The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-12-08
THE TRANSPORTATION OFFICER

THE TRANSPORTATION OFFICER
Steele, N. OAK,
Nov. 30, 1882.
Editor, Tribune:
On all sides now, we hear the
slogan Down with Taxes" and, re-
CARELESS Of the political affiliations
OF those asking that taxes be cut to
the bone, all agree that we should
do away with duplication in office.
That Is, that we should not pay two
men to do the work Of one. II that
is the prevailing sentiment, why keep
the transportation officer? It is my
best judgment that there Is not q
county sheriff in this state who
would not be willing-even anxious
to take all persons convicted of crime
from the county seat where they
have been convicted to the peniten-
tiary, and do so at the old per diem
allowed by the statutes of 1913,
which were not repealed when the
law providing for the transportation
officer become effective.
The code of 1913, Section 3515, pro-
vides for the fees of sheriff's and
other officers for conveying prison.
ers to the penitentiary or reform
school, or patients to the hospital
for the insane: Three dollars per
day for the time of the sheriff or
other officer necessarily spent in 60
ing to and returning from such peni-
Tertiary, reform school or hospital by
the nearest route.
Now doesn't it appeal to your rea-
son that it would be much cheaper to
have the sheriff of the county take
charge of prisoners or insane persons
and deliver them to their proper
destinations at SO per day and mile
age, than to have-as at present.
transportation officer at $14,950OO
dollars per year? How many of the
best farms in this state would 1t re-
quire to produce enough net rev.
enue to pay this gentleman his
wages? His salary is fixed under
the appropriation for 1881, at $2,4O0
per year and on top of that, he is
allowed $l2,500 travelling expenses.
That is more than one thousand dol
lars per month travelling expense.
Then, too, he is allowed under this
same appropriation the sum Of 500
miscellaneous expense. Don't you
tax-ridden farmers wish that you
could get such snap as that? One
would think, judging from the
amount appropriated, that this gen.
tleman was on the go all the time,
running from one side of the state
to the other, gathering up convicts,
insane, and feeble minded taxpayers.
Now, laying all jokes aside, isn't this
nice, easy Job. Beg pardon, we
cannot class 1t as a Job, for Jobs re-
quire that one must work while in
this cause all one has to do is to
stand around and look suspicious.
am aware of the fact that a great
many people in this state are crazy,
but not all are crazy or insane nor
have we so many criminals that 1t
Will require the united efforts of all
the sheriff's and transportation Of
ficers to get them to their final rest
ing places.
But unless something Is done for
those who bear this burden, and that
soon, those who are perfectly sane
now will not enjoy even lucid inter-
walls, and those who are now perfect
ly honest and reliable, will turn to be
criminals. elf-preservation is the
first law Of nature and when people
are taxed out of house and home and
are hungry, they are potential GRIM
lnalS. Just think of any one man
spending over thousand dollars per
month as expenses while transport
ing people to the several institutions
in this state intended for their re-
formation or treatment, while other
thousands of just as good people as
he are in state of starvation. The
amount of expense incurred in such
cases would rather indicate that, If a |
transportation officer is really neces-
sary we have the wrong man at the
helm. 1t would indicate that he was
SO careless that all whom he under
took to deliver got away from him
and he had to camp out days and
nights for weeks, while beating the
bush In vain efforts to uncover the
scamps. This nice, little, juicy plum
was handed out in the beginning to |
some good politician as a reward for |
services rendered; and while it may
not be political reward at this time
it still savors of that odor and the
office should be abolished. Just re-
quire your representative for the next
session of the legislature to refrain
from making any appropriation for |
that office and repeal that law, and
we will save another $14950 per year.
If such duplication of offices is not |
soon done away with and taxes low
cred accordingly, we will soon be
forced to pay taxes with Red Cross
flour. That will be all we will have
left.
The price Of success in this tax
fight is eternal vigilance, coupled
with uncomfortable combativeness,
while we sing "The fight Is on Chris
tan soldier"
Yours truly,
J. N. McCARTER.