The Ward County independent., 1921-11-17
been Justly placed on the league man.

ayers ana On the state industrial COM
mission. Unwittingly they did evil
that good might come. Excessive
power is dangerous thing. 1t does
too often blind the eyes Of the wise
and pervert the judgement Of the
righteous. THE LEAGUE MAN.
AGERS HAD TOO MUCH POWER.
High Tax Fight s
In 1919 at special election in
Towner County, the fight was on the
high taxes and it went against the
league. At special session in De-
cember, 1919, there was an urgent
plea for a general tax reduction of
SO per cent, but the result was merely
25 per cent reduction of the state
tax levies. Well, as time passed, it
became evident that the bad laws and
runious taxes must lead to the ruin of
the league. Hence to undo the wrongs
and to remove the cause of complaint,
the Governor was urged to call spec
ial session in June, 1920. Any good
law that passed would have taken ef-
feet on the first day of July and in
time to prevent disaster at the COM
ing election in November. 1T WAS
THE LAST CHANCE; BUT MOTH
ING WAS DONE. Then at the gen.
eral election in November 1920, the
league majority of two to one in each
house was reduced so that honors
were even. At the next session the
Governor said to the solons: "The
best thing you can do is to pass the
appropriations and 60 home." Others
said: "Pass no appropriations until
the assessments and tax levies are
reduced to proper basis" Well, as
you know, nothing was done to set
matters right and the result of it all
was the RECALL. @sf ,573l :
Twas ever thus since childhood's
The lesson is so drastic and expen.
sive it should serve as warning to
the bosses and the lawmakers of this
and other states. It may well be
said that the league managers have
many excellent credits as we'll as
many excuses for their mishaps. They
had proved themselves phenomenal
political organizers and doubtless
they thought themselves competent
fnanciers and business men capable of
running all the affairs of state, and,
as mere side issue, organizing and
managing a great bank and other
state enterprises. The task would
have been too much for a James Hill
or a Cecil Rhodes. !
League Method Wrong 4
The league program is all right, but
their method Of procedure is all
wrong. The reason is that in public
service there is no efficiency. There
is continual and lavish expenditure
of time and money. There is no OBJ
servance of business methods. Those
who serve the public steal their time
soldier and neglect their duties. That
is true Of nearly all Judges and even
the nine Judges Of the United States
Supreme Court. Indeed, the big nine
are the chief sinners. They steal
their time, take long vacations, con-
tinue in the rut of ages and hold only
biennial terms of court. Instead of
pushing their work and keeping their
docket clean, like the North Dakota
Supreme Court, they hold up most ap-
peals for two or three years. OF
course that is not business. /;
In New Zealand, banking and most
every public utility. is operated by q
stock company. There is a union Of
public and private capital and control,
and that has proven great success.
In that way the federal reserve banks
are organized and operated. In each
bank the government owns one-third
of the stock and names three directors.
The member banks own the rest Of
the stock and appoint six directors who
give all their time to the business of
the bank. But our friends of the
league were bent on trying a new
method, which was to engage the state
in certain enterprises at the expense
of the taxpayers and under the direc-
ton and absolute control of three
state officers, regardless Of their
business qualifications. No good
Lacquer ever thought Of trusting the
l. v. AS. with the power delegated to
the industrial commission, and such
power should never be trusted to any
man or set Of men.
The Initiative
The ,caguers have given the state
in the simplest and best form the in
itiative, the referendum, and the re-.
call, for which they may well claim
credit to the amount of several mil
lions of dollars. At the primary elec-
tlon IN June, 1SEZ, the voters may use
the initiative to redress all their legal
wrongs, to reduce the assessments
and to throw off all excess tax burdens
In making assessments and levying
taxes the better way is to return to
the simple, inexpensive and constitu-
tional methods which prevailed q doz-
en- years ago. Then the tax on
quarter section of land was not over
$4,000. Now it is $4,000 or more,
and the land income is not one per
cent net on its assessed valuation. It
will be the fault of the people them
selves if they do not reduce their tax
burdens to proper level and make
such other laws as may be necessary
to insure their success and prosperity.
For good luck the initiative petitions
should be filed with the Secretary of
State on St. Patrick's Day in the