Show THE COUNTY ISSUE the conduct of the county attorneys office in this county during the last two years is now forcing itself tb ib the I 1 front as a clear cut and well defined local issue of this campaign the official delinquencies and non performance of duty laid at it the door og 0 this office and the evils resulting hive have been and still arn are the grounds of jong and loud com puaina aaa uyi by the county officials themselves at the court house and those in the outlying out lying precincts att but the public at large vs as well wb who tip lire pot nut iti is V a tou hp mor now at the q ave ve oi of t the he ou have the matter slighted off or lightly disregarded our statutes provide that the county attorney and all other county officers must have their offices at the county seats and they and the attorney must keep their offices open for the transaction of business from 19 9 a in until 5 p TO in that the county attorney is the legal adviser of the board of county count commissioners and that he be must live give when required and without f fee ee his opinion in writing to county coulty district and precinct officers on oil matters relating to the duties of th their air f respective offices ile he must mus t also institute proceedings before the magistrate for the arrest of persons charged with or reasonably s suspected of any public offense but the campaign ren sentence tence 1 I dont think it cuts any figure what the statute is is as applicable to our county attorneys office as to tile the candidate for congress that uttered ercil it this office has never been open or oi occupied or ready for business or the duties cherot discharged or the co auty officers advised or prosecutions for criminals instituted as the public well knows for nearly two years until public justice has been brought into contempt and demoralized and public rights and public interests have been sacrificed to an n alarming extent and yet the incumbent did not resign nor magnify this responsible office of trust and emolument nor let it die de out but suffered it to drag on a wretched existence for purposes of revenue only this furnishes furnished us with a sad and striking instance of the ease with which the public mind can call accustom itself its elf to the grossest perversion of a public office long acquiescence in established giong blunts the inor al sense of man and abuses long con tilled becomes fashionable und and can be indulged in with impunity this county officer and ex officio country storekeeper sold commodities over the counter at point lookout and made wealth in the charmed channel that hows flows between tho the producer ind and consumer so long ong tant this constant and persistent neglect bezan to make the theoffice office i believe that it had a perfect right to the unearned and in ill gotten salary which it did not forget to draw just the same whether the public got value received or not and worse than that the public began to agree with Cont continued furred on page four THE COUNTY ISSUE continued from first page this official view and the divided county court ou on the vote of the chairman allowed this office its monthly salary tor f or 21 months in spite of its inactivity official dereliction and performance nonperformance non of duty the county officers at the court house and the justices constables trustees and such precinct and district officers of a long suffering public come to think they have no right to legal advice even when it is paid for from the public fund and meekly and silently submitted to this new form of graft of a public office drawing its salary without keeping itself open or discharging its public duties of some half dozen i cases that he refused and neglected to prosecute we formed the following certificate of two involving proper property tyl valued at about STATE of utah county of box elder ss I 1 the undersigned undersigner under signed justice ot of the peace in and for box elder county and precinct do hereby certify that criminal complaint in case of the state vs C charging perjury in september 1903 and the one in the same title charging a similar cf bense in december 1903 duly sworn to by T B D croke have been on file in my office since slay may 1906 and the county attorney has failed to direct a warrant to be issued and no action has been taken witness bitnes s my hand ili this day of october r 1906 ANDREW FUNK justice of the peace pace the vast extent and immense corporate wealth ot of our rapidly developing county requires the constant care keen acumen and AIg vigilant ilant ability billt of the county attorneys office to guard the countes Coun tys interests on the most varied and diversified legal questions such as taxation which shall obtain full contribution from fl wealth and success and bear lightly upon I 1 lor and the poor I 1 levy and equalization of corporate tax 2 compensation for telegraph telephone and other corporate franchises 3 inheritance tax on large estates that have been shuffled to evade I 1 it t 4 the refusal of the railroad as common carriers to carry freight and passengers geis to certain points on their lines 5 and their present discrimination against our county on the coal supply but all these questions involving the public welfare and the public revenue to the extent of thousands of dollars have been wholly disregarded as well as a multitude of others affecting the 15 public offices at tile the county court house and in outlying precincts but this summer the dereliction of duty was so flagrant that patience had ceased to be longer a bittne vitt ne and the condition ot of affairs had come to such a pass and become so intolerable that in june last the county court drew up and read to our official delinquent a resolution which must have run something like this be it resolved by the county court of box bos elder county that unless the county attorney resigns or amov es in to the county seat and keeps heeps his office open during office hours and properly advises the county officers and prosecutes criminals ills his salary will be henceforth disallowed and ills his official delinquencies will be reported to the attorney general to have the office declared vacant and a successor appointed but for some reason this resolution was not put on record the salary was not turned down the report to the attorney general was not made the reform was but not performed the attorney as before continued to make a pleasant pilgrimage monthly from the point to the county seat to attend to the private practice of the office draw his public salary already alreada this office has ha drawn 1 I 1 without giving value received it will draw on the same basis before the year ends making 1200 in all for the term the countes Coun tys losses In inconvenience conven 1 1 i ence and demoralization from the 0 official neglect is not mentioned does this record show a faithful performance of a public trust or the same old story of a public graft where the officials only task has been to draw his salary that it has been more profitable to theoffice than to the public is self evident from the following modest and ingenious gen lous notice published in our county papers on the eve of the convention october 1906 announcement I 1 hereby announce myself as a candidate for reelection for county attorney for box elder county subject to the ivall 0 of the republican Republica ii party in the event of my election I 1 shall exclusively attend to my office and keep it open at the county seat signed by the county attorney on account of tle the exceedingly brilliant but extremely brief public career of this young prosecutor and in recognition of his able efficient and faithful public services in jollying the county court to monthly office 50 carrh barrano war ranO 11 ayn and 1 I the promptness dispatch and eminent success with which he transacted the public business of cashing in this warrant at the treasury crib the the county clerks deputy nominated him for reelection election re on the strength of this past record and future promises why this deputy county clerk next to the record as he was should hold out a premium on graft and dereliction by this and why a little coterie of kith and kin in the county seat should condone co done and nd defend this record by threatening a personal fight on the candidate who makes it an issue of this campaign when all four political parties aa voters deem it a proper just and fitting issue they alone may explain As there may be a reason during the last two years our county has witnessed a great upheaval against official delinquency eption non performance nonperformance of duty and public graft raft all political creeds unite in a i tate state of political flux to fildie things the councilmen of 0 ogden CRY city were removed from office for a 50 gra graft f t in pittsburg both parties united against nonperformance of off official duty to make inake attorney guthrie its reform mayor and in suffolk co mass the republicans and democrats united on oil attorney john brown morans issue to change the county attorneys tor office from one of indirect to one of direct activity he imade mad good and is now running for governor moran like folk guthrie hughes taney and the other lawyers who stood for an idea idea and lit the lamp of inquiry and went to the dark center of things in the recent great up ull heavel of reform throughout our iia 1114 tion are all matured men men not only of learning judgment exner lence and skill but men of pledges and promises prowl ses thit chev have since performed each of these lawyers while filling the office of county attorney considered it the most 0 ave and responsible office in the gia gift or of the county because the public wealth and weal and welfare are in trusted to it that office alone has an unlimited draw on the county treasury for criminal prosecutions on 11 depends deli ends the high or low standard of public honesty and public justice of the county trie public everywhere now nov agrees it is not wise w I 1 se to trust such responsibilities to inexperienced young theorists just from law schools who have never had a law practice or a law office or a law I 1 library or even a law book with only their first client cli ent ind and their nial maiden dell case to the mono monotony tou of the starvation period from its grim desolation tho the general impression seems to be that the democrat struck a deep safe and underlying inc iniz when at the convention in hlo nominating speech lie he said box elder county has bas edu P ted led young attorneys atto to practice on the public at the public ex bense and to the oun roun tvs sacrifice long enough and that older lawyers are heading reform movements th 0 O out the country everywhere in ili response to this issue tile the lican campaign manager ordered their candidate afar off out of sight into the wilderness wila erness so that the continued on page eight THE COUNTY ISSUE continued from page four voter in the tha center cannot behold the light ot of his countenance nei their is his voice to be heard in the land what do yo you think is their reason tor for this in conclusion the democratic candidate for the office of 0 prosecutor mindful or of the bartys par tys pledge that we ve commend to you each and every candidate as a LL person ot of sterling integrity teg rity and at the conclusion of tho the campaigne campa igni has the tol following lowing to add in re specs spec to tab the prosecutors tors office should the voters of this county be bel pleased to honor me with election to this office 1 I will willas as i public servant accept the twist writh kith the solemn pledge that the public LIl bIc shall have the first claim claim to skill and ability as 22 years in the law lav has given empl m talat fear or favor the detles ef C the office willbe executed of religious ligi ous political or party affiliations that the prosecution prose cutin s office shall not be used for or improvident or oppressive purposes but bm that thai dishonesty will be punished alike against the corpor corporation atlon the grafter el alter the rich rogna graor or the poor pool pilferer pir ferer that the levy and equalization of taxes shall be b adjusted so as to obtain the full contribution from wealth and success amid ami bear lightly upon labor and the poor pool that corporations must here ere af afeei pay p full compensation co for county franchises eliat the district attorney may have the assistance of the he office on criminal prosecutions and appeals from this county and that th at justices constables corm tables and trustees and public interests shall receive cef ceide e the same prompt attention from the otrice office as other county officers ai cross the hall that the causes will wi if ie be investigated as to why the railroad corporations extending through this county are discriminating as coal supply against it and why in the western p portion artion they refuse refus e tw tur carry freight or passengers over parr of the line and fully realizing that in case cae of my lection election e it is uty up to me ine to make good pledges r subscribe myself yours faithful pj RICY H JONES |