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The Hood River News-Letter, Hood River, OR., November 24, 1906, page 1

APPEAL TO THE LEGISLATURE
Unity Endorses Creating Cascade County and the Facts and Figures Explain Why it Should Be Done

A most enthusiastic county division meeting was called off Saturday afternoon in the K. of P. hall. President Davidson, of the Hood River Commercial club, called the meeting to order and an informal discussion of the subject was the indulged in by the gentlemen present.
Mr. J. Adrian Epping, of Portland, made a very interesting address on the subject of " knocking." He gave some very humorous illustrations of the methods of some of our farmers. Going to one farmer and asking his prize he was told it was $15,000. His neighbor, joining farms, having practically the same kind of soil and the same acreage, when Mr. Epping asked as to the value of that tract was told that it was not worth more than $500 and when he asked the reason was told that it was to stony and would not raise anything like the crop on land of the farmer he was talking with. Later in talking with the neighbor he asked about the farm of the first gentleman and was told that it was no good at all that it was underlaid with hard pan and trees would not thrive upon such land. The facts were as Mr. Epping found them that there was very little, if any difference, in the productiveness of the two tracts of land. Another case came more nearly home to him as he was talking to a neighbor about a piece of land which he (Mr. Epping) has bought. The neighbor told him that the slope was wrong, that his trees would not do well. His neighbor had about the same acreage and the trees were of the same age. Mr. Epping asked him how many boxes of first class apples he marked this year from his orchard and the neighbor replied 650 and Mr. Epping replied that he had marketed 800 boxes from his orchard and then called the attention of his neighbor to the fact that the slope of the land on the two ranches were identical. The point Mr. Epping made was that this knocking by the farmers all over the valley was doing an injury to the farmers themselves and that in common justice should be stopped; that it had been fully demonstrated that there was little or no difference in the different sections of the valley; that any of the land in the valley would raise in the largest quantities, the best apples that grow on the face of the earth; that it was right for a man to think his own place was a little more desirable than his neighbors, but because of that a man should be manly enough not to go knocking his neighbor; that the thing for our people to do was to stand together in the closest bonds of friendship and help each other instead of knocking. Particularly in this matter of county division we should stand as a unit. He assured the meeting that there was much interest in Multnomah county in the issue and that we could expect substantial assistance from the Multnomah members when the question came before the legislature.
T.A. Reavis compared Cascade county with other counties when they were caught off from Wasco, showing that our condition is much more favorable now with us than it was in these other instances and they have been eminently successful. Therefore he thought the sooner we accomplished the division the better.
Judge Henderson called attention to the convenience of having our county records here at home where so much time would not be needed to consult the records, and closed with an amusing instance where a man told a Portlander that it was through Hood River that he had heard of Portland and never knew there was such a place as Portland until he heard of Hood River and began to inquire about the country.
Truman Butler called attention to the fact that the heaviest expense would come the first year and that we would be assisted over by the proportion of the county property this section of the county has at The Dalles which would be refunded to us and that after the first year the expenses would most certainly be less than they were before division.
Professor G.D. Thompson emphasized the remarks of J. Adrian Epping in reference to knocking and move to the appointing of a committee to circulate petitions asking the division.
Hon. A.A. Jayne was requested to give information regarding the modus operandi used in the work of the legislature in creating the division and satisfied his hearers.
P.S. Davidson was requested to present some figures obtained at The Dalles from the records, which follows:
The assessed valuation of the proposed new county for 1906 is $1,618,0670.
The area of the proposed new county is almost 460 square miles.

A tax levy of 1.5 mills on $1,618,670 will raise........$29,945.40
Earnings of county clerk's office (estimated).............4,000.00
	Income of proposed new county....................33,945.40

	COUNTY EXPENSES (ESTIMATED)
Books for and transcribing of records....................$2,000.00 
Court expenses (2 terms)..................................2,000.00 
Board of prisoners..........................................500.00 
Officers, jail, fixtures, etc.............................3,000.00 
Incidental expenses.........................................500.00
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County expenses other than officers......................$8,000.00 

	COUNTY OFFICERS AND SALARIES 
Assessor...................................................$900.00 
County Judge................................................300.00 
County clerk..............................................1,200.00 
Sheriff...................................................1,200.00 
Commissioners ($3.00 per day)...............................200.00 
Coroner.....................................................200.00 
Treasurer...................................................100.00 
County school superintendent................................900.00
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	County officers..................................$5,000.00 
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Total county expenses other than road and schools, etc..$13,000.00 
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Balance to apply on the road and schools etc.............20,945.40 

Amount to pay out of above balance as follows: 
State tax.......2.5 mills................................4,046.67
Library fund......1  "   ..................................161.87
County school...6.8  "   ...............................11,016.00
Road tax........3.5  "   ................................5,665.35
							---------
Amount to pay in addition to other county expenses 
	as enumerated above.............................20,889.89
							--------- 
Surplus on 1.85 mills per tax levy.........................$55.51 
Extra tax levy of 1.5 mills to make a 
	total levy of 20 mills...........................2,428.00 
Surplus should the tax levy be 20 mills.................$2,483.51

The tax levy in Wasco county for the three years 1897 to 1905 inclusive ranges from 20 to 27 mills.
The lowest levy of 20 mills having been made for the year 1905.
Petitions are in the hands of the committee and if presented to you and your conscience will permit you to, be sure to place your name on the list. While it may have been doubtful heretofore whether we could as economically operate the new county as we could the same section as a part of Wasco county, Hood River valley has now reached that stage of development and is advancing with such rapidity that all doubts seem to have been removed of our ability to do so. Everything seems to be in favor of this division at this time and we too, will now probably meet with as little opposition from the remainder of the county as we ever shall, so let us do the only logical, sensible thing that which an enterprising, energetic body of citizens can do under the circumstance, secure home government by home people and keep our revenues at home.