East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1921-01-01
RETIRING FROM OFFICE
ASSESSOR TELLS OF TAX.
CONDITION IN COUNTY
PendletOn. ore. Dec. 81.

Editor East oregonian:
The changes that have come in the
social conditions Of umatilla county
and IN the cost Of It's governmentedur-
ling my stay as an officer al the court
house constitute a bit of history that
may be OF interest TO your readers.
In 1909 there were no high schools
In the county outside OF Pendleton.
as / remember IT,
There was not yard OF paved
streets In the county. There were
less than dozen automobiles then.
The streets OF Pendleton and of the
smaller towns were loblollies OF mud
during wet weather. Most of the
smaller towns OF the county were not
yet incorporated.
Hermiston and Stanfield had not
then been thought Of Athena. Wes-
ton. and Pendleton were the only
towns that had banks. But saloons
in those days flourished nearly every
where. There was at one time about
thirty In Pendleton. Gambling was
wide open and many games Of chance
were going on constantly during the
business hours OF the saloons. A por-
ton OF the city OF Pendleton was oc-
cupled by scarlet women who paid
monthly fines In lieu OF licenses.
In one OF the smaller towns ! once
saw drunken men sleeping during the
day in the front yard of a scarlet
house.
hut for the altered conditions OF to-
day we have paid big price in money
The following table tells the story:
Co. and state. 1903, si77.550.o0;i
1920. ssss.OooOO; increase ,5ee per
cent.
Special school. 1903, s2S.246.oC; |
1890. s4sS,lo4.oO: increase l7e4 per
cent.
City tax. 1898, s1i.Oe6. 1920. $685.
$4,000: increase, 1850 per cent.
Total. 1903. s2l6,S62.ooi 1920. \
si,535.646.00; increase 702 per cent I
Whatever else these figures indicate .
they are proof that we have enjoyed
prosperity. People do not 90 on from
year to year piling up taxes higher
unless they are able TO pay
them. These catapulting levies have
been a source of considerable concern
TO me. however. The duties OF the
assessors office seem 20 create in the
assessors mind sympathy for the
tax payer and feeling that some
how Il is up TO the assessor TO hold
down public expenses for the tax
benefit. TO me, therefore, ex-
isting taxes seem to get higher than we
can afford under the normal price
level now approaching
1 am retiring from the office with
a desire to be useful as a citizen TO
the people whose official have been,
and as parting word would like TO
suggest that in my opinion one OF the
greatest causes Of the tremendous in
crease in the cost of public schools is
the lack of normal schools in Oregon.
During the days when normal
schools were plentiful, many bright
girls took the normal course, and Of
ten taught where they could stay at
home. There was plentiful supply
of teachers. not all normal graduates,
but many OF them We're.
The rise in special school levies
from $2S,246.OO in 1908 TO S49S,104,-
90 in 1920. does not tell the full story.
There is included in the county and
state tax of 1920 nearly s95,000.o0
that was raised by the elementary
mill tax and this money remains IN
the county and goes into the school
e. ht.st, ha
cial levies up to S59S, 100000 for this \
year, which is an increase of about
2iO0 per cent over 1908.
II is my view that there should be
a normal school in Portland big |
enough to accommodate all the stu
dents in that great city who could live
at home and acquire n normal edu-
cation. And there should be one
both in Eastern Oregon and in South
ern Oregon.
] would like to aid in a state wide !
campaign for submitting this matter |
once more TO the people of Oregon.
In the meantime much saving coulc
be effected in many localities by con.
solidation of schools. There are Athe
ma and Weston and Echo and stan
field for instance, each maintaining
high school when two schools would |
be ample for the four towns
Athena and Weston are only three |
miles apart and Echo and Stanfield |
about the same distance BY con-
solidation either of these two towns |
could eliminate an entire faculty of |
teachers and the maintenance of one !
building while the only added cost |
would be transporting the students |
of one town short distance TO the |
thor.
Some grade school districts are too |
weak TO maintain successful schools |
and these should so far as possible |
unite with adjoining districts. Il