The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1918-02-01
A PECULIAR ITEM IN
LEMHI ROAD WORK
BUSINESS MEN START iNvESTE
CATION OF II. n. BOOMER
COMMISSION" IS CAUSE.

On the lllAilhC VI w -. 1oLtLAtAAF NAAb
stated TO members OF the Lemhi
County Business Mems association
that apparent irregularities had been
found in the action OF the board oil
county commissioners in their allow
ances on account of the Lemhi FaF I
ley read improvements, a committee /
of the association of Mr.. Smith, Fred
Il. Viel and f. X. Abbott was named
at a special meeting on Monday night :
last to investigate the alleged wrong /
doing. DR.. o. T. Stratton, president /
of the body, made the appointments.
There were only few members (
present.
The particular item of irregular /
ity was cited wherein the board OF !
commissioners allowed H. II. Boomer i
81, ,769.S1 as q commission OF 10 per |
cent on cost of work performed" Mr..
Boomer is the business associate OF
the chairman of the board of county |
commissioners and had road oatht
engaged all the summer ON the Lem
hi valley road. The amount allowed
would seem to be a bonus of one-tenth
of what was otherwise paid out for
| the last past year on account OF
the work in question. which Mr..
Smith thought was improper to be
allowed 10 anybody.
In the light of what had gone be-
! fcre in the repeated actions OF this
board the allowance to Mr.. Boomer
was no more than should have been
expected 1t may be that its apparent
| illegality will serve to halt them In
forking over the warrant or that the
Business Mems association IS inhu-
ential enough to stop payment there
Of But that remains to be seen. The
records do not disclose anV division
Iif there were any among the mem
bers of the board in the matter of the
Eall0wance OF the preDosterous clam.
Presumably It was rushed throuSN
Ibv the orders Of the rasOurceful
chairman, Not long ago The Idaho
Recorder published the facts in con
Inectjon With certain other irregular
lilies in the reported actions of this
body wherein unlawful increases IN
official ealaries were allowed. The
lonly tangible result of that pubhca-
tiga 80 far az It came 10 us has bern
he withdrawal os certain adVcrtis-
ing from this paper by a business
: Iro-se tat l. understood to be con
troucd or Influenced by the chairman
Isamo business house having 81 neat
bill Of upward Of thousand dollars
lon The same account aD recently al
lowed 1t v-"a stated as a fact also
that the county read machine had
been worked On the private lands of
she chairman to do his fall plowing,
the county bearing the expense OF
the ve1r and tear Of the machine. ard
Ii ,F hui loo nj h4l i
been hauled away to one of the
farms controlled b. the chairman.
Until the present rise on the part of
Mr.. Smith as stated above there ha ]
. been no public response to any Of
the Irregularities mentioned. One
other county official who belongs II
the same household of faith as the
chairman and believes that brethren
Of the kind should dwell together in
UNITY of purpose even if they do not
hare in the spoils recently made tha
"c-ack" kat The Recorder Uan
would get nowhere in publishing That
sort of stuff" All thn response that
ever came from the chairman him
self was in effect TO ask what arc
ieo'nG to do about it,"
Lead-rs IN the B1sin-ss Mems
sociation frankly told The Record T
latter their Informal meeting that the
+ result Of the meeting would not
amount TO n pinch of snuff. that riot
F of law and waste of funds would 90
e lon in the board OF county commis-i m
, ers unchecked just as heretofore: that
P There Is now q pa7 afoot TO take oV'
+ ct the spending by the county com.
missioners Of all the bond money
held for the construction of the Sal
: mon state highway: that fund
amounting or supposed 10 amount =
- more than a hundred thousand dol
{ liars. alonghide which $4,000 used up
] on the Lemhi valley road is a mere
bagatelle.
There is still remedy as last re
p sort perhaps in the calling of a grand
=, Jury to look into these ard otter
2 matters that would seem TO need
J. probing and looking into.
+ The county attorney. Hon. John
. Z Rees. is the officer II take the
j initiative in invoking this remedy iul
i the evils complained Of
In the meeting II was AZ first prp
r posed that the association employ :
Hawyer 10 take whatever legal step,
hat may be required. bui that prop
losition was voted down a. inyoivins
he possible expenditure Of more
? money than the association has ~ IFS
comm and II was al this point tina
S he opinion became general that th'
J. action might fail of its object Amont
T. he persons present were 4. NJ Col
n well. ]. F TAYLOR. Arthur Greene
1 Fred l. Vlel. r. Abbott " g
h Smith Joe Wrav. { A Beers. ,
r. Davis. Phil Rand and Dr Stratton.
f. ERNST HELD ON FIRST
+ DEGREE MURDER CHARGE
Is