The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-04-04
National Bingham Week is From
April 4 to 8

stated that that was matter OF no
concern to the public. They hired
! the man to do the work and that he
should be on the job working DIR
ing working hours just the same as a
man would do If he were working for
farmer. 1t was of no concern to
the public where he spent his Satur-
day night and Sundays and Sunday
nights so long as he was on the job
Monday morning.
H. N. Smith got up and asked why
a person was different working for
the county than working for a
farmer or anybody else. What would
farmer think of hired hand who
came to him on Saturday afternoon
and demanded transportation to his
home at some distant place and back
at the farmers expense on Monday
forenoon. He said it was preposter-
GUS and unheard Of. One of these
speakers ventured the remark that II
the officers who had been doing this
work did not care to meet their full
duty, that Bingham county could
find other men to put on the job who
would ,be perfectly willing to do the
work.
Chairman Buchanan watched for
sion about the commissioners spend
ing money and remarked that he did
not mean spending money, merely
for the sake of spending it, but he
believed we had board that would
be very careful in their expenditures
and that it was necessary to- have
money to carry on the necessary
county business.
Commissioner Williams stated
that they had made considerable re-
duction in expenses already and were
intending to hold the expenses down
as close as they could. He said 1t
was very difficult matter to do and
they could't do it all in a day. He
said that If the people would Just
have patience and give them time
that they would do everything they
could to economize. !,
A Strange Spectacle
The committee sat from 400 un-
til nearly o'clock threshing these
things over and never struck the key
note at the vital part Of the situation.
Here was the spectacle of the
county commissioners, the Republic
can assessor, two Republican news
paper men and quorum of the Re-
publican county central committee
and they had listened to a report
of $500 words from q Republican
tax commission condemning the work
of the assessors department, con-
demning the work of one of the
deputy assessor and saying they had
no doubt that he had padded his bill
$50 or $40 and the assessor had o.
KID the bill and the old board of
commissioners had paid it; Repub-
lican newspaper man had dug up the
records and exposed it; the Republic
can tax commission had found that
1t was all true; Republican asses
sor had sat among them saying that
he proposed to go right on with some
of the practices which they had con-
demned, namely the mileage driving
to and from their work, and they all
sat there and took it in silence, never
once demanding his resignation nor
the discharge Of the deputy who had
padded his bill.
The editor OF the Idaho Republic
can did not make any demand for the
discharge of the delinquent officers
for the reason that he was there to
hear the report of the other fellows
and see what they would do about
it. The Republican county central
committee is responsible for the con-
duct of the administration under Re-
publican officials. The county COM
missioners are responsible for the
conduct Of the assessors office under |
their administration and his. The
assessor 10 responsible mo, he is
not responsible at all-but his bonds !