Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1898 — READ AND REFLECT. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

READ AND REFLECT.

.The next thing that should be mustered out should be those obnoxious war taxes. Do you really believe there is $75,000 difference in the worth of Jasper county’s court house and the one which adorns the center of this page? Taxpayers of Jasper county, "how do you like the idea of paying for the campaign thunder on which Mr. Halleck is making his race for re-election ? Will the compiler of that misnomer called “An Official Statement” still have the audacity to say to the'people of Jasper county that $154,000 will cover the total cost of that new court house? In White county the lowest tax levy for all purposes, township, county and state, is $1.27 on each SIOO valuation, and $1.75 is the highest. In the town of Monticello the total tax levy, including state and county, is $1.50 on each SIOO valuation. Jasper county has produced some wonderful financiers in her time, but it is safe to say that the board of commissioners who paid $165,€OO for a court which they had previously contrasted for at $89,180 are easily entitled to whole bakery. The Republican has just made an investigation of the county records and finds that several pages of the records of a former democratic auditor have been cut from the book. Don’t doubt it for a moment, Bro. Marshall, but were those pages removed from the record during theterm of office of said 1., M. » • .A .V,*' *• }jgt» *s**"*.. ?7? >. I ■ «SBr • r*-f ?'• ••• *.-> —r-s : p- ... ;->• ' - •4- **#•’ -,v-- V— *

The Republican door is open.—Journal. Yes, and lots of good men are walking ont of it, while an occasional party trickster goes in.

Slanderer and coward.—Journal. That is simply your individual opinion, Bro. Clark, and don’t count. Don’t be so anxious to measure other people by your own standard sf manhood.

We have heard of men committing murder, and perhaps their friends sought to justify them for so doing because someone else at some time or other did the same thing, but we dont call to mind any such occurrence just now.

Won’t the Journal please have its statistician (30 years in office) tell us just what the receipts and expenditures were on account of the county farni for the year ending May 31, 1897? The report of the county auditor gives the receipts at $911.75, (report to the state auditor) and the expenditures at $3,367.95. If this is not correct we would like to know what the exact figures were.

Woodford county, 111., is almost as large in area as Jasper county, has a population twice as large, and probably four or five times as much taxable property. It is peopled with an intelligent, progressive and industrious people, whose representatives —the township supervisors—thought $90,000 was a great plenty to invest in a court house. They have a very massive and commodious building, and a very handsome one, too. Its total cost was about $75,000 less than our own.

Chaplain G. A. Carstensen of the 158th Indiana regiment in an interview published in an Indianapolis paper one day last week, in which he told of the conditions at Camp Thomas, stated that Dr. Hueidenkoper, the medical director, was a veterinary surgeon and had to his knowledge practiced among human beings. The war department got after the chaplain, but he refused to back down. He says thatjthe statements attributed to him were substantially correct, that he resided in the ,same town with Dr. Hueidenkoper for several years, and if the doctor ever practiced medicine among anything but horses and mules he is not aware of the fact. He is also ready to substantiate all the statements which he has made.

As The Democrat has previously remarked, and as is shown by the records, the commissioners got hard up for funds to go ahead with the building of the new court house (record 10, page 268) and $4,000 was borrowed as a “temporary loan.” This was in June, 1896. On this loan $320.25 interest was paid (record 10, page 439), and at the September, I£9B, meeting $368.50 more in interest was paid on same. The above entries are all we have observed that has been paid as interest on the aforesaid “temporary load.” Neither of these sums was included in the “official statement” recently published of the cost of the new court house, and the latter seems was not included in our own statement published a few weeks ago.

One evil which The Democrat wants to see corrected when the time comes for settling the expenses of the coming election, is that of allowing members of election boards pay for two days. While this has been done in Jasper county for years, it has not been done elsewhere, we believe. There is no law to justify it, and it is a reckless and uncalled for expenditure of money. There need be no fear but plenty of good men will be anxious to serve on the boards even though they know they will receive but one day’s pay for such services. As both democrats and republicans must serve on election boards, we cannot be said to advance this measure of economy simply to hurt republicans. It is right, and will save the taxpayers a great many dollars at each election, therefore we hope to see the measure adopted.

With the Democratic Sentinel, the Republican and the Journal trying to land on his solar plexis, there seems to be no good reason why Bro. Babcock, of The Jasper CounTy Democrat, should not find life real exciting.—Morocco Courier.

In his write-up of himself, which appeared in the Hammond Daily Tribune of May 12, 1898, and again in the last issue of the Lowell Record, Knotts forgot to tell how he disfranchised the Republicans of Lake county four {rear ago. Fearing he had overooked this honorable (?) act of his life, we take the liberty to supply the omission.—Lowell Tribune, (Rep.)

The fight for better and more economical county government being waged by the Jasper County Democrat should appeal to the sense and judjment of every taxpayer in Jasper county. For years tax ridden by one of the most exravagent political rings that ever preyed upon a long suffering people, the turning point has come. There are times when a long suffering people refuse to listen to appeals to “stand by the ticket” and vote for their own interests. We believe that this is one of those years in Jasper county. —Delphi Times.

The papers of Rensselaer are having an endless amount of trouble explaining to the people of Jasper county why the auditor of that county cut “four unapproved pages from the commissioners’ record book to correct an error.” We know nothing of the auditor but no doubt he is a No. 1 man. In White county, however, when an error is made it is marked as

such and the record is left for the inspection of everyone interested. This rule seems very satisfactory to the taxpayers of this county and we believe it would be just as satisfactory to Jasper county taxpayers.—Monticello Journal.

The Journal's statistician (30 years in office) is becoming groggy. Hesays the average levy in the republican townships is 8.33 cents on the SIOO, while in the democratic townships the average is sl.ol§ cents, or about 22 per cent higher than the levies made by the republican trustees. Now let’s see about this. Newton and Kankakee townships are the only townships in the county having democratic trustees. In the former the levy is 95 cents, and in the latter 90 cents. This would make the average 92£ cents. In the republican townships the levy runs from 61 cents in Hanging Grove, $1.30 in Marion (with her S4BO trustee’s service account) to $1.67 in Keener. The average in levies by the republican trustees is, according to our figures, 96.8 on each SIOO, which is over 3 per cent higher than the levies of the democratic trustees. It will be seen that the heaviest levy in the two democratic townships referred to is in school and tuition, which is easily accounted for by reason of those being considered out townships and the valuation is small. 8o much for the Journal’s “exposure.”

The following from the Hebron News is respectfully submitted to the newspapers of Rensselaer: ‘/Beware of the man who is always trying to excuse the scoundrels who are fattening on public plunder. A close inspection will generally reveal the fact that he is sharing in the booty.” The Republican Literary Bureau at Washington and the subsidized press of the cities, together with the little half patent insides country echo, have made a great ado for several months over the success of the recent 3 per cent, war bond issue and sought to make much political capital therefrom. Now, as matter of fact, have they anything to jubilate over. Nearly the whole issue was taken either directly or indirectly by the banks and savings instutitions of the country, and not by the people in moderate circumstances. But, supposing for argument, we admit that they were all taken by the middle classes, what better investment could they find? Suppose a citizen of Rensselaer, for example, had SSOO Jin good notes bearing six per cent interest and the assessor found it out (this sometimes happens) and assessed him on the full amount. His taxes would be $3.49 on each SIOO, leaving him but $2.51 net income on the hundred. Besides, the man who loans money to individuals has no assurance that he will get his money when it becomes due,

or the interest even. Depreciated values places the borrower where he cannot meet his obligat ions as he had previously anticipated. Now, as to government bonds. They are as good as old wh— no, we mean gold. Why? Because the people of the whole country stand behind them. They are exempt from taxation, easily turned into cash at any time, and just as regular as the Ist of July and the Ist of January roll around the interest is paid. The owners know to a day when they will receive their interest money and can therefore make preparations in advance as tp its use. The Rensselaer citizen above referred to would lose no sleep for fear his money would be lost, and would actually be a clear gainer of 49 cents ‘on every one hundred dollars invested. Bah! It is silly to try to make political capital out of the recent bond sale. Its “success” should have exactly the opposite effect. Were there good, safe investments in business enterprises or elsewhere, government bonds at 3 per cent, would not be so eagerly sought for. People having money to invest buy them simply because the conditiona of business are such that no other safe investment will give such good returns. The government issues them—-why ? Because its “friends” with idle money want them to. And Jones, he pays the freight

Thank TheT Democrat for the reduction in the county tax levy.

What do the taxpayers of Jasper county think of Mr. Halleck’s campaign thunder?

Dr. Huidenkoper cured Mrs. McKinley’s dog and he was recommended for appointment as a doctor for 30,000 soldiers.

The establishment of a democratic newspaper in Jasper county has already brought forth good fruit, among which is a reduction of 15 cents on the hundred dollars in the county tax levy.

Certificates of nomination for candidates for office when filed with the county clerk, require a ten-cent revenue stamp, also a tencent stamp for each of the certificates of notary public which will make three ten-cent stamps for each certificate of nomination filed with the county clerk. «

The commissioners have reduced the county levy this year (presumably for political purposes) 15 cents on the SIOO. It is to be hoped that they will not have to borrow money before the year is out for which this levy is made, as has been the case heretofore when they wanted to make the people believe they were reducing expenses, and therefore cut down the levy. As will be seen in another part of The Democrat, the levy is now higher than any of the surrounding counties, and several of those counties are also paying for new court houses.

Let’s see, Bro. Marshall of the Republican, gets 1 office faMpt, 3 kitchen faucets, lawn andgaraen sprinkling privilege, street sprinkling privilege of 50 feet on two streets and water for a two-horse power water motor, all for $36 per year, and has a five year contract. The water cannot be pumped f6r this sum. The county pays $350 per -year for water for the court house and Marshall will use more than ten times as much water aS is used by the county. “Sh-h-h” we think we can hear Bro. Marshall say, “such methods of conducting a newspaper in Rensselaer —giving all the ring snaps away to the taxpayers—are a disgrace to the profession, and we will not admit Bro. Babcock to our little newspaper circle.”

Woodford County 111., Court House, Completed and turned over to the connty in July, 1898. Contract price for building alone, $60,762.00; total cost including architect’s fees, extras, frescoing, printing, grading and paving public square, $69,474.75; total cost of heatidg plant, $7,164.24; total cost of furniture and fixtures, $13,593; Grand total, $90,331.99* Not*:—Th'S court bouse is, to our idea of court house architecture, a handsomer and more massive looking structure than our own. It is equally a 9 well finished and furnished, is supplied with complete electric fixtures. Venetian blinds, fly screens, closeis, sewer, well, engine and and everything as complete as complete can be. Every item of expense, no matter how small, is included in the above statement of its cost, which is about $75000 less than Jasper County's court house. Woodford county has an area of 540 square miles, (Jasper has 580) and the census of 1880 gives it a population of 21.429. The same census gives Jasper county a population of 11,18 b. about one-half that of Woodward county.