The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-01-13

sense in all things. He had issued
statement to the effect that ne does
not want any frills in his inauguration
ceremony and wants to take the oatn
of Office in the capitol building and
quietly slip away to get busy. he IS
4 man who does not like pomp and
ceremony and believes in simplicity
and service. He is against the: spend
inp of a lot of money at the inaugu-
ration and all he really wants Is TO De
allowed to assume his Office ana get
down to business solving the great
questions that must come to nm VINO
is to be the chief magistrate OF the
nation.
Townley is telling the farmers OF
Kansas what wonderful thing his
socialist organization is for them and
how much it has done for the people
of North Dakota. It has certainly
"done" the people Of North Dakota to
a FRAGILE. We are now confronted
with an empty state treasury, our
state institutions crippled for the
want of funds, no money to pay any
thing, county officials in some coun-
ties liable not to get their pay for
February, school teachers having to
take warrants worth eighty cents on
the dollar and no one buying them at
that, taxes trebled in the past two
wears. and the state as a whole obliged
to abandon the carrying on of the
several industries because there IS no
money to pay the bills-all on account
of this wonderful, panacea that Mr.
Townley is putting over the farmers
of Kansas at SIG per. the biggest part
of which does to the loud mouthed
and smooth tongued orators and pro,
motors. All the leading lndustrlal
workers have gone to Kansas while up
here in North Dakota we are facing
the cold facts of financial distress
brought on by misadmlnlstratlon OF
public affairs.
The meeting held in the city hall
last night to talk over the park sltua-
tion was attended by a large number
of tax payers many of whom express
ed their opinion on the matter, me
editor was out of town and could not
he present but we are informed it was
meeting in which the majority OF
the peopie were strongly opposed to
huving more park land. Mr.. Gray,
a member of the board, very frankly
stated. we are informed, that if the
proposition came up for vote ne
would vote for it in spite of this pub
lie protest. 1t shows that ne is man
of fairness in stating his position put
we think little too stubborn IN the
attitude he is taking. This is gov
eminent of the people. by the people
and for the people-at least we rather
thought it was-and when public otfl-
cials disregard the people it is very
ant to result in resentment and dis
content. If the people cannot get, what
they want from those who are electeo
to represent them, then 1t is time Tor
them to turn to the courts ana use
the Injunction method. Ihls IS
method we do not like but 1T IS tne
only one in cases of this KIND. IL is
all very we'll to stand up and say tnat
our taxes will not be increased but loo
per wear when we know from a
scrutiny of our tax receipts that 1t is
several dollars. Those who stand up
and so glowingly picture these Things
to the tax payer are the ones VINO
do not do the heavy tax paying. Let
MS reason together over this matter
and put it off until some tn,
ture time when it is more needed
than it is at the present time. Why
force through this deal? Is somebody
getting something out of it or IS 1t
inst a case of bullheadedness because
the people do not want 1t and the PARK
board does?
A visit to the legislature of the
state by the editor yesterday revealed
the fact that both houses were just
loafing on the job waiting for devel~
onments. the principal one of course
being the report of the examiners
which is expected to be made public
to the house some time this week. 1T
is apparent from the surface that
there will be some lively times when
this report gets in. However, there
is a noticeable change in the demeanor
of the members over the past Two ses-
sions. The legislature is divided, one
house going to the independents ana
the other to the leaguers. Thls causes
sort of temporary truce because
neither can do thing without the help
of the other and thus more peacetul
atmosphere permeates around the
halls Of our stately capital building.
Members on both sides are trying
hard, we believe, to keep peace within
reasonable bounds, and it is now
possible to talk to Lacquer and Tor
a Lacquer to talk with an independent
in friendly manner, which was
hard to do in previous sessions, "
course once in awhile when somebody
says something strong about the state
bank or the Drake mill one of the fire
eaters will rear up in the air and paw
around for a few minutes and
whole bunch will join in the word fight
and this will give the populace a little
spice, but on the whole everything is,
moving along quietly at this. time.
The big idea in the minds OF both
sides is to keep down the appropriaa-
tions because not alone the l3depend-
ents but the most devout Lacquer no"
frankly admits that the state Is
broke That is the condition OF a.
fairs at the state capital and there
is no money to pay bills. The legasla-
tors are worried about their own pay
and those who have been responsible