Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1922-03-29
ESREPLYT0
EQUITY CHARGES
County Agent Dack of Winnesliiek
Farm Bureau Answers Equity
Article of Last Week.
SAYS THEIR STATEMENTS
MAY BE MISLEADING
G. Operation of Local Shipping As
sOciation in most Counties is
100 Per Cent Perfect.

1t is not our purpose in this or
any other article to use the news
papers to wage fight against any
organization and we are reluctant TO
ask for space at this time, but feel
that on account of statements is
sued in last weeks papers that we
should explain one or two things
which on the surface might be mis-
leading, the first being that of a
statement made at Board of Dir
ectors meeting that 8.2% Of the
taxes levied in the county were used
for local government. The article
signed by the Equity Society states
that in the same issue President
Pearson states that 900 of all taxes
are spent within the county where
they are levied. Local government,
as referred TO, means the maintain
ing of the Court House, all of its
officials, the court, the Jail and has
nothing whatever to do with roads,
schools, bridges, etc., except the
maintenance of the offices of County
Superintendent and County Engineer
that the other so or more per cent
goes TO maintain.
The fact that we felt that those
who passed the resolutions condemns
ing the county appropriation for the
maintenance of the Farm Bureau
office were not far seeing ssin. @theis,
judgment was that if the county
support of the office of County Agent
was Withdrawn or had been with
drawn in 1920, the man who paid
$4,000 in taxes in, 1921 would still
be paying $9970. To be exact the
county appropriated slightly more
than 2-7 of 20 for the Farm Bur-
eau appropriation.
In regard to the statement that the
head of so-called farm organiza-
ton, we presume this refers to the
County Agent, had been defending
the present high taxes is another
mistatement. The tax levies for the
last fifteen years were given not with
the idea of attempting to prove that
taxes have not been raised, for no
one knows better than your own
County Agent what the raise in
taxes have been and if those inter-
ested will take the trouble to go
over the list of farmers who have
been paying taxes in Dickinson
County, Iowa, they will find that
your own County Agent has been
paying increased taxes on 240 acres
of Iowa land and is in position to
know exactly what this increase has
been.
Our observation is this that 'many
are inclined to strain at the gnat
while swallowing the camep. As a
matter of fact the Iowa Farm Bur-
eau Federation is the only organiza-
ton of farmers that has been big
enough and had financial backing
enough to do anything in regard to
securing a reduction in taxes. A
concrete example is that of securing
a reduction in the taxable valuation
of livestock before the Executive
Council last June which amounted 10
approximately $4.00 per quarter Sec
ton in the state of Iowa. This in
Wmneshiek County alone would
amount to $11,520, or almost four
times the amount the law states that
the Board of Supervisors shall APP
propriate for the maintenance of the
office. We are spending thousands
of dollars annually to maintain our
department of Agriculture and our
Iowa State college. 1t is the duty of
the County Agent to cooperate with
these institutions and bring inform
alton in regard to the work of these
institutions to the agricultural inter-
ests of our county. If it is worth
while to maintain the Iowa State
college and the U. S. Department OF
Agriculture, is it not logical that a
department be maintained in each
county to facilitate the dissemination
of information obtained by costly eX-
periments by these institutions?
The secret of the entire attack is
summed up in the last paragraph of
the article which states that the
Eqyay Society has not received any
sur rt from public funds and for
this reason no other organization
Continued on last page.l