The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-06-30

and his own, and that would be too
big job to have it done twice and
that it would probably cost from a
thousand to two thousand dollars. 1t
would be the end of the year or
nearly that time anyhow before all
the paving would be done, and that
would bring it up nearly to the time
of the change of administration.
Somebody suggested that all work is
practically done now excepting the
paving, and that is to be done by
contract for certain stated sums, and
the audit need not be held up merely
awaiting the payment of the contract
price.
Difference of Opinion
Mr.. Fisher asked if it would not
be satisfactory to have the books
open to anyone who wanted to in
vestigate at any time. He said he
had it all in a card file, and it was
open to inspection. Colonel Fugate
said he thought the people wanted
the auditors statement to show just
how much each mile of road cost and
each loading station and all those
things. Trego said he had already
published that information as the
work was being done. He said he
thought the people wanted to know
now, that this bond money had been
properly expended and no wasting or
grating allowed. They want an aud
it made to show the history of the
expenditures and the ready-made
conclusions laid down in black and
white over the signatures of relia-
all expended in good faith and on
honest lines, or if there were shady
transactions, they want the audit to
show what they are. The auditor
ought to be able to look into the
history of the purchases of machin-
cry and the carloads of cement and
metal culverts and see if we bought
at current marked prices. His re-
port should show where the metal
culverts were used, and if one dis
trict got more than it's approprYa-
ton, he would show that If any
of it was Incorporated so that the
county lost something, he would dis
cover that and show it. Regarding
the individual examinations of the
card file by citizens, Trego said there
were few if any men in the county
who would ever go and look at it,
and they would not make a thoro
canvass of the subject even if they
did. He said that he believed there
were twenty thousand other people
in the county who could not do it
either. He wanted a bonded audit
company to do the work -experi-
enced people who were skilled
enough to do it right and whose
word on the matter would be final
Some Near Politics
At this point the commissioners
got to visiting and asked one another
if they were going to run again, and
if they had filed their nomination
papers. Then they asked Trego who
was to be elected next fall, and he
said somewhat in a joke that if the
audit said everything was done right
and honestly the most of the old
officials would be reelected, and
that If the audit showed any funny
work there would be new set. If
the present members of the board
should be nominated by the Republi-
cans and then the audit showed dis
honesty, then the only thing left for
the voters would be to elect a Demo-
cratic board.
Somebody said the Fort Hall paw
ing would be done by the middle of
August and that the audit could fol-
low soon after that. Trego suggest
ed making an engagement with the
auditors now, and that it would |
probably be September before they
could get to US. He said they might |
engage some firm to audit all the |
accounts Of the administration, with |
the understanding that they audit |
the road accounts as soon as they
So"iu, ooy Wy oCptCIHUcl, anu LuGu
make report on that and let it
rest till next January or February
and resume the work, and by this ar
rangement little or no work need be
done twice, and the audit of the road
accounts would not add much to the
cost of the total job.
Measuring Heads and Hats
BY this time the board members
were trying on each others hats and
laughing about Colonel Fugate's hat
and Trego's fitting the other fellows
heads like saddle on a cob, and
they went on out without deciding
or making any order concerning the
several unfinished questions. The
next morning they met as board of
equalization and spent the day study
ing individual tax questions.
-f-
Rebellion Likely
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