Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-11-30

not receive much consideration from
the county board last week. AS far
mers are in majority on the board
and some of the county's best farmers
too-it is evident that they consider
the county agent to be Of some value
and are competent witnesses in ad-
dition, much more so than the average
country newspaper editor. Bloom
ington Record.
Friend Bishop, from his safe dis
lance of eighteen miles, draws err
Yoneous conclusions. If he would
come off the perch and n1ingle with
the hoi-polloi at Lancaster at county
board time he might be disilluSioned
but would find things different from
what his second sight assumes them
to be-
The fact is that the county board
was not so sweetly harmonious as
Bish thinks The Herald had it un-
solicited from farmer member of the
board that the board was prepared to
vote on the question of county agent
and probably would have abolished
the Office as they did in other counties
had the matter come to a vote. How
ever, the appropriation for the office
went through with the report of the
agricultural committee and the mat
ter turned out exactly as the Herald
predicted it would in our first article
on the subject. The county agent got
through the farmer" board but it
was by the skin of his teeth and we
think he knows it.
The Grant county board, like most
legislative bodies, is a committee
proposition. Committees settle most
matters which are submitted to the
board in blanket form and generally
passed without murmur. Half OF
dozen old and wise heads do most of
the work, manipulating and bossing
on the board or the Herald in close
observation for a number OF years
misses its guess. There may be muir
murs and discomfort and sometimes
rebellion but when the subject comes
from the committee and hits the floor
the well-oiled machine generally does
it's work very efficiently.
The Herald has no criticism to make
OF individual board members but it
seems to US that the system is wrong
and does not permit intelligent and
deliberate discussion. Members meet
and in four days wade hurriedly
through a years business in the big
county corporation. Much of the
hard effort falls upon the county
chairman and few people realize the
amount of labor that jealous public
servant is called upon to perform
with practically no compensation.
Naturally the board in considering
economy will strain at a gnat (as it
did in county officers salaries) and
swallow a camel (as it did in passing
the huge budgets from various COM
mittees) without an apparent murmur.
The board may get little free ad-
Vertising at home when 1t cuts lew
dollars off the salaries including a
hundred dollars a year from one or
the hardest working men in the
court house but it is not really econ |
Omizing and the result will not be ap-
parent on the tax receipts. Incident
ally the chairman of the committee on
officers salaries comes from Bishops
village. Evidently our friend has but
little influence with him as he COM |
plains of the result.
But enough of this-let us not dis |
illusion friend Bishop further. A |
child-like faith and trust in things as
he thinks they should be is one of the |!
outstanding elements of his fine, noble |
nature. The Herald does not care to |
add further to the burden of its sins |
and we will not be the one to shatter
Friend Bishops illusions and ideals. |
Some may laugh at him but we do
Motive admire the little fellow.
From the Herald's standpoint we
are glad the matter turned out as 1t
did. Had it not Friend Bishop and
others who think as he does would
have laid the whole matter at the Her
aid door. Friend Bish refuses to give
the Herald amy credit for having in
fuence with the boards DECISIONS and
no doubt he is right IN this We also
feel sure that an action contrary to
the Records hopes would have been
fully Charged to our account with ten
per cent interest.
AS the Herald sees it, after consld-
cradle discussion, a reason for having
a county agent lies not in whether or
not the county needs it but as to
whether or not the farmers as a ma
iority want the office. Wishing things
onto people because we think the
things are good for them is not de-
is paternaIism and a VIC
ious form of it. Battles have been
fought for less. The paternalistic
school ito which friend Bish belongs) |
could also argue for county agent
for the business men, another for the
professional men. another for the me-
chanics, another, maybe, for the ed
itors, and so on until the idea would /
be shouted down as ridiculous.
OF some twenty farmers who have |
stated their views at this office five |
or six were in favor of a county agent. |
Friend Bishop makes some capital OF
the Herald printing letters from its |
subscribers in favor of the office but |
that is the way the Herald is run
we believe in being fair and hope Bish |
does also. Two farmers were luke
warm on the subject one thinking that |
the office was all right but not of any
great use and the other said it was all
right if it had the right man. This
farmer is shrewd and hit vital point.
Just filling a place doesn't fill need.
A millennium in county government is
not reached by electing or appointing