate court.
you criticise the Circuit Court, and
often you even criticise the Court CT
Appeals. In fact you barely stop
short of criticising that Higher Court
I before which you must stand on the
Last Day. You criticise the Sheriff,
the Assessor, the County Attorney.
each individual Magistrate, the Coun.
~ Judge, the Circuit Judge, nay even
the great Judge OF all. Now stop
minute. Study yourself for just
little while. Shouldn't you play your
part in the general plan of things?
Aren't you getting just about what
! is coming to you? Do you ever try
to make things better? Do you list
your property as high as you should
in honesty and fairness? By this it
is not meant that you should merely
compare yourself with your neighbor
because your neighbor may be just
as bad as you are but it would be
better for you to take a careful in
vento-y of your own self and see
! lust where you stand, When you
sell q small strip of land to the coun-
ty for q road over which you and
your children, your neighbors and
their children are to travel, do you
not charge the county at the rate OF
from SIS to $3.50 per acre for land
that wouldn't otherwise bring more
than S5 to S25 per acre?
It is not sufficient answer to this
to say that the road cuts your land
in two or works some other inconven-
fences upon you. The convenience
and the benefit that you get from the
road more than off sets any inconven-
ience that the location of the road
places upon you You have no right,
therefore, to charge excessive prices
for the road bed. And the fact that
you do is one of the many causes why
the county roads are left so often on
poor ground, some times in the bot
tom of branch, sometimes on the
edge of a rocky hillside. often on
steep or siding ground.
When you undertake TO do days
work for your county either by your-
self or with your team, as a rule,
you are your own boss, you keep
your own time, you get to work when
you please, you quit when you
please, and then you raise a howl
because the county tries to avoid pay
ing you an excessive or exorbiLant
price.
Often when mischief, meanness or
lawlessness is going on in your COM
munity you refuse to report 1t to
the court or to take any steps to-
ward its prevention. And then you
blame the courts and officials for al
lowing such things to go on. Often
when you are summoned for jury
service to try cases involving viola
tions of the law you refuse to as
sess any punishment or to take a firm
stand for law enforcement, and when
summoned as a witness you refuse to
attend. Your excuse often is that
you have property and you are afraid
that the offending person will injure
your property or 40 you some 9TH
er harm. You forget that officers
and members of the court also have
property and have families and are
exposed TO the evil intentions of the
offending person, much more than
you are.
1t Is not sufficient answer to this 10
say that the officers and members OF
the court live mainly at Hartford.
Their property lies scattered in var
ious parts of the county and they
themselves are exposed to every per-
son in all sections Of the county
while you have only to deal with the
people of your own small commun-
ity. Now turn around a little. Be
fair with yourself and with your
county and with the courts and with
your officers. Try some other plan
besides harsh abuse and criticism.
Try the spirit of friendliness and CO.
operation. Try the plan common
ly known as 1.-THE square deal" Trv
your hand at passing a favorable
compliment once in awhile for some
thing thar you see done right by
your county officials. Surely in life
time you will find chance to speak
a word of praise. And yet IT is
doubtful II ever in your life you OPP
an.d ynur rnnutb In anurnval af a