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Show The Past and Present. Editor Garland Olobo. We sometimes hear people complain Ing of tho amount of taxes they have to pay and tho great oxpenso there Is In collecting and distributing these moneys and thoy wonder where all tho money goes to-and often dcclaro thoy receive no benefit whatever from tho vast suras paid Into tho county coffers year nftcr year and they are frequently heard to rofer to tho days of twenty or thirty years ago, when tho taxes wcro much lighter than now. Those were halcyon days, but wo got tired of them and wcro not satisfied with n territorial form of government and longed to adorn ourselves in tho moro costly and superb ablllmonts of statehood. In those days our governor, secretary and judges wero appointed by the president and paid by tho national government. The territorial legislature was paid In tho same way, but now tho pcoplo elect these ofllcers and have to pay them. In those days we had no stato University as we have now, no Agricultural Collcgo, no Industrial School, no school for tho deaf, dumb and blind. All theso unfortunates un-fortunates had to bo takou caro Of at homo without a possibility of being trained train-ed In book learning or being taught a trade and becoming self-supporting. It was expected in thoso days that every able bodied man would spend a week or moro each year working on tho roads; now ho pays thrco dollars a year poll tax instead. Wo had no "free" schools and the man who bad a family of four or five children paid tho teacher from ten to twenty dollars u season and hauled a load of wood to tho school house for winter Arcs, and tho boys took turns sweeping out and building tires; and another an-other three to live dollars had to bo dug up for school books. Different conditions exist now. A falry(as it wcro) waved her wond anil to tho change tho man whoso real property valuation Is (10,000, perhaps pays from 115 to 20 a year In taxes; these and others and the monoys received from tho sale and Icaso of lands, etc, pay all our state and county officers, run our schools frco from all personal expenses, build our roads, support tho poor, run down and convict thclvcs, thugs and murderers, murder-ers, yet people wilt complain of tho heavy, burdensomo taxes. Box Klder county Is to be congratulated congratula-ted fobaving had.cconomlc and elllcletit ofllcers. Tho people's money has been properly taken core of and proporly expended. ex-pended. In tho years 1004-5, nearly 130,000 wero expended on county roads; the fees colloctcd by tho several ofllcers In late years havo gradually Increased, whllo the oxpenses have decreased from 2.8 mills on tho dollar In 1000 to 1.8 mills in 1005. Tho county tax rate bos been lowered from 0 mills In 1001 to 4 mills 1005 aud we understand there Is talk of putting It at 8.0 for 1007; and If thcro is a strong effort mado to collect tho taxes on transient and other stock, from mines and .other corporations locating in tho county, it can readily be done; and while duo dilllgenco In listing all tho property in tho county should bo exercised tho rate should be reduced to tho nihil mum in favor of tho poor .man who comes much nearer paying a full tax on what he owns than do tho rich, llox Elder county Is ono of somo magnitude. mag-nitude. In monoy matters it is tho fourth county in tho state; if the pcoplo will look aftor their political and financial finan-cial Interests as they should, it ought in n few years to stop Into third place. There is nothing that helps a region of country moro nor contributes to build it up faster than good roads. Box Elder county has not had an over abundanco from the state fuuds for public improvement. improve-ment. The coming legislature should be asked foran appropriation for high ways. A road should be built between Brigham and Bear Illvcr cities that will be good the year round. The worst places on tho west side should bo doctored at onco.and the roads graveled as soon as possible. There is no moro beautiful or productive product-ive spot In all Utah than that lying between be-tween tho Promtory on tho west and tho Wasatch mountains ou tho cast, aud extending ex-tending from Utah Hot Springs on the south to tho Idaho lino on tho north. Tho citizens aro neighborly and Indus trlous, honest and progressive, intelligent and patriotic, the boys are better and tho girls prottlcr than In any other locality some of tho former might be improved upon a little, but the latter never. Tho atmosphere is heavily laden with the rich perfumes from peach, plum, applo and other blossoms in tho spring ana from tho ripening fruits in autumn. Wo. differ a little in our opinion as re gards "free trade" and "free silver," but as we aro becoming more aud moro prosperous without them wo aro getting nearer one mind as to tho need ot thorn and that Is that we don't want them. Jaunter, Bear River City, Dec. 7th 1006. |