The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1932-03-25
Taxpayers League of
KOochiching County

known, but his subsequent ap- I
pointment as judge of the district II
court in this district is generally 7
understood by the taxpayers as /,
being part of it; and the creating :
of an additional judgeship for this :
district and this mans appoint :
ment to it by the governor when /
the people of the district refused 4
to re-elect him, is understood to II
have been another part, brought
about by the people he had served
here.
County Division Election
4 And so, the election on county
division was over, and the Compa-
ny awoke one morning in 1906 to
find itself the dictator of new
empire with its lackeys and bench
men and aspirants to favor care
fully housed at the expense of the
people within a stones throw of
its castle.
And such an electionl Every
body voted, men and boys, citi-
, zens and non-citizens, lumber
: jacks from outside and Canadians
> from across the river. Many vot-
ed twice and some more. A con-
' siderable number travelled from
; polling place 10 polling place and
y voted at each. Nearly all the
cemeteries were visited and the
tomb stones scanned for addition
al names for the poll lists. 1t is
: said that at Littlefork nearly fif-
ty such names were slipped into
y the ballot box in a bunch, all of
q which were counted. Even Abe
e Lincoln and George Washington
: were said to have voted that day.
y Thus was the Koochiching coun-
'e ty government launched, and the
Re graft, corruption and subservien-
IS cy of many of the public officials
re during the years since, 50 the peo-
p pie here claim, have but paralleled
II that of its organization, even if it
may not be said to have been in
s. tensified.
S, Responsibility for Conty's COndi-
n tiOn
n "Who were these men ?" | ask
tn ed grizzled old taxpayer, "who
ed through the years have occupied
Sc the county offices and had charge
of the county's business and have
o. succeeded in bringing the county's
he finances TO their present state 2"
h "a glance at the list" he replied,
n "will convince you that they are
up all "good men and true" members
til of "our very best families" Men
a. who move in our "most exclusive
en- social circles" and who, having
lit "made a success of their own bust
nd ness" are, according to the old
,er saw, "the kind of men to place in
he charge of public business"
"To give them a distinctive
Ir. Characterization" he continued, 81
act will say that they were all gooG
-as Kiwanians, and by this 1 NEAR
1ts Kiwanian minded even though
al they were not all members of /;
in Kiwanis club, and there is small
es- group of these in every village il
d. the county"
Result of Their Administration
nj "Well, what has been the resul
the Of the administration Of these so
it'll called efficient menu" l asked
art 'The answer is evident to ALL" h
the replied. "The county is banlTup'
md This bankruptcy is not the resul
a of our present period of deflatiol
un- It was bankrupt before the defls
low ton started. Starting out with
for wealth of natural resources bt
nth yond that of most counties mainl
bile in the form of standing timber, a
litv of which was valuable and ta1
,ne. able except that belonging to q
state, this county has never fro
sion its very first year of existen'
been able to operate on its lEcon
res under the administration Of the
ome very efficient men, not even du
roe ing the prosperous years prece
rom ing the deflation with the tax ra
,vor constantly climbing and practices
nf ly no such thing as delinque
-;cts taxes that remained delinque
IN more than a year. Every year
ners two the taxpayers were asked
for vote bonds to cover the deficit
AVN the revenue for running expens'
nch- each request for more bonds
nent this purpose growing larger a
40 larger until last year when tn
,anv were asked to vote $SOO,OOO.OO
49, cover the deficit in the reven
ts~ and poor funds. They refus
A.. Then the Kiwanians got busy a
from, prompted their representative a
- senator II say their for thu
low men have never represented
,oar- taxpayers in any manner oppo'
-atL bv the Kiwanians) to introdl
Iotad a special law in the legislature
a. override the legally expressed W
-, of the people and authorize the
~. suance of the bonds in spite OF
own people s 1.;II - ooIIed
.ition before tne peOple VIZ L.n - sor :,
lttor- again 70 Voee - ha~ an ide
IA This much has been written
,' IAN give a background to the activi'
.ssa Of the County Taxpayers Leag
LIS A.. storv of which viii appear
80 che nexf Issue.