The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1918-03-01

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At lae beginning aE the term a.
all pa5llc onieer1 in the sJate OF Ida
ho they are required q subscribe 10
the oalh that they will
Faithfully observe ana keep
The constitution o5 tha Unitl
States and the constitution Of
tate and the laws thereua-
der.
In gais state IL is expressly forbidden
that any public officer small have his
salary Increased or decreased durias
his term OF Office. Ii is believed that
eyery state il the union has this
J prosiaisn either in ITS organic law or
in ca2CtEent3 thereundev. Generally.
this requirement is faithfully observ-
led and kept in all the states.
Ii remained for the board of county
Commissioners Of Lemhi county TO
disregard their oaths and break this
law when they deliberately raised
the salaries OF two county officials
not long ago. Al the sane time Il.
was unlawful for these two to accept
this raise, for they too had suhscrib-
serving the constitution and laws.
It is unlawful for county commits.
sioner or any other county or state
official to make a contract or bargain
or deal OF any sort with himself as
private individual beyond the faiths
ful performance Of his official duties
to the state or county lie must not
deal with himself al all in any other
way He must not buy or sell bor
row or lend, to the county or state.
This also is g provision Of law in ON
form or another found on the books
IN perhaps every state in the union.
Nohc1y doubts the wisdom OF the pro.
vision, II too is faithfully observed
and kept everywhere but in E.erhhi
county and always here we believe
until the advent Of the present board
OF county commissioners. The chair
man of this body ignored il in award
ing cCatracts - his business asso-
ciate to absorb much OF the public
road funds of the county: in taking
fer his own use a lot OF bridge plank.
IN iockeying the sale of county
bonds, in using the county road tract
Of great fields Of land where he took
pride in showing how well the ma
chine did his work and in many other
acts of misconduct, including the
purchase Of large quantities of sup
piles for the county at business
house in which he has been interest
cd or employed according to testi-
mony developed in court trials
In the private use CT county prop
erty the chairman seems not to have
been the peerless one alone among
his otficia fellows A statement comes
from May that County Comuis-
sioner George Grubb has been an apt
pupil of the chairman in this sort Of
thing, having found it profitable 10
his purse and aEreeble to his offic-
al conscience to use fer himself the
county facilities at hand INTENDED for
road making and improvement. TIL
story Of this transaction comes from
a reliable source. We shall be glad
to publish a denial Of the statement
If it be not true.
The other missioner. the chair |
man, whose acts have also been call .
ed into question has never gone
further than TO say that the criticism /
of bis official conduct arose out OF
spite work Everybody knows this J
statement is wide OF the mark in re-
spect to that Official There is no per
sonal animosity that enters in any |
way into this criticism of county .
management. which has been delib I
erately wrong in so many ways that 4
TO permit IL n go on would be shame- /
ful in good citizens interested in the
progress and welfare Of the county
Hence the court action that is to 4
be taken
Section 1947 Of the Revised Codes
Of Idaho reads as follows,
The board Of Commissioner
must not hear or consider anv
claim in favor of an individual
against the county unless an ar-
count properly made out giving
all items Of the claim duly yer
itied as 70 its correctness. and
that The amount claimed i JUS,
lv due. Is presented 70 the board
within year after the last item
Of the account accrued
notwithstanding t"r above proyig-
ans. it win b. found from an exam
nation OF the public records that the
commissioners have allowed and
he county has paid. bills rendered
lgainst it BY divers and sundry per
sons. not for hundreds bat for thcus-
lnds Of dollars. which were not item
zed 81 all and which were Illegally
and unlawfUily paid: in many cases
hese bills have not been even verif-