The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1922-10-26

majority"
Mr.. Smith referred to the service Of
Mr.. Kay as state treasurer and de-
clared that he would be the next
speaker of the house of representa-
tives.
with such leaders as Governor
Olcott and Mr.. Kay," he declared,
1--WE need have no apprehensions of
political storms the next four years.
Continuance of sane, honest and
conservative government devoid of
thrills, ,sensationalism and empty prom
ises was promised by Governor Olcott.
IL am not boasting of my accom-
plishments, said Governor Olcott,
"but my administration has been at
tackled by Walter Pierce, the Demo-
cratic nominee. and the Democratic
state central committee. have not
made any wild promises, but am maxi
ing my campaign squarely OH my rec
ord as public servant.
'Extravagrant and misleading state
ments have been made as to the adj
miDistration' share in the present tax
situation. want the people of Ore
gon to know that at no time in the his
tory of the state have the institutions
been in better condition than they are
now. The executive appointments
have been made on the basis of effici-
ency, and not at the dictation OF any
clique or faction. l ask you to review
my administration and point out If you
can wherein there has been any scan
dal. In all of the extravagant and
misleading statements no one has said
that the states business is being con-
Quoted on anything but solid, safe and
conservative business lines.
1.-The nearest this charge has been
made was the assertion that the taxes
of the state have grown under my ad-
ministration. No one has dared to dis
tort the facts so far as to declare that
was responsible for them or that |
could have lessened them to any ma
terial degree.
Governor Olcott then went on to
show that instead of levying $l5,-
600. 900 annually for state administra-
tion expense, as alleged by Mr.. Pierce,
the money used for this purpose aggre
gated only trife more than So, 900, 900.
The governor also compared the nat
ural increase of costs of private homes
and state government and showed that
the latter had the economic advantage.
T. b. Kay again charged that Mr..
Pierce had record of extravaganza in
the legislature, that he voted for more
than 95 per cent of the appropriation
bills and was responsible for approxi-
mately So, 100000 of tax levied this
year.
'As far as have been able to de-
termine," declared Mr.. Kay, ''the
Democratic candidate for governor has
not lifted his hand to relieve the tax
burdens of this state"
MIR. Kay referred particularly to the
taxes in Hood River county, in demon
strating the falsity of the claims of
Mr.. Pierce that he will reduce the
taxes in Oregon so per cent. ''This is
simply a vote-catching phrase" de-
clared Mr.. Kay, ''upon which Walter
Pierce hopes to ride into Office.
''The total amount of taxes levied on
Hood River county property this year
is $526, 344. OF this SO per cent was
levied by county and local authorities
for schools, roads, city and town pur-
$62, S03. | ask you in all seriousness
how governor can cut the local part
of this tax in two2 Reduction of the
taxes is up to the voter and not up to
the governor.
"When pressed for an explanation,
Mr.. Pierce said his so per cent tax
reduction promises applied to state
taxes. | will attempt to show you
how this would work out in Hood
River county.
"Only Is per.centsof all Hood River
county's taxes this year we're state
taxes. Those include soldiers bonus,
2 per cent market roads. 2 per cent;
state aid to elementary schools, per
cent, and higher educational institu-
tions, 81 per cent. The latter tax in
cludes the educational aid tn the SOL
dier and sailors as well as all millage
bills and appropriations for the Oregon
Agricultural College and University
of Oregon.
"As | recall, Walter Pierce intro
duced several of these bills and sup
ported all of them. The remainder Of
the state tax, AZ per cent of the Hood
River tax bill, goes mainly to support
the states institutions and pay the
cost of the state government. In case
MIR. Pierce cut Hood River county's
tax bill in two he would not reduce il
more than q per cent. Such a Teduc-
tion would result in turning the in
sane, feeble minded, orphans and other
dependents out upon the public for
charity.
"Mr. Pierce's claim that he can re-
duce the taxes so per cent is ridicu-
lous and obviously is intended as an
argument advanced for campaign pur-
poses.
"Of the total tax bill of Oregon this
year, $40, 473, 9O6. only % per cent. or
s., ,373. 376. .wasi levied as state taxes.
This amount included soldiers bonus,
millage necessary for soldiers loan
bond redemption, market road millage,
millage for state aid to elementary
schoolssand all the millage and appro-
priations for state educational institu-
tions, including the soldiers educa-
tiOnal aid.
"OnIy s2.5l4, OSO, or 6 per cent Of all
taxes paid in Oregon this year, were
for general and state purposes outside
of roads and education, while "a per
cent were taxes voted by the people Of
the state or Of local expenses under
control Of the people Of each county
and locality"
.PEELER HAS PRAISE
uOn Vnnn HTOHUTIU