The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1922-11-02
Voters of Mile Laos County Resent
Misrepresentation and Abuse
of Capable Official.
ANSWER WITH YOUR VOTE
County Commissioners and County
Attorney D0ane Refute the
False Charges.

In every section of Mile Laos coun-
ty are today heard protests of indig-
nation against the unwarranted at
tacks made against County Auditor
Peltier. Not a man who has ever
been intimately associated with WAL
ter Peltier as an official has anything
but the highest praise for the manner
in which he has conducted his office.
1t is burning shame that such a
faithful and efficient official should be
made the object of such vicious at
tacks which are entirely without foun-
dalton.
The voters of Mile Laos county
are asked to read the article which
appeared in the Times and which is
printed below, the facts of the case as
presented by the Union which can be
confirmed by consulting the official
records of the proceedings of the
county commissioners, the signed
statement Of two of our county
commissioners and our county attor-
ney. After reading this matter care
fully we believe every man end wo-
man with an unblunted sense of JUS
tice will hotly resent the methods
that are employed in attacking WAL
ter Peltier. Let us send back the
answer to those articles in the Times
by giving Auditor Pelticr the largest
vote Of any candidate who is seeking
reelection to county office this
year.
The following appeared in the issue
of the Mile Laos County Times on
October 20:
Here is what the supreme court OF
the United States says about taking
public funds and bestowing them on
favored individuals or private enter:
prizes, as was done through the ac1
of County Auditor Peltier in 1871
when he arranged it so that the coun'
ty had to pay the Princeton Unlor
double the amount necessary Tor Its
work, costing the taxpayers. a large
sum of money amounting to hundreds
Oh QOlldTS. LII CIc Nea1o AcAA Se@oS WIN
court says:
"To lay with one hand the power OF
the government on the property OF
the citizen, and with the other to be-
stow it upon favored individuals tc
aid private enterprises and build uI
private fortunes is none the less rob.
berry because it is done under the
forms of law and is called taxation"
The act of Auditor Peltier resulted
in a large sum of money being palo
lv for the benefit of favored individ-
uals and to help private enterprise
WHY did he do that? People are
asking, "Was he also beneficiary OF
this act and did he receive any bene-
fits from the Union for giving it this
access to the county funds ?" He IS
of course, receiving the support OF
the Princeton Union in his campaign
for reelection, but should the tax
PAYERS of the county be required tc
pay the political debts of any candi'
date?
These are serious question for ev,
erv voter to consider at the coming
election. The Times does not intenc
to support any candidate for office
who is not above suspicion and viii
support only those who we know have
q clean and honorable record in the
interest of the people.
If County Auditor Peltier cannot be
trusted to do the right thing by
the taxpayers in one instance he can:
not be trusted in another: If he will
misuse his position to benefit his
friends at the expense of the county
in the future as he has in the past
the taxpayers of the county can look
for some heavy, additional burdens to
carry in the next four years, If he is
reelected
The United States supreme court
says that it is robbery to use the
power of government to levy taxes on
one citizen for the benefit Of another,
This is strong language to use. but 1t
is nevertheless true, and although it
may be done in a roundabout way by
various schemes the act is just as rep
rehensible.
And to prove that the office of
county auditor here has not been
conducted efficiently we need only
point out that the financial statement
of the county for 1921 has not yet
been issued, nearly year after the
close of business FOR 1921. What
would any business firm think of a
secretary who would wait until year
after the close of their fiscal years
business to bring in report of the
condition of their business? For in
stance suppose that the manager of a
farmers creamery should appear at
the annual meeting and announce
that it would take a year before he
could issue a report Of the business:
what would those farmers think of
him? Of course they would fire him
at once and get man who would
keep their business up to date. But
here is the largest business in the
county, involving enormous sums OF
the taxpayers money and for which
they have been carrying backbreak-
ing tax burdens, has a secretary who
takes about a year to make a report
of the proceeding years business
Some efficiency that, don't you think ?
And there is nothing certain that any
report will be made at all for as yet
1t has made no appearance. II 1T can
wait one year, why not let it wait
two years? Might just as we'll, for
in twelve months it is pretty hard to
figure out anything from report
submitted of things so far back in
ancient history.
AS stated elsewhere in this issue,
it is the duty of the board of county
commissioners and not the county au-
ditor to designate a newspaper Of the
county in which shall be published the
proceedings Of the board of county
commissioners the financial statement